Naruto : A Fool's Errand.

It wasn't very difficult to take out the team that was scouting for information nearby.

Yamato surprised them first with his Wood Release Jutsus, but Tsunade rushing out to explode all the enemies' heads like watermelons under a hydraulic press which didn't even give them the time to react in any way was the killing blow.

However, it did spray Tsunade in a shower of blood and grey matter.

'She isn't terrified of blood anymore?' Tachibana thought as he studied Tsunade while she led them with blood still dripping from her fists.

'What is she even thinking?' Tachibana wondered as he saw Tsunade's eyes focus ahead with concentration.

Tachibana's wondering didn't last long however since-

"Something on my face kid?" Tsunade asked without looking over, causing him to feel a little embarrassed and quickly shake his head with a soft response, "No."

Tsunade barely glanced in Tachibana's direction and refocused on the path ahead of them as her mind started to swim through different questions.

'...Katsuyu said that the boy was going to be important.'

'Should I not send him to the front lines then?'

'Taking him out wouldn't be much different for anyone…in fact a hastily trained genin like him would only be a weight on the teams that'll arrive sooner or later.'

'…I could have him pulled under the pretext of giving him a job to plan different strategies for us to handle the incoming attack since he has a decent mind.'

'But this kid…'

Tachibana's figure lined up with Orochimaru's in Tsunade's mind.

'They aren't very different at all…'

'He has the same boxy vibe around him that keeps him sticking out like a nail in his own team. He doesn't trust his teammates with his back and neither does he trust his Sensei…'

'He can work together with them. But work along with them? He doesn't know the starting of how to trust someone else.'

'His fights are carefully planned to keep him as safe as possible while aiming for completing his objective as fast as possible.'

'At first glance, it all seems nice since this is how a good Shinobi should aim to be…putting his mission above everything else…but the boy is much more ruthless…his aim isn't the mission assigned to him, it's himself, like Orochimaru.'

'The boy's shrewd and selfish.'

'*sigh*....what Shikaku thought about sending the boy here I don't know.'

'Did he even think about any of this?'

'He probably did.'

'It'll be troublesome to keep him around…using him like a tool would be the best…I'm sure he'll catch onto me eventually…but it shouldn't make any difference to him. He'll probably appreciate someone communicating with him in such clear terms.'

'I should keep him away from Team Seven. He isn't a good influence on Kushina's son or on his team.'

'They might not know it, but the boy will likely abandon them at the drop of a hat. I doubt he has any loyalty towards the village too.'

'If so what is his aim here?'

'Why did he leave his rich and fabulous life as a prince in the Daimyo's castle?'

'He enjoys killing?'

'No, he doesn't seem the type.'

'The thrill of a fight?'

'...no…his idea from before was to avoid direct fights…he doesn't like fighting unnecessarily.'

'Is it something strange like Orochimaru? To learn the secrets of Charka?'

'Or does it have to do with that God of his…'

'He does seem like a devout believer with how much he praises him every opportunity he sees fit.'

'....stinky brat with too many problems.'

Tsunade's eyes softened at that point as a strange thought reached her mind.

*sigh*

'Would Nawaki have survived had he been more like this boy?'

'...I asked Orochimaru to teach him thinking he was too naive…perhaps some of that sharp and keen selfish mind of his sensei's would rub off on him…but it didn't…'

'Now that I think about it, Kushina's child is much like him.'

*sigh*

'I'm getting old.'

Tsunade then looked at Tachibana and suddenly felt annoyed.

'I have a bad feeling about the kid.'

'Should I just kil-'

Tachibana felt someone staring at him with malice which frightened him since it felt very close to killing intent.

As such, Tachibana moved closer to Tsunade, wondering if their enemies had already arrived or if he was hallucinating.

Tsunade's hand moved secretly towards Tacihbana's throat, but her fingers froze before she could do anything.

Tsunade's head flicked ahead as her eyes scanned her surroundings before she forcibly pulled Tachibana's collar and threw him backwards at Shizune.

Before Tsunade could do anything else the space around her exploded with light.

Yamato who was a little ahead, moving along with Team Seven froze and suddenly slapped his hand on the tree he was standing on to cause it to overgrow into a dome around the entirety of Team Seven.

And since the genin were all rushing through the trees they slammed themselves hard against the walls confining them.

Shizune herself almost immediately used Shunshin to drag Tachibana away with her.

Tachibana who was being manhandled looked with wide eyes as a sudden-

*BBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM*

-rang out in front of him.

Shizune had grabbed him and hidden behind the trunk of a thick tree along with him as he watched waves of hot air singe the grass around them, setting entire bushes aflame as an explosive heatwave rushed outwards from the area he was just standing in.

'Wha-'

Tachibana's head had stopped working before restarting with a solution.

He just couldn't bring himself to believe that what he had just seen was real.

'This!'

'Nobody said they could do this in the anime!!'

'If Kumo could do this why didn't they just bomb the Hokage office directly like this!?'

It had taken a few seconds to process but Tachibana understood what had happened.

Kumo had used their Heavenly Transfer Technique to transport a large ball of explosive tags right in between their 'formation', right beside Tsunade.

The ball was already lit on fire and nearly halfway done through its fuse making it impossible to defuse it.

How Kumo knew about their position and exact coordinates? Tachibana didn't know, but he had a few guesses.

Perhaps some rouge Aburame or some other shinobi like Sai in Danzo's little gang worked to inform Kumo using methods they weren't trained to notice.

Tachibana's eyes flicked around as he scanned for Tsunade and he spotted her body split in half. Bleeding out. She was dying.

A shiver ran down Tachibana's spine.

But even then that wasn't what mattered since there was an even bigger explosive problem in his face right now.

Literally!

Large pillars of light erupted all around the forest and once they vanished all that remained floating in the air were balls of explosive tags of a similar size as before and they were already burning.

Kumo had teleported approximately thirty bombs of the same type that he had just seen.

It was impossible to defuse them with any method Tachibana knew.

Moments passed by as Tachibana's eyes trembled with shock and nervousness.

The bombs were all ready to release everything contained in them.

'We're going to die.'

'We're all going to die.'

'....I'm going to die.'

It wasn't the first time Tachibana had found himself in a life-threatening situation in this world.

Yet seeing Tsunade dead was enough to shut Tachibana's mind down for a few seconds longer.

Seconds in which the bombs burned further.

'Maybe Naruto can survive…'

'Maybe he'll take revenge for all of us?'

'...I…I'll be dead?'