My Head On Your Shoulders

Naruto walked nervously towards the Hokage's office. Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage, had asked him to help her with something top-secret, but would only explain what it was when he showed up to help.

Naruto knocked on the door to the Hokage's office and heard someone say, "Come in."

Naruto peeked in the door and saw Shizune gathering up the papers from all around the office.

"Oh, Naruto. What are you doing here?"

Naruto said, "Well, Grandma Tsunade asked me to help her with something important and I thought she might be in here."

Shizune thought about it for a while. "Something important. Oh, I know what you mean. She's in her lab at the hospital waiting for you."

Naruto was now nervous. Was Tsunade going to make him try a new drug? Was there a virus that only he had immunity to and she needed his DNA to save everyone?

No matter the reason, Naruto went to Tsunade's lab and knocked on the door. He heard Tsunade say, "Get in here." That was Naruto's cue to open the door and nervously walk into the lab.

Tsunade was sitting at a desk looking over some papers. Next to her desk were two operating tables that Naruto was expecting to find in a hospital. Seeing them made Naruto even more anxious.

Tsunade looked up from her papers to see Naruto. "Ah, Naruto. I was wondering when you'd finally get here. There's something I need your help with."

Naruto smiled and said, "Sure, what do you want?" He did his best to hide his nervousness, but Tsunade caught on that he was scared of what was to come. She didn't mind, though, since she was scared, too.

"Well, Naruto, I've been thinking about how so many people die due to medical issues. Frankly, there are more deaths due to this than there are KIAs in the line of duty as a shinobi. After many years of researching, I think I've finally got the answer."

Naruto asked, "What is it, Grandma Tsunade?"

"The problem lies in our immune systems. The immune system is our greatest defense against disease, but it can only protect us from so much until it lets something terrible inside us. The only way we are ever going to advance to the point of being immune to any disease is through a rather, how shall I say, unusual method."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "How unusual are we talking here?"

"Well, I think that it can be accomplished through two people swapping heads with each other."

Naruto nodded. "It does seem unusual, I'll give it that." He then got panicked and said, "Wait! Wouldn't that kill the two people before the process was complete?"

"That's why I developed a jutsu that can remove a person's head and keep it alive until it's ready to be reattached to a new body."

"Okay, but I still don't see how two people swapping heads is going to be a breakthrough in medical science."

"Simply put, the body is constantly losing and reproducing cells. When two people swap heads, theoretically the two people would create new cells that combined traits from both bodies so that the cells produced can strengthen the immune system, leaving the two people vulnerable to far fewer diseases than both would be by themselves and thereby increase the life spans of humans."

Naruto said, "Well, I guess it kinda makes sense, but what do you need me for? Wait, don't tell me…"

Tsunade smiled. "That's right. I want you to try it out first. With your massive reserves of chakra, I'm positive you'll be able to handle it."

Naruto got a worried look in his eyes. "I'm not sure I can. After all, I like being a shinobi and this might ruin my chances of being Hokage, so…"

"Is that why you're so worried, Naruto? Well, don't worry. The cells produced in your new body would give you the knowledge of all your jutsu and the jutsu of the one you swapped heads with. Your chances at becoming Hokage would be greater if you went through with this."

Naruto was sold on this point. All right! Since you put it that way, I'll…"

"Wait, Naruto! There's one last thing," Tsunade said. "The jutsu I created can only be used on a person once, therefore the head swap will be permanent. If you go through with this, you can never go back to your old life. Are you still willing to do this?"

Naruto thought about it and said, "It's a shinobi's duty to lay his life on the line for the greater good. If this is the greater good, then I have a duty to see it through to the end. Let's do this!"

Tsunade smiled and said, "Excellent! Here's a list of other people who have agreed to perform this procedure. You can pick who you want to swap bodies with from that."

Naruto looked at the list of people who agreed to this procedure as well. He noticed that they were all girls. Sakura, Hinata, Ino, Tenten, Temari, Anko, Kurenai, Shizune, Karui, Samui, even Tsunade! He thought long and hard about it and eventually said, "I choose…"