The shinobi all saw the wisdom in that while the civilians found it hard to argue that.
"I will determine Sasuke's punishment after hearing from the retrieval team to get all the facts in. If anyone tries acting before I declare anything official on anyone involved, they will be imprisoned for the rest of their life without bail or parole. No exceptions! Now, unless there's anything else on the agenda, I'm going to end this." Tsunade continued. No one said anything. "Good. Now go home people."
Kushina arrived at the Valley of the End. "Naruto's been moved." She said, not seeing him anywhere nearby or even detecting any traces of him other than his blood on the ground. "Hmm... someone was here and took him away. Probably back to Konoha. I guess I better go there. Damn, it'll take me till noon tomorrow at least to get there."
Still eager to see her son as soon as possible, she headed in the direction Konoha was. After a few minutes, she had to stop. "What's this?"
"You wished to see me?" A male voice asked, his face hidden from view by a mask and most of his upper body obscured by shadows. All that could be clearly seen of him were his black pants and blue open-toed shinobi boots.
"Yes. To put it simple, we want Tsunade out of office now." One of the three people meeting this hidden man said.
"She is not doing her duties properly and is turning blind eyes to the real threats while calling others threats instead." A second person added.
"And if that wasn't bad enough, she's trying to give the shinobi ideas that they don't have to work for the civilians, but rather we must submit to them. The nerve of her. The shinobi are here to be our servants, not the other way around." The third voice stated.
"You are aware that I'm a shinobi right?" The hidden man replied. "Why should I do as you ask and turn against the strongest one in the village just because some cowards are afraid of her?" His tone clearly showed he wasn't against the idea, but he was going to require some incentive before he did as asked.
The first voice sighed. "Every shinobi is a mercenary, meaning pay the right price and they'll do anything." They held out a bag full of ryo coins and bills, easily full with two years pay for a jounin.
The hidden man took the sack and checked to ensure it wasn't a fake bribe created by a genjutsu. Such a thing was not uncommon in underhanded situations such as this. "I think I can work something out. Though be aware that I will not be able to act until tomorrow. An operation such as this requires careful strategy, not impulse, and more manpower than I alone can provide."
The second person nodded. "Do what you must. Just ensure Tsunade is out of the picture and the Kyuubi brat is in hell where he belongs. We will take care of the rest."
Late at night, Naruto finally opened his eyes. "Wh-where am I?" He quietly asked as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, not fully aware of his surroundings.
"Glad to see you're awake Naruto." Kakashi's voice was heard.
"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, his sight coming into focus. He saw he was in a hospital room resting on a bed with an IV attached to his right arm, and apparently something covering his right eye completely. Kakashi was seated beside him reading a book under a lamp and strangely enough, Sakura and Hinata were seated in two guest chairs alongside the wall. They looked like they had been asleep but were now waking up from the noise.
"Try not to move too much Naruto. You don't want to open your wounds, especially those types." Kakashi told him, then looked remorseful. "I'm terribly sorry about adding to them. I never though that Sasuke would... do such a horrendous thing."
"What did he do?" Naruto asked.
'He doesn't remember? The shock and the passing out must have made him forget.' The jounin thought.
Before he could answer Naruto's question, one of the girls embraced him in a hug. "Naruto-kun!"
Naruto winced. "AGH! Not so tight!"
Hinata loosened her hold but did not relinquish it. Her body lightly trembled and sobs could be heard. "I was so worried you weren't going to make it."
Naruto began to soothingly rub her back. "It's okay Hinata-chan, I'm alright." The Hyuuga heiress surprised Kakashi and a now-awake Sakura by leaning up and kissing him again, and Naruto did not react like this was out of the ordinary for them.
Sakura smiled but felt her heart clench. 'I guess I waited a bit too long. Naruto, I hope you're happy with Hinata.'
Naruto seemed to now notice Sakura was in the room too and looked a bit nervous. "Oh, hi Sakura. I thought you would be home or with Sasuke now."
The pinkette shook her head. "No. I wanted to make sure you were going to wake up before I left, and even if I wanted to I couldn't see Sasuke right now anyway."
Naruto was confused. Sakura just referred to Sasuke without the kun suffix and said she wasn't able to see him or even interested in it. "Why? What happened?"
"Naruto, what's the last thing you remember?" Kakashi asked.
Naruto thought it over. "Umm... I fought Sasuke and beat him, though he didn't know when to quit. But before everything goes dark, I could have sworn I saw a woman claiming to be my mother."
"Your mother?" His three visitors repeated.
"Yeah. The weird thing was she said her name was Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze. Namikaze, like the Yondaime." Naruto said. "It had to be some sort of trick. Like I ever could be related to a guy like the Yondaime."
Kakashi immediately stiffened for a moment, something only Sakura noticed. "Kakashi-sensei, is something wrong?"