Alone
Chapter 8

“Damn… where’d he run off to…?” Tsunade had stopped to catch her breath when she saw a shadow move across the street. “Huh? Naruto? Naruto! Is that you?!”

“Hey! Don’t you dare mistake me for that loser!”

“Huh? Who are you?” the origin of the shadow had been a fairly large boy with short brown hair, brown eyes wearing a thick coat and, oddly enough, shorts. On his knee was a fairly large bruise.

“That’s none of your business old lady!”

“… what did you say?”

“I said-”

“Hey! Did you find the brat who gave you that bruise?”

“Who are you?” Tsunade asked getting annoyed.

“I’m his father! And who are you!” The man had the same eyes and hair as the boy did except that he was wearing a thinner coat and long pants.

“I asked first!” As she said this a third man appeared behind the father, he had
dark brown hair and light brown eyes, like the father he had a thin coat on and long pants.

“Hey! What’re you two doing? We have to find that brat as soon as possible!”

“Who are YOU?!”

“I’m this boy’s uncle and this is my brother. Who are you?”

“Seeing as you didn’t give me any names, neither will I. I’m a doctor.”

“What’s a doctor doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be in a hospital?”

“What are a father, son and uncle doing here?”

“I asked first.”

“Too bad, because I’m not telling you. Besides I have something very important to do.” She turned around and began to run down an ally.

“Hey if you find that loser give him a good beating for me! He busted up my leg!”

‘So that’s what they’re here for… I have to find Naruto before they do…’

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“Where is he?” Iruka and Kakashi had stopped to catch their breath on a snow covered bench.

“I have no idea…” Kakashi said as he stood up.

“…”

“Uhh… don’t worry… I’m sure he’s fine. Even if we don’t find him… I’m sure Tsunade will. Don’t forget, she’s pretty stubborn, she won’t give up until she finds him, even if she has to drag him back…”

“…yeah, you’re right.”

“Let’s keep looking.”

“Okay.”

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“Oi… that kid id really good at hiding…”

Tsunade had to stop again to catch her breath.

“You didn’t call me a brat…”

“Huh?” Tsunade quickly spun around to see a boy with blond hair an whisker marks on his face. “Naruto! You’re okay! I was so worried!”

“Why would you worry about me?”

“I already told you. You almost froze to death.” She walked up to him and knelt down in front of him. “Come on, let’s go back.”

“Why?”

“?” She looked at him puzzled. “Because everyone is worried.”

“No… I mean why do we have to go back to the hospital… can’t we just go somewhere else? At least until they stop looking for me? They know you’re a doctor, they might come to the hospital looking for me…”

“… Alright. We can go somewhere else.” Tsunade stood up and instinctively took Naruto’s hand. “Huh?”

“Something wrong?”

“You’re freezing!” Tsunade then took off her own coat and placed on the boy. “Aren’t you cold?”

“Not really, I haven’t noticed at all…”

“We better get something warm in you…” After saying this, Naruto looked up to Tsunade who noticed this. “Something wrong?”

“… no one’s ever been this nice to me before…”

“Then you must have met some real jerks!”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right…”

“Hey! There he is!” It was te father son and uncle. They then began to walk towards Naruto and Tsunade

“Oh no…”

“Don’t worry.”

“Huh?”

With that Tsunade walked up to a flimsy metal building and waited until the three people were under the roof and she hit it with all her might. The snow that had gathered from the previous storm had been jarred loose form the impact and fell on top the three.

“See? Everything’s fine.” She then took his hand again. “Come on; let’s get you something warm to eat.”

“Ramen?”

“Sure.”

“Alright!”

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“…we’ll find him soon…”

“…yeah…”

“Kakashi! Iruka!”

“…huh...?”

“What are you still doing out at this hour? And why are you on the ground?”

“Tsu-Tsunade…?” Kakashi looked wearily up from the ground.

“Why aren’t you looking for Naruto?” Iruka also looked up at her.

“I already found him.”

“What!!!” Both Kakashi and Iruka looked shocked.

“Yeah… I found him about ten hours ago.”

“TEN HOURS!!!” Kakashi looked astonished.

“Where is he now?” Iruka looked even more worried.

“At my house.”

“Huh?”

“He ate too much ramen and fell asleep. So I took him home.”

“But-”

“Never mind the details… you two better get home and rest. Lord Hokage wants too see all of us bright and early tomorrow.”

“You gotta be kidding…” Kakashi asked her hoping he was right.

“Afraid not! See ya tomorrow!”

“…joy…”