The shadows

ch 17

Naruto had an important mission. He was doing this mission as a ROOT agent. He was with two other agents as assistants. They were under names 432 and 219. Most ROOT agents didn't have a name or it wasn't mentioned on their profile.

They were simply assigned a number. However sometimes during these kinds of political missions, they would be assigned a code name by their leader. Naruto gave them the names rat and hawk.

From their profiles hawk was a bastard child of Hyuga. His eyes didn't look like a Byakugan but they were. His range was more limited. His mother was a civilian and was paid to give up the child at birth.

Rat was a normal orphan but he had a talent for blending in and following targets without being seen. He usually took spy missions. Overall his team was the best suited for this mission.

They were on a retrieval mission for Tsunade Senju. Naruto worked on the mission proposal for a long time. He knew he had the best chance of convincing her and it was vital to his plans.

It took some back and forth but finally, he managed a plan that could work. It was even confirmed with the Hokage. They were supposed to find her based on the information they had and Naruto as the leader was supposed to take the task of talking with her.

Rat and hawk were to stay behind in order not to intimidate Tsunade into fleeing. They were currently near the village she was last seen. It was a small village near the fire capital.

There was a disease going around and Tsunade had spent the last month trying to cure people. The disease would start with some sort of fatigue. Some patients complained about a lack of energy, aches, pains in their bodies, or headaches.

Then the other symptoms would show. There would be a high fever. The fever would keep going higher and higher. Then came organ failures. The body would shut down part by part. Making the patient unable to digest food and medicine and they would die within a month.

The village was under quarantine. No one was allowed in or out. They were guards stationed outside the village to ensure that rule. Some samples were sent to Konoha for Orochimaru and the medical division to find the source.

Both came to the same conclusion as Tsunade. The disease was not caused by viruses or bacteria. The was no sign of the cause without a personal investigation. There have only been some discoveries in medicine to force the fever down for a while and allow more time for investigation.

Naruto was sent on the delivery mission of the medicine since he has a natural immunity to diseases. He was carrying medicine and food rations for the medics to make sure the contamination wasn't from the food or water.

He was also carrying medical supplies and things for a makeshift lab for Tsunade to conduct more experiments. They were now at the village guard station. Naruto said goodbye to the agents and after some document checks, he was allowed in.

The village looked dead. Everyone was ordered to stay at home to minimize contact. Food and water rations were given weekly so that people didn't need to go out. The only reason for going out was for people who showed the early symptoms to admit to the giant tents set up as a hospital.

By the last reports, 23 percent of the 1000 population was either contaminated or dead. There were around 120 patients in the makeshift hospital. There were only 15 nurses and 5 medic nins. They were all heavily dressed to make sure they weren't in direct contact with the disease.

According to Tsunade's reports and Orochimaru's theories, whatever was causing the disease wasn't able to affect individuals with high chakra levels. So the medic nins weren't wearing heavy dresses.