It took him a while, but with great mental fort.i.tude, Fuzen did manage to redirect his gaze from her wonderful backside and actually see where she was leading them.The research lab appeared to have been in active use for quite some time as it hadn"t been cleaned up for some time. The shelves along the wall where books and scrolls were supposed to be had significant sections missing and lay cluttered on top and in the near vicinity of a large table in the centre of the room.
"Wait here," she said after they reached the table in the middle and went to get something.
Tsunade came back with one chair and presented it to Hiruzen.
"Been a while Tsunade," Hiruzen said sitting down.
Danzo didn"t appear to be on the good side of Tsunade as she totally ignored him and wasn"t giving him the same courtesy of a chair. Understandable though, he wasn"t really a people person.
"Yeah, it has, hasn"t it?" She said thinking it over.
"Haven"t seen you since after I granted you permission to hole up in here," Hiruzen glanced around the room.
"And that was three months ago. I had to ask one of the nurses here who brings you food to schedule this appointment for me."
"That long?" Seemingly no aware of how long it"d been.
"Yes, that long. I do hope that new seal you thought about is coming along nicely?" He said.
"It"s not that easy, though I"ve done considerable progress and shouldn"t be too far away," – Tsunade answered – "but we"re not here for me today, are we?"
"Nope, we"re here for me. The old men are worried..." Fuzen said taking it as his cue.
She looked at him up and down, "Well, jump up," she patted the table indicated where she wanted him.
Fuzen didn"t mind if women took charge every now and then. A little variation never hurt a man. Doing as told, he jumped up which in return gave him a perfect vantage point.
The red miniskirt he followed on their way inside and the loose white crop top he was currently looking down upon, showing plenty cleavage in the process, did nothing to hide Tsunade"s womanly charms.
"You okay, little man?" She asked noticing his distracted look.
"I"m fine," he gave Tsunade his brightest smile and a little wink.
Tsunade took a step back and faced Hiruzen.
"How old is he?" she questioned while pointing to Fuzen
"Not old enough to be acting like that, that"s for sure."
"There"s no appropriate age for a man to appreciate beauty. Any wise man would know that." Fuzen said with great conviction, leaving no doubt he meant it.
Neither of the other two men knew how to respond.
"So, tell me the issue here," Tsunade tried to get back on track.
"You tell us...We"re not even sure if anything is wrong. You did look at the file I sent you, right?"
"What file? I didn"t get any file. Oh, wait. I remember now," she said and went to a garbage bin beside the door to retrieve a folder.
Danzo and Hiruzen both stared at her not quite believing their eyes.
"I"ve been busy," was all the explanation they got.
Standing by the door she started reading the folder and after a minute went by her eyes widened and she briefly stopped to study Fuzen only to return back to the folder.
When Tsunade finished, she returned to stand in front of Fuzen.
"Interesting read?" He asked knowing full well it was.
"I suppose it was..." – she shrugged – "Now, take off your shirt."
After he did as she"d instructed, Tsunade immediately began the exam and coated her palms in a visible layer of chakra.
In deep concentration, she hovered over different parts of his body and every now and then pausing to consider what she found.
It didn"t take nearly as long as Fuzen had expected. He wasn"t worried she"d find any detrimental issues, because he"d literally never had any problems. No sickness had ever touched him and his regenerative power was fast enough to heal shallow cuts sustained during training in minutes without any conscious effort on his part.
However, that didn"t mean he wasn"t curious if she found anything else of interest.
All three of them looked expectantly to Tsunade, waiting for her to speak.
"Well, he"s a physical marvel that"s for sure. I"ve never inspected anyone who pound-for-pound contained this much raw physical potential. It"s true he"s matured faster than most kids, however, it"s nothing to worry about. I suspect it will slow within a couple of years. He is still going to be tall though" – she looked to Hiruzen – "Much taller than you Hokage."
"You"re saying there"s nothing wrong with him?" Said Hiruzen
"Yes, I can"t find any cause for concern. As the folder noted he"s got impressive vitality. So much, in fact, I could practically feel the life energy within his cells," she said.
"What about his bloodline? Is it inheritable?" Showing a clear interest now.
Frowning she answered, "I suspect the circ.u.mstances during his mother"s pregnancy somehow triggered his genetic specific set of mutations to happen. This means the bloodline is deeply embedded into his DNA. We won"t know for sure until the future as these things are quite unpredictable. I mean, just take my grandfather as an example. However, I do believe it"s probable that any children of his will inherit it as well."
"Can you tell us anything about his chakra? We"ve been noticing slight changes in it lately..." asked Hiruzen.
"My knowledge on the different properties of chakra is still lacking and I"ve no clue how it"s changing or which effect it will have. Another thing for the future," she admitted.
"Weren"t you a bunch of help," said an annoyed Danzo.
"Listen here, one-eyed old man! You came to me and not the other way around. If you think some else can do a better job, then don"t feel obligated to stay," she hammered a hand down on the table beside where Fuzen still sat listening.
"Wow, don"t tell me you peeked in on her while in the showers Danzo?" Fuzen said purposely trying to escalate the conflict between the two. The goal was to make her move, that way everything bounced so nicely.
"As if," the old man shut it down, much to Fuzen disappointment.
"I suppose that"s it for now if there"s nothing to worry about. Thanks for taking your time to humour my worries" – Hiruzen gave Tsunade a thankful smile – "Put on your shirt Fuzen, we"re leaving."
Standing up from his chair, he was about to leave when Fuzen asked.
"Isn"t it best if we kept having these check-up? You know, just to make sure nothing happens?" Fuzen said.
He tried to put on his best "worried face" in an attempt to gain sympathy points. Regular meetings with Tsunade was not an opportunity he would miss out on.