Naruto slowly opened his eyes to find himself staring at a white ceiling. He felt something heavy on his lap and something else restricting the ability to move his left arm. He tried to sit up, but it was difficult for him. Looking at his left arm, it was wrapped in a cask. Looking at his right arm, there was an IV drip. Naruto then looked down at his lap and to his surprise, there was his mother. Her arms were under her head, using them as a make-shift pillow. Naruto saw that her eyes were puffy and red, probably from crying. Turning his head, he was more surprised to see his father, Minato, sleeping in a chair with Naruko and Menma using him as a pillow. His head was backward, as Minato had fallen asleep looking at the ceiling. Naruto thought for a few seconds before he started to move, "W-water," Naruto choked out. He then saw a glass of water on the night-stand next to him. Reaching out, Naruto tried to grab it, but he couldn't. It was then, that Naruto felt Kushina waking up, "N-Naruto?" Kushina whispered as Naruto looked at her. Watching Kushina's eyes slowly open, he froze, "Naruto?" she asked again as her eyes grew wide as she saw that her son was awake, "NARUTO!" she screamed as she shot up and wrapped him in her arms

"K-Kaa-chan!" Naruto gagged out

"MY BABY BOY!" Kushina cried. Tears flowed once more from her eyes as she cried and cried, all the while Naruto was being crushed by her hug. Kushina's shouting also woke up Minato, Naruko, and Menma. Minato jumped up in surprise as he stood up, "Naruto! You're awake!" he said as he rushed to his sons' side, "Naruto, do you need anything? Are you feeling funny? Tell us what happened!" he shouted, making Naruto flinch, or at least flinch as much as a boy could while being hugged to death by his mother. Naruko then tapped her mother's shoulder saying: "Kaa-chan? D-do you think you can let go of nii-san?" as Kushina saw Naruto's face turning blue

"Oh! Sorry!" Kushina cried as she let go. Naruto started to breathe again as Kushina took a step back, "T-thank-you, Naruko," Naruto muttered

"N-no problem," Naruko said with a sad smile

"What the hell happened to you?!" Menma asked

"I-I... what happened?" Naruto asked as Minato gave a sorrowful sigh

"You showed up at Tsuande's doorstep with a mangled arm... and many other injuries that I dare not pronounce," Minato explained as he squatted down. Minato ran his hand through Naruto's hair as he looked at Naruto in the eye, "Naruto, can you do me a favor?" he asked

"W-what is it?" Naruto replied

"Can you remember who did this to do?" Minato asked

"What?"

"Do you remember the person who did this to you?" Kushina repeated. Naruto thought long and hard, remembering how Kung-Karate Tiger whooped his ass. Kushina looked at the heart monitor as she saw Naruto's heart-rate accelerate and his breathing pattern also increased. She then pulled Minato away from him as she said: "Naruto-kun, Tou-san and I are going to step outside. You two as well,"

"But Kaa-chan! He needs us!" Menma complained as Kushina grabbed him by the ear

"When I say:'jump', you ask: 'how high'! Now come along, Naruto-kun needs his rest," Kushina said, gritting her teeth as she drags Menma and his father out of the room. Naruko slowly walked behind them as she quickly stopped and ran back to Naruto, giving him a hug, "Get well soon," she said as she ran out of the room. Naruto was left alone in the room as he looked at the glass of water, "Maybe I should've asked them to grab the glass for me," he said as suddenly a hand picked up the glass and handed it to him

"That's what happens when you don't plan ahead," Garou said as Naruto looked at him

"G-Garou-sensei?! W-what are you doing here?!" Naruto shouted as Garou put a finger to his own lips

"Shhh! Be quiet! I'm not even supposed to be here," Garou replied as Naruto took the glass. Naruto felt like he had cotton in his mouth, but that quickly went away as he downed the entire glass in one go. Naruto gave a relieving sigh as he tried to set the glass back to its original place. Garou took the glass and finished the task, placing it back on the night-stand, "Alright, so how ya holding up?" Garou asked

"My arm feels like... it's not even there," Naruto replied as he held it up

"Yeah, I can understand that... Oh yeah, I've got a present for ya," Garou said as he pulled out 4 ANBU masks from behind his back. One was a Bull, another one was a Dog, another a Bird, and another a Cat. Garou seemed to smirk as Naruto stared in awe, "W-where did you get those?!" Naruto asked

"I've got my ways, which one do you want?"

"I-I don't know, give me a second," Naruto replied. He inspected each mask as Garou held it up. A few moments later, Naruto grabbed the Dog mask. Garou's smirk grew larger as he said: "Good choice,"

"Really?" Naruto asked

"Yeah, but try to keep it hidden. Many people would kill for a mask like that, but I managed to get it with the skin of my teeth!" Garou said as he saw Naruto smile. Naruto put on the mask, making sure it would fit, "How do I look?" Naruto asked

"You'll grow into it, kid. But for now, just get some rest... we'll continue your training 3 months from now, alright?"

"O-okay, sensei," Naruto replied. Garou ruffled Naruto's hair, saying: "Thatta brat! Now get some sleep, you'll need it before I start beating you into the ground again,"

"Okay, later!" Naruto replied as Garou walked to the window and jumped out of it. Garou fell 3 stories and onto the ground without so much as a sweat. He then began walking toward the village as he remembered the night he brought Naruto to Tsunade.

Garou ran through the village as fast as he could. Naruto was unconscious from the blood loss in his arms and he was worried. For one of the few times in his life, he was worried about someone other than himself. Not since Tareo. But that was for another time. Garou was sprinting as fast as he could as suddenly a pair of ANBU appeared in front of him. One was wearing a Bull mask and the other was wearing a Bird mask, "Stop right there!" the Bull-masked ANBU shouted

"OUTTA MY WAY!" Garou screamed as he jumped into the air and kicked both of them in the head, sending them flying through buildings. Garou continued running, pressed for time. He had no idea where he was going. But he remembered that Tsunade's last name was 'Senju', meaning that he had to go to the Senju Compound. Gritting his teeth, Garou pressed off his foot and launched himself through the air and onto a roof. He then almost destroyed the roof with the amount of force he put in his feet to run as fast as he could toward the Senju Compound. Moments later, Garou heard the sound of hundreds upon hundreds of birds chirping and electricity coming at him. Garou jumped into the air as he saw an ANBU wearing a Dog mask look up at him as Garou kicked the ANBU in the side of the head. The ANBU was sent into another building as Garou still ran. He saw that he was getting closer to the Senju Compound when an ABNU wearing a Cat mask appeared with a sword in her hand. Garou gritted his teeth as he tossed Naruto into the air, took the blade in his hands, shattered it, and elbowed the ANBU in the collar bone, shattering it. He saw the surprise in the ANBU's eyes as he caught Naruto and ran to the front door of the Senju Compound, "OPEN UP!" Garou screamed as he kicked down the door. As the door shattered into splinters, he saw a young girl with black hair wearing a long bluish-black kimono with white trimmings, held closed by a white obi, and open-toed sandals with low heels, "W-who are you?!" she asked as he handed her Naruto

"FIX HIM!" Garou shouted as he ran away. The girl almost dropped Naruto as her eyes widened in shock, "TSUNADE-SAMA!"

Garou stopped remembering as he found himself back in the park. Sitting back down on his bench, he sighed as he laid down and said: "Get well soon, kid," while staring up at the sky.