Naruto slowly sat up, dumping the entire group on his chest onto his lap. He grabbed his head the ache that had been filling it subsiding. The evil laughter that had been plaguing him had finally been silenced. Naruto slowly smiled, happy that he was free. Suddenly he jumped up and shouted, "I'm free! Yahoo!"

He threw his hands in the air and cheered, laughing, happy that he was finally free of Orochimaru's influence. Unfortunately, he had no idea that he had just dumped his friends onto the ground. Tsunade, already at the end of her rope due to the worry and the stress of the operation and desperate for a drink, lost her temper and punched Naruto in the side of the foot. Naruto felt the bone crushing punch as little more than a poke due to his enormous size and the new toughness of his skin and the density of his muscles. He looked down and grinned. "Hey Grandma Tsunade!"

Tsunade blew up at Naruto, "You idiot! I have the decency to free you from enslavement and all the thanks I get is getting dumped on the ground like bad rice!"

Naruto knelt down and said, "Hey you don't have to get so snarky lady!"

Sakura said, "I'm so glad to see you're normal again Naruto!"

Naruto gave Sakura the thumbs up and said, "It's great to be back Sakura! Where's Gaara and Kakashi-sensei? Are they okay?"

Jiraiya looked uncomfortable and said, "Gaara's right here. He's fine, just tired. As for Kakashi...Orochimaru escaped with him."

"WHAT?!?!?" Naruto thundered. He slammed a fist into the ground, knocking everyone onto their butts. "HOW DID HE GET AWAY?!?!?"

Tsunade got back onto her feet and shouted, "We did what we could Naruto! There's a reason you're still a giant! We came close to capturing Orochimaru, but he was one step ahead of this time. He's bound to come back with Kakashi to attack the village and when he does we'll be ready for him!"

Naruto nodded and said, "It doesn't seem right, but if I have to beat down Kakashi-sensei then I will!"

Jiraiya laid Gaara down and said, "Alright, but you'll have to be ready. Orochimaru isn't going to leave anything to chance this time. We might have one big Kakashi to deal with when he comes back."

Naruto nodded again and said, "It doesn't matter how big he is! I'll still beat him!"

Tsunade sighed and said, "Alright then. We'd better get back to the village and prepare a defensive force. But before that I want every ninja that was affected by the scrolls to be retrieved and treated for any injuries."

"I'll go find them Lady Tsunade!" Shizune said running off.

Tsunade turned to Jiraiya and said, "You stay with Naruto and help him prepare for Kakashi and Orochimaru."

Jiraiya nodded and said, "I don't know how much I can help him, but I'll do what I can."

Tsunade turned to Sakura and said, "You're coming with me Sakura. We can't risk you being used as a pawn again so you'll have to stay with me at all times. While Naruto fights Kakashi, we're going to try and take down Orochimaru. Naruto can't get any bigger, but Kakashi still could."

Sakura nodded and said, "I'll do what I can. Just ask!"

Tsunade nodded and said, "Then follow me to the village. We have work to do."