None amongst the assembled truly believed in what they knew to be a possibility, the news came with the speed and barbarousness of a lightning strike. All gathered were close, true friends and loyal comrades, powerful shinobi. Crammed within the small space that was the Hokage's office, they had waited in lingering silence for ten minutes -Kakashi knew, he had counted the seconds with his head delved into his book,- no one had dared speak with the aura of melancholy plainly coiling. The young were peeking at each other with small twitches of their heads and casting eyes- wondering what their leader had summoned them for and why she had made no move to speak. Those older with much experience in receiving unpleasant or tragic news; waited with rather bland expressions and passive dispositions, though Iruka did shift around in slight, a sweat obvious on his face. Kakashi was sympathetic to the man in a way, as he stood merely as a chuin who taught at the academy and was therefore unused to being around wisened Jonin in a serious atmosphere, though he kept a more composed stance than many of those younger.

It was then that Tsunade spoke, and it was slowly, processed words that were so plainly thought out carefully they sound almost as a sombre speech would. Everyone stilled however as she began; but as she finished it was not stillness that held them all, no everyone was frigid- frozen and completely tensed. Kakashi had heard a loud ringing passing through his head, buzzing and buzzing in his ears, increasing in intensity within milliseconds. Not glancing at those accompanying him, acknowledgement unto his surroundings was nye impossible to his mind at that moment: he was a previous ANBU with a blackened past of much killing and many deaths standing behind him. Yet, the words sounded so bleak to his ears in, that none would fathom he had any knowledge of death; in response, his body then began to tremble, to shake, the brunt of his emotions were inescapable and he violently twitched, once, twice.- Yet before something further occurred in instinct, he gripped himself -as he always did. Therein, everything stopped for him, and though there were streams of unstopping tears down his cheek, made uncomfortable on his mask, by experience his expression turned to stone once more.

The drastic sobbing behind awoke many of his fellows from rigidity: Sakura was the first to speak and denial retained her express, a hesitant smile on her face and a laugh in her voice. No one said anything in juxtaposition to her words "sensei that-" But she could not speak further as she received a rather violent glare from hazel eyes. Again it was silent, in the room, and his student trembled, fists clenched so tight that Kakashi could see blood down her knuckles, that was before she shrieked, not a scream, not a yell, an abrupt, piercing shriek throughout the air. Then she ran out of the room at a shinobi speed, he turned to watch her run, and did nothing to halt her. Slowly he glanced to everyone else- a devastatingly small amount of people in their group.

Shikamaru stared unblinking at the Hokage, then with quaking hands, took out a cigarette, lit it between his lips, and silently left at an exceptionally slow pace.

Iruka sobbed brutally loud at the back, hiccuping at intervals and the small sound of his knees crunching, hitting, upon the ground had Kakashi breath deep through his nose.

Jiraiya lent against the wall, arms crossed and eyes so tightly closed his entire face was distorted, lips so thinned that one could see them tremble. His breathing could be heard and it too shook.

Tsunade glared at her desk with her chin over folded hands and a quake in her shoulders.

His right eye blurred his vision with wetness, while under his headband- his left eye stung. He pushed his hands deep into his pockets and walked away, closing the door gently behind him.

As done too many times previous, he choose a small street to walk down with minimal people, around the edge of the village where the leafs echoed in the background and his feet crunched the gravel. Sighs mainly travelled out of his lips, and he could hardly bare to blink for fear of what he might see should his eyelid close for even a fractional moment. It was quickly without thought and within his head, that he found himself lingering within the cemetery, it surprised him slightly, as he most commonly went to the Memorial Stone to speak to Obito- there were only two names inside the cemetery that he was truly close to and that was Rin, and his father. Both people he had failed to save from suicide, and could not bare to speak to in any form, he hardly allowed himself to consciously think about them- haunting expressions frozen to their faces in death, always aroused behind his irises when he did: gasping blood and fogged eyes. The reason he did not visit the cemetery unless necessary, but now he stood amongst the graves, apparently by an instinct he did not want.

His chest was tight. Eye lingering on his father's stone for a fractional moment, and then denied his own mind and left.

It was a fight within himself that he made his legs move towards the hospital- a fight inside his legs and the want to run in the corner of his thoughts. Acknowledgement, of the facts circling in his head was not a desire, was not something he wished to accept- yet it was both duty and necessity that drove him inside the building and through the halls. Seeing the damage would be so different from knowing it, as it always was, and he only managed to crack the room door open at first in hesitation, and he considered tightly, the benefit of leaving. It was minutes of standing still with a hand on the metal and shallow breathing that he steered himself inside.

Naruto lay on the bed, his breath obvious as the sheets rose and fell- his short blond hair was sprawled ever so slightly clashing against the white pillow. Yet, the rise and fall of the sheet was unsteady, and his hair moved every time his head twitched violently to the left. In some mercy, he was fast asleep, and as Kakashi drew closer he was unable to ignore the large and uprisen scar running from the corner of his mouth and stopping just before the peek of his jaw. His neck was uncovered, and the reasoning was obvious whence one saw the other extreme smoothened scar- appearing to be deep at the shoulder and lightening slightly as it descended down his chest and under the hospital gown. Though adapt to the sight of many injuries, the vision of pale scars against such tan skin made him swallow down bile, for there was a subsequent one on the other side. But on the other side- his breath shook, Naruto's arm was nearly burnt off, there were peakings of skin in small areas, the rest, however, was blackened as ash- but the peeks of skin in between made it akin to smouldering embers.

Sakura was asleep in the chair beside, tear treks clear on her face as she slept slouched her head thrown over the back of the chair- and slightly- snoring.

In a manner they hadn't in years, his hands were shaking violently, stuttering along as he moved it to grasp the sheet covering Naruto's prone form. It was yelling within his mind, to look, to see if there was further damage. Because, under the scrutiny of Lady Tsunade's words, there was something further, a way in which the blond was worse then Kakashi could presently see. As it was, only the sight of his breathing- though quaked, was comforting him, a miracle in itself. His he peeled back the sheet.

"I have to inform- I must inform you all. Recently, I sent Naruto on a brief solo mission of C-rank class to a nearby hamlet- an easy mission which was to last only a few hours at most. However. It took two weeks before we heard anything at all... And it was not a report from him; but rather a scouting team we had nearby the Land Of Rivers, that is, a scout. He had found both of his comrade's bodies on one of the river banks, one dead already; a hole in his chest. While the other was severely injured. The scout was then informed of what happened... And it is not pleasant: Apparently, they were in the area when they saw Naruto stumbling along the riverside crawling over the stones and coughing up blood, however, before any proper action could be taken Sasuke decided to show himself.

And though weak, the brat decided to stand and face him, some words were exchanged apparently -though we don't know what they were... Then there was a horrifically short fight... Both chuin attempted to intervene but as you already know, one was killed and the other was barely alive. Our one scout luckily managed to find Naruto further down the bank, near death. Naruto's left side was-" She stopped. "-he managed to get him back to Konoha yesterday, barely. His pulse was near gone, he was bleeding extensively, and he had minimal chakra when brought to me. I started working on him, however- Naruto heals extensively fast as many of you know, so I was under the impression that all injuries would be properly healed over a couple of hours- at least that is what I thought when I began. As I worked though, it was impossible not to notice that his wounds were not healing at all, not even marginally as they normally did. Checking his abdomen I found the reason- the Kyuubi had been extracted.

The simple fact that he had been found in The Land of Rivers should have made it obvious in itself, as to our reports; is where the Akatsuki was last sighted. So you understand, it is a miracle that Naruto breathes at all. Having lost his biju- near without chakra, and having to battle against a powerful rogue ninja. Naruto has been extensively injured, and candidly: I do not know if he will survive."

It was in horror that those words echoed, as he stared- once more his tears flowed down and for the first time since his father's death he let lose a sob. Shoulders shaking violently, and he hiccuped as his leg buckled beneath him. Looking down, and seeing that Naruto's hospital gown had been cut on his left side to avoid touching and potentially damaging the flesh of his torso; black and smouldering just as his arm. It was worse though, far worse- Naruto's left leg was gone, and only an ashen stub remained.  

~0~

I'll add a cover later