Chapter 181: Where is the Kyubi?

Disclaimer:

Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto.

I own nothing but the original characters I create.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 181: Where is the Kyubi?

He descended the narrow staircase, pausing as Shizune moved the piece of furniture concealing the secret entrance to the forbidden library.

"Shizune, what are…Naruto?" Ino exclaimed as she saw them emerge from the hidden passage.

The library sat just above the Hokage's office, and this entrance connected directly to it.

Naruto spotted Ino standing by the Hokage's desk, serving a cup of hot tea.

Tsunade was slumped over the desk's wooden surface, groaning in irritation at the noise.

"Keep it down!" she roared, her voice rough.

"Still bad, huh?" Shizune gave Ino a concerned look.

Ino frowned. "The headache and dizziness are really strong. I've never seen her like this."

"You look terrible," Naruto remarked bluntly.

Tsunade raised her head just enough to glare at him. "Naruto… you don't talk to a lady like that. You should've learned that by now. Jiraiya may be a pervert, but at least he knows how to speak to women."

"Mmm… you look terrible but also beautiful," Naruto quickly amended. "Better?"

Tsunade rolled her eyes, unimpressed.

"Did you drink a lot last night?" he asked, ignoring her warning tone.

Her response was sharp. "Is that all you think I do? Drinking and having fun?"

"No, just the drinking part," Naruto smirked. It wasn't hard to notice that all three of the Sannin had picked up bad habits over the years.

Maybe it was their way of coping with the harsh realities of their life as ninjas ...or maybe it was just their personalities.

Judging by the glare Tsunade gave him, she didn't appreciate his comment.

"Did you find anything interesting up there?" she asked, steering the conversation back on track.

"You know I did," Naruto replied casually. If Shizune knew what he was searching for, it was obvious the Hokage was aware as well. "I found a few interesting things, actually."

"A few?" Tsunade's eyebrow arched, and she glanced at Shizune for clarification. Naruto was only supposed to study the jutsu left behind by his father.

Shizune offered an apologetic smile. "Well… you never said he couldn't read more than one scroll, so…"

"How many?" Ino asked, her curiosity piqued.

She had long suspected that Naruto had a method of storing information in an extraordinary way.

Though he hadn't told her anything directly, she had seen enough during her time inside his mind to know that his memory was anything but normal. The level of precision and organization was far beyond natural.

"Just eight," Naruto said nonchalantly.

"Eight?!" Tsunade's voice shot up, her irritation clear. "You were supposed to focus on the Flying Thunder God Jutsu! That your father left there. Why waste your time on so many scrolls?"

She assumed he had skimmed through them instead of dedicating proper attention to one, effectively squandering his chance to learn anything valuable.

"Hmph! If you wasted this opportunity, I won't give you another one!" she huffed, crossing her arms in frustration.

Naruto chuckled at her reaction. She was worried about him but wouldn't allow herself to show it outright.

"I assure you that I haven't wasted this opportunity. I will repay this debt one day," he said, giving her a light bow of gratitude.

Though Naruto didn't feel much attachment to the village, he considered himself fair. He wasn't the type to let kindness go unrewarded.

"I…I wasn't trying to do you any personal favors," Tsunade mumbled., feeling a bit shocked after Naruto showed some genuine gratitude. "This was just a proper reward for your accomplishments. You hear me?...

Ouch!" She clutched her head in pain. "Shizune, bring me some medicine already, my head is killing me!"

"Right away, Lady Tsunade!" Her assistant rushed out of the office.

Naruto also turned to leave, since his business was concluded and the Hokage was obviously not in shape to speak with him.. "I'll take my leave then and let you rest."

As he reached the door, he overheard Tsunade speaking to Ino.

Before he could close the door, Ino stepped out after him.

"Wait! I'll go with you for a bit," she said quickly.

Naruto nodded, assuming she had something important to discuss. After all, they haven't properly talked since his return. There were probably a lot of things she wanted to say.

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The two of them walked outside the Hokage building, and Naruto headed toward his next destination.

Ino stayed close to his side, her expression tense. Once they were away from prying eyes, she pulled him into a deserted alley.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked, noting the concern etched on her face.

Ino stepped closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Naruto… tell me what happened to the Kyūbi. Where is it?"

Naruto sighed. "About that… Do you think Tsunade noticed something? I saw her staring at my cheeks earlier."

"Of course she noticed. She may have a hangover, but she is not stupid." Ino asked sharply. "Lady Tsunade couldn't have missed the fact that your whisker marks are gone. But I doubt she understands why. After all, it's supposed to be impossible to remove a bijū from a person's body without killing the jinchūriki. But she must suspect that something had happened."

Ino had spent years studying the subject, though reliable information on jinchūriki was scarce.

"I know I'll have to explain it to her eventually," Naruto admitted. "I was planning to wait until Jiraiya comes back. He can help me handle it."

"I'm surprised she hasn't questioned you yet. But she hasn't seen what I have inside your mind… So, what happened?" Ino pressed, her voice still low.

"Mmm… There's a lot to explain." Naruto scratched the back of his head, trying to organize his thoughts. "It all happened six months ago."

Ino's eyes widened at the mention of the date. Six months ago, Gaara and the One Tail Beast had started acting strangely. If that was when Naruto did something to the Kyūbi, it could explain a lot.

Naruto took a deep breath and began to recount his story.

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