Kaito Akaden (Kaito)

Kaito Akaden Chapter 129

"That should buy us some time," Kaito explained calmly. "It will stop the poison from spreading and keep him stable until we can find help."

Itachi nodded slowly, processing the information. "But where can we take him?"

Kaito's mind raced. "Where should we take him? We can't take him to the Konoha hospital. I don't know anyone from the Aburame clan who could help. I could bring him to Hachō Village, but I doubt they'd have the antidote for this poison." Then, a thought struck him.

"Hold onto my shoulder, Itachi," Kaito said urgently as he lifted Shisui into his arms.

Without hesitation, Itachi grabbed Kaito's shoulder.

In an instant, Kaito teleported them away.

…

Tsunade gazed down the streets of the town as the sun dipped below the horizon.

She was wearing a loose resort kimono that hung over her shoulders. She rested her head on her right arm, leaning against the windowsill as she looked out the window.

She held her pendant in her left hand; her mind was elsewhere.

Beside her, Tonton was fast asleep next to her leg.

Just then, Shizune walked into the room carrying a tray with cups and a bottle of sake.

"I'm back, Tsunade-sama," Shizune said as she placed the tray on the small table between them.

Tsunade let out a sigh as she released the pendant and turned to face Shizune.

Tonton, waking up, oinked at Shizune and walked over before settling on her lap.

Shizune smiled and patted Tonton's head. "Did you have a good nap, Tonton?" The little piglet oinked in confirmation before lying across Shizune's lap and falling asleep.

Shizune placed a cup for Tsunade and poured the sake. "Here you go, Tsunade-sama."

Without a word, Tsunade took the offered cup and turned back to the window, slowly sipping the sake.

Shizune sighed as she watched Lady Tsunade in her current state.

It had been a few months since they left Degerashi Port without informing anyone, following the revelation about what had happened to the Senju clan. Ever since then, Tsunade hadn't spoken much. She rarely engaged in conversations, only responding when spoken to, and most of the time, her mind seemed elsewhere.

After that day, Tsunade had even stopped gambling, which was a real shock to Shizune. As long as Shizune had known Tsunade, her gambling habits were a constant, so her sudden decision to quit deeply worried her.

In the first few days, Tsunade tried to keep herself numb by drinking a lot and crying frequently. However, after a few days, she stopped. She still drank sake, but not as much as before. Most of her time over the past few months was spent gazing into the distance absentmindedly.

Shizune knew that the revelation had shattered her master, and she didn't know how to fix it. So, she decided to give Tsunade some space. They were currently staying at a resort in the Land of Hot Water, where they had arrived a few days ago. Tsunade had refused to set foot in the Land of Fire and instead chose to walk around the surrounding areas, avoiding any entrance into the Land of Fire.

Tsunade continued to gaze out the window as the dark sky was illuminated by the stars and moon. The small town's streets shimmered under the glow of the streetlights.

She took another sip and finished the cup of sake, placing it back on the table behind her. She then laid her right hand across the windowsill and rested her chin on her hand, gazing down the streets below.

Shizune, who was sitting behind Lady Tsunade, sighed as she refilled Tsunade's cup.

The two of them sat in silence, as was the norm these days. Shizune stroked Tonton while she sipped her sake quietly.

Their quiet night was suddenly interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Kaito, holding an unconscious Shisui and Itachi clinging to Kaito's shoulder.

Kaito was crouched as he laid Shisui's body on the floor, and Itachi stood up.

Kaito said, "Please, we need your help, Lady Tsunade, Shizune-san."

Tsunade was the first to react, jumping back in shock at their sudden appearance. "W-what… H-how?"

Shizune quickly jumped up and stood beside Tsunade, shocked by their sudden arrival. She was holding Tonton under her right arm and a kunai in her left hand, facing Kaito and Itachi. "W-wha… K-Kaito," she stammered, both of their hearts pumping.

Tonton in Shizune's arms squealed in fear at the sudden movement.

Kaito interrupted them, looking at both Shizune and Tsunade. "We need your help. he's been poisoned," he said, gesturing to Shisui.

Itachi added with a bow, "We are extremely sorry for intruding. Please forgive us, but we need your help." He bowed deeply.

Tsunade's eyes widened as she saw Shisui. She took in Shisui's condition, and her body began to tremble. Her gaze lowered to the ground as she leaned against the wall, and slowly sliding down it into a fetal position while holding her pendant with both hands.

Shizune lowered her weapon as she fully took in the scene in front of her. She placed Tonton down and said, "Quickly! Bring him over here," as she led them to the other side of the room.

Kaito nodded and carried Shisui over to the spot, placing him in front of Shizune as he broke his gaze on Tsunade's form.

Itachi followed them.

Shizune asked, "I need to know what happened if I'm going to treat him," she said, looking at both Itachi and Kaito as she knelt down next to Shisui's body. Her hands began to glow green as she checked on Shisui.

Kaito looked at Itachi, signaling him to explain. Itachi nodded and said, "He was attacked by Danzo-sama. Shisui informed me that Danzo Sama asked to meet him before today's clan meeting. shisui was planning on casting a powerful genjutsu on the clan head to deter the coup d'état. He informed the Hokage of this earlier today. Danzo attacked Shisui during their meeting for Shisui's eyes. He managed to escape them but was poisoned." Itachi explained everything he knew.

Kaito had informed Itachi of the failed negotiations with Lady Tsunade, so telling them the whole truth wouldn't do much.

Kaito added, "He was most probably poisoned by an Aburame. I placed a seal on Shisui to slow the spread; it works by lowering the heart rate," explaining to Shizune why Shisui had such a low heart rate.

Shizune nodded and said, "That's why his heart rate is so low. I take it that Danzo has his eyes."

Itachi nodded and said, "Danzo has one of his eyes. Shisui gave me his other eye before he tried to take his own life." Itachi said, showing her the other eye.

Shizune kept nodding and replied, "Hold onto it; I will need it later. We need to first remove the poison from his system before we can heal him." Looking at Kaito and Itachi, Shizune instructed, "Get me three buckets of water, an empty bucket, some towels, and some warm water. And remove his shirt quickly." She got up and rummaged through the bag to take out some medicine.

Kaito and Itachi nodded, and Kaito created three shadow clones to help Itachi and Shizune as they left the room in a hurry to find the items listed. A clone removed Shisui's Jonin vest and shirt, getting him ready for Shizune.

Meanwhile, the real Kaito was looking at Tsunade, who was sitting against the wall next to the window in a fetal position, holding her pendant, shivering, and crying.

Kaito, looking at her, didn't know what to do. In the original timeline, she had snapped out of her hemophobia after being inspired by Naruto. Kaito didn't have the means to recreate the same situation for her to overcome it, so he had thought of a few ways to get rid of Tsunade's hemophobia. One way was to seal away the part of her memory that caused her hemophobia. Another solution could be Kotoamatsukami—the version used on Itachi's Edo Tensei during the Fourth Shinobi War, the one that took ten years to cool down. However, using the second option would have revealed that he had knowledge of Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan ability to both Shisui and Itachi, which would make them suspicious of him. Additionally, the first solution would likely drive Tsunade to murder Kaito. Kaito shook his head, knowing that it wasn't an option.

Looking away from Tsunade and back at Shizune, who was instructing Kaito's clones and Itachi on what to do, Kaito sighed and thought, "Maybe I can just talk to her. ya know."

Sighing, Kaito walked over to Tsunade, who was unaware of her surroundings.

Walking over to her, Kaito looked down at her and knelt in front of her.

Looking at her closely, Kaito felt sad for her.

Kaito sighed and gently lifted her chin a bit, wiping Tsunade's tears away with his thumb as she watched him intently.

Kaito spoke, "I know it's hard," he started and paused to wipe his other eye. "I know it's hard to lose someone close to us. The pain can be unbearable, ya know." Kaito smiled sadly at her as she watched him intently. "I've felt it too...," he paused and continued, "I watched my parents getting impaled by the Nine Tails as I stood there. I couldn't do anything, ya know? I watched as Dad and Mom said their last words to us."

Shizune stopped what she was doing to look behind her upon hearing Kaito talk to Tsunade. She wanted to stop Kaito but didn't as she listened.

Kaito continued, "I watched as Dad sealed the Nine Tails with the last of his chakra into Naruto. I watched as Dad fell lifeless to the ground...," he paused, reliving the day. "I watched as Mom fell down with a huge hole in her torso. I held her in as she slowly died... We were lucky that day. If I hadn't awakened my Kekkei Genkai that day," he closed his eyes as a tear escaped his eyes, "I would have lost both my Mom and Dad that day... I still wonder to this day, what if I had awakened healing abilities a little earlier? Would I have saved my Dad? Could I have prevented Dad from dying?"

Kaito said, "I blamed myself for a long time, ya know? For Dad's death, I had a feeling that something bad was going to happen, but I didn't do much to prevent it. I blamed myself every time I saw Mom crying at night for a long time. That day, I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't let anything happen to my loved ones ever again. I know that I might fail, but I won't give up. As long as I have even one person that I care for, I'll do whatever it takes to keep them safe till the day I die. That's my Nindo, my ninja way. Because I know Dad wouldn't want me to keep blaming myself, he would want me to live on carrying the happy memories that we shared, ya know. you still have loved ones, my mom, Shizune-san, and even Tonton. since you are like a sister to mom you are also one of my precious people" Kaito said, with a smile, looking into Tsunade's eyes with determination.

Then Kaito bowed his head fully and said, "So I ask you one more time, please help me keep the people I love safe. Help me keep them safe from Danzo and the Third Hokage."

After a while, Kaito sighed and stood up, turning back to look at Shizune and the others working on Shisui.

Tsunade just sat there, staring at Kaito for a long time. Her tears had dried up. A moment later, she slowly started to stand up shakily, leaning against the wall.

She stood up fully and walked slowly past Kaito with her head down to where Shizune was treating Shisui.

Kaito watched as Tsunade walked past him over to Shizune.

Reaching Shizune, Tsunade said, "Move, Shizune. Let me take a look at him."

Shizune, shocked, looked back at Tsunade. "But, Lady Tsunade…" But looking at Tsunade's determined face, Shizune numbly nodded and moved aside for Tsunade to work.

Tsunade, kneeling beside Shisui, placed her hand into the bucket for the solution and took it out with precise chakra control. She lifted the blob of water and said, "Hold him down and keep him still. This will hurt a lot, and I want the first bucket of water as soon as I'm done with this. Keep some of the poison aside so we can make an antidote." She ordered them, and all nodded with a "Hai, Tsunade-sama."

Nodding, she started working on Shisui, cutting open a hole in his abdomen. She pushed the blob of water into Shisui's body as his body reacted but was held down by Kaito's clones and Itachi. Tsunade extracted the water blob over Shisui's heart as purple liquid mixed with blood came out of his body.

Tsunade dumped the water into the bucket and took the solution from the other bucket, repeating the process again and again as Shizune kept changing the water with help from Kaito.

She did this a couple of times before ending it.

Tsunade wiped the sweat from her forehead and said, "That should keep him stable until we synthesize an antidote," as she stood up and, looking at Shizune, said, "You know what to do, Shizune."

Shizune nodded happily, seeing her master back again. "Hai, I will get right on it."

Tsunade nodded, then walked back to the small coffee table, sat down, poured herself a cup of sake, and chugged it down before looking at Kaito and saying, "Sit down brat. We have a lot to discuss."

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