He lives in you

Chapter 13

Tsunade sighed as she watched Naruto's body being removed from the room. Everything was going according to plan so far, and if she had her way nothing would go wrong. If only she hadn't had to do this, but as it was because of the council she'd had no damn choice, not if she wanted him to live for long.

"Think he'll be okay" a quiet voice asked from behind her. Kakashi hadn't liked the plan to have Naruto removed from the village, but once Tsunade explained what the council wanted to do with him, he came to agree that it was the only option they had.

"He'll have to be to get through the coming days. I only hope Jiraya can teach him properly." Tsunade commented. She had wanted Kakashi to continue teaching Naruto, because Naruto was already comfortable with him; however that didn't look like it would be happening unless Tsunade could sneak him out of the village as well.

"Considering he was able to hold the clone while it was in the hospital. I think he will be fine."

"But he's not with someone he knows or feels comfortable with. You know how Naruto is when he's around strangers." Tsunade said, for a moment hating the council for what they were doing.

"Yes," Kakashi agreed wishing that he could have been with Naruto, because Naruto only truly felt safe around Kakashi and Iruka, with time that would have changed but time wasn't something they had. As soon as he could he would leave so that he could at least help Naruto a little, the council wouldn't get by with doing this.

"I can't believe after everything we've told them about the extraction, they would still use him against a much stronger enemy." Tsunade said, shaking her head as the memory of the week's early conversation.

"It's impossible to use Naruto as a weapon, nine tails was completely removed, and he doesn't have that power to rely on anymore."

"He still has an extraordinary amount of chakra that he can use. If properly trained I don't see why he can't be used." Homura commented.

"He's not trained to use it, and to train him would take much more time than we currently have!" Tsunade felt like shouting, she didn't like where this conversation was heading at all. The council was determined Naruto would be the one sacrificed for the village, as Hokage and friend to the knucklehead; she couldn't allow that to happen.

"It doesn't matter, let him save the village, we don't have anyone else with as much chakra as Naruto."

"Has he not sacrificed enough for this village?" Tsunade seethed "He's suffered more than any other ninja, it's not fair to him to ask this of him. If he does this he will die of that I have no doubt."

"Maybe it would be a blessing then for it to end." Homura said.

"Blessing for whom?" Tsunade snapped "for the village? Because you can't mean for it to be a blessing to Naruto."

"Why not? you've pointed out how his life has been nothing but suffering so why not let the suffering end?"

"Because he finally has people that love him and would die for him that's why!" Tsunade thundered "He finally has on honest reason to want to protect this village!"

"Then why not let him?" Koharu asked calmly as if their demands on a child didn't bother him at all.

"You mean being physically impossible to get him ready for a battle that size in the time that we have. Unless you mean for him to die in battle." The council members silence confirmed Tsunade's fear, they didn't want to send Naruto to protect the village, and it was their way of getting ready of the former demon host who no longer held any use as a weapon. Tsunade had never felt sicker in her life, she couldn't allow this to happen, but the only way out of it was faking Naruto's death, and sending him elsewhere for the time being. She hated that idea as well, but what choice did she really have. The council member's ideas would really kill Naruto, that couldn't happen.

"We want to see the Uzumaki brat tomorrow." Homura said and Tsunade shook her head.

"That's impossible he's still recovering, he was severally injured in the extraction process, he won't be ready by tomorrow." She had no intentions of bringing him in front of the heartless council members; they would have to find another way to win this war instead of using Naruto.

"Their demands were unreasonable." Kakashi said "I never thought they would be so willing to commit murder for the sake of the village."

"It's not really murder in their eyes" Tsunade replied as she turned to head towards the door. "How can it be murder if they person they see, they don't think it really human. They can't see Naruto for the shadow of the demon fox. It's time that this village realizes exactly what they done when they ostracized Naruto." Kakashi almost felt sorry for them but then he remembered the pitiful boy who stood behind Iruka when Kakashi had first met him. He could still see the fear in his eyes; remember how Naruto trembled when he got too close. Kakashi wanted nothing more to make the people pay for what they had done, but at the same time he couldn't stoop to their level of evil. Kakashi sighed and shook his head, they were in a mess with no way out, but somehow someway, Naruto would come through it alive, if Kakashi had to die to make it happen.