What it takes to be Hokage

Chapter 14

The Clan Head whistled, impressed as Hashirama and Naruto flew in opposite directions from each other. The power the two could wield was astounding in its ability to be both so destructive as well as healing. The fortified walls Naruto had built were pulverised as the shock wave from the senjutsu blasted outwards, a radius of danger powerful enough to make the Clan Head shunshin out of the room for his own safety.

Hashirama and Naruto were already out of harm's way, having been forcefully thrown in that direction anyways. Without the walls as support, the roof collapsed with a ground jarring and ear splitting, splintering crash.

Strangely, the explosion itself hadn't caused much of a noise, other than the destruction of the newly created house.

"What, the hell?!" Hashirama wheezed as he pulled himself out of the rubble of the wall he'd landed against, causing most of the damage as he had done so. "That baka! What the hell was he thinking?" His heart was racing, his mind spinning with all the possible things that could have gone wrong. Naruto might have even been killed for all he knew. As it was he was feeling incredibly lucky to be alive and relatively unscratched.

Mito rushed towards the Senju, concern blazing in her eyes. She immediately started checking Hashirama over for injuries, the other standing still and letting her. He knew it would be fruitless to try and fight it, to assure her that he was fine. She would still need to see for herself.

Asuna had moved towards Naruto, who wasn't getting up. Hashirama frowned, his own concern building. What they had attempted was something that was entirely new to the Senju. To repair something so damaged and already partially healed. He had nothing to go on, nothing to say whether it would work or not.

In truth, all he'd been doing was trying to see the extent of the damage so that he could begin to brainstorm ways on how to help Naruto.

But he'd sensed so much of the demon's chakra. It lingered in Naruto's cells, almost as though it was as much Naruto's chakra as it was the demon's. But there had been a third chakra. So similar to the demon's it could have been a relation. A more balanced version of the demon's chakra. It was wilder though, younger. Had Naruto encountered another demon? Or perhaps the same version of the one sealed within him.

The third chakra was what prevented the injury from healing completely. It was corrosive, burning into Naruto's cells over and over, eating away as fast as the healing process took place. Could the senjutsu have been enough to flush it out, was it pure enough to overpower the third chakra?

"Hashirama-Sama, could you please come here?" Asuna asked quietly, bowing her head slightly in Hashirama's direction. "I'm not sure how to help Naruto-san as I do not know what happened."

Hashirama winced as he took a step, silently noting that he was going to be feeling this one in the morning. He glanced in the direction of the blond as he walked towards him. Naruto was sprawled across the rubble of his own creation, not moving and eyes shut.

Hashirama carefully lowered himself so that he was kneeling next to Naruto, hands glowing with regular medical chakra. He hovered his hands over Naruto's form, taking in the little things, the scarred tissue, the heightened chakra coils . . . all the little indications of Naruto's profession.

As he passed a hand over Naruto's face, his frown deepened. Senjutsu lingered under the skin, moving through the delicate coils around not one but both of Naruto's eyes. The scar over his damaged eye was still visible but no longer the angry raw gash it had been moments before. It looked completely healed; faded but still visible.

The third chakra appeared to have been flushed out, as well as the demon's chakra, but that was hovering near the edges of the remaining Senjutsu, testing the limits of its strength. In time the demonic chakra would return.