First and foremost, this fic was inspired by Tyrannos at the Heaven and Earth/Naruto and Sakura Fanclub on narutoforum, and an amazing fanart done by xxmemoriezxx on deviantart. So thank you both!
It helps if you've read chapter 410 since in it, Naruto is told if he doesn't learn to control his natural energy, he could turn into a frog, which I believe is the whole idea behind Tyrannos's Princess and the Frog motif.
So enjoy!
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The Kunoichi and the Frog
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The current weather of Konoha was deceivingly perfect: a soft breeze, a blue, cloudless sky letting the sun's rays sweep over the villagers and not a single battle sound anywhere within a ten-mile radius of the village.
Most of Konoha's residents had taken advantage of the beautiful day and were now circling the bustling streets, happily enjoying themselves and completely unaware of the turmoil occurring in the Hokage's office at that very moment.
Tsunade kept her hands folded in front of her face and sighed. She looked over to the sake bottle, resting comfortably within her reach. Only opened a couple of hours ago, it was already three-quarters done and would most likely be finished in the next few minutes.
Ever since the old frog, Fukasaku, had confirmed her suspicions of Jiraiya's death, she had been in this odd state of apathy. Although she stayed well-informed on Danzou's suspicious activities and the recent movements of the Akatsuki, she could hardly feel any desire to do…anything. There was a report from a recent S-class mission right in front of her, but she knew it'd be a few more hours until she got to it.
Even when it came to matters of Jiraiya she felt little interest. In retrospect, not even Naruto's blaming words hurt as much as she thought they would. She felt no lingering harm from his lashing, despite knowing what Naruto said was true: if she hadn't sent Jiraiya on that mission, regardless of his willingness to go, he would still be…
She shook her head and slouched. Her hand instantly reached over for her sweet friend, though before she could reach it, a small cloud of smoke appeared on her desk.
Alert and very much startled, Tsunade moved her hand into the fastest defense she could come up with, a punching position, as she waited for the smoke to fade.
Luckily, she didn't have to use her brute strength on the newcomer. Within a few seconds the smoke cleared, and an orange frog with purple markings on his back appeared.
Her eyes narrowed as her hands relaxed.
A communication frog? From Fukasaku?
"…umm," the little frog started before Tsunade could speak, "I've got some bad news."
…………
Myobokuzan, half an hour earlier
"ARGHHH!! I've been sitting like this for two hours and I still can't feel can't feel any of that natural energy stuff you were talking about!!" Naruto complained as he fell over.
He had been doing just as the frogs had said: sitting still and trying to become one with the earth. He should've known all that mumbo-jumbo was just a bunch of garbage. Who ever heard of such a dumb way of training?
"I told you," Fukasaku said from a nearby rock, "that this will take time and won't happen immediately."
"And sitting in a certain way for a long time isn't all that you have to do. You have to synchronize your energy flow with nature," Gamakichi reminded as he came beside the young boy.
Naruto sat upright and pointed a finger at the old frog master.
"But I already told you, Gramps, that we don't have time! I have to get back to Konoha soon!" he cried at Fukasaku.
"And that's precisely why we tried to speed up your training by rubbing the frog oil on you and making you draw the natural energy to yourself," Fukasaku replied as he hopped over to the frog waterfall.
"Come here, you obviously need more oil."
Naruto backed away quickly.
"No way! The last time you put that oil on me I became all… froggy and stuff!"
"But as long as you control the energy, there should be no problem," Fukasaku said calmly.
"But I can't control the energy, remember?" Naruto asked as he started to back away more. Unfortunately, as he backed up, he bumped into something. Looking back, he saw the large and slightly annoyed face of Gamakichi staring back at him.
Naruto wanted to protest, but before he knew it, Gama was pushing him more and more to the waterfall, much to Naruto's dismay.
"This is the fastest way for you to learn the sage arts," the old frog reminded as Naruto was pushed to the oil waterfall.
"And it's the best way for you to get strong enough to take on Pein and avenge Jiraiya," Gama reminded from behind Naruto.
Naruto's eyes softened for a moment as he stared at the oil before him.
"Right."
Naruto climbed the steps to the fall without protest and sat down on his knees. He outstretched his hands and let Fukasaku put oil on them.
Instantly, Naruto could feel the natural energy tingle against his skin. It was an incredible sensation, and it made him more impatient that it would take a while to control such a feeling. Though, as he looked down at the oil being poured onto his hands, the feeling of the natural energy was getting stronger and stronger…It was a little overwhelming.
"You know," the frog said as he closed his eyes and reminisced, "Little Jiraiya was my star pupil. He learned faster than any other student I had taught. He was so determined on getting it right."
"Yeah, ero-sennin could be pretty stubborn," Naruto added, though he couldn't help but think that the frog was pouring a little too much oil on his hands.
"Haha! I love that name you gave him! It fits him perfectly," Fukasaku laughed, still closing his eyes and still pouring more oil on Naruto.
"It means a lot that he would take you on as his student," he frog continued, still somewhat lost in his memories. "As the wanderer that he was, he didn't want to deal with many people for too long, except for women, from what I heard."
"Uhh…sensei," Gamakichi said wearily as he watched Fukasaku pour more and more oil onto Naruto's hands.
"Hey Gramps, I think that's enough!" Naruto cried, trying to jerk his hands away, though that old frog had a strong grip. Was it the oil, Naruto wondered as he worried, or were his hands indeed feeling… slimy?
Fukasaku's eyes were still shut as he continued. "Believe it or not, part of the reason I think Little Jiraiya became like a frog when we went all out was because-"
"He couldn't control the energy 100 percent, I know," Naruto finished as he tried to pull away again.
"No, no…that's just part of it. "No!! It's happening again!!" Naruto cried. Once, Little Jiraiya fell into this waterfall. He resurfaced soon enough, luckily, but if he stayed in there just a few seconds longer—Hey, Naruto, your hands feel…oh…"
Fukasaku looked down to see Naruto's fingers quickly transform into long, slimy stickers. Naruto immediately pulled his hand…err…feelers away and looked into the oil pond.
Sure enough, there were dark circles forming around his eyes, and he could feel his nose start to transform itself.
"Urghhhh!! Get rid of it!!" Naruto said as he watched his ears retreat back into his head.
"Sensei, hit him!" Gama cried as he came beside Naruto.
Fukasaku nodded and pulled out his staff. He immediately whacked Naruto on the back as hard as he possibly could.
"OWWW!!" Naruto cried. However, unlike the first time this had happened, Naruto's features did not return to normal, something Naruto observed with eyes as wide as ramen bowls.
"My skin! It's turning orange!"
"What's wrong?" Gamakichi asked when he realized Fukasaku's beating didn't work.
"The amount of oil he got must have voided my staff's powers," the old frog replied, worrying.
"WHAT?!" Naruto exclaimed as he looked at the frog. "So I'm gonna stay like this for—ahhhhh!!"
Gamakichi and Fukasaku cringed as they watched Naruto's body shrink and deform until he was completely, 100 percent a slimy, orange and black frog.
"The Child of Prophecy," Fukasaku said as his cringe deepened. "And I turned him into a frog…"
Gamakichi put a hand over his eyes. "What are we going to do?"
Fukasaku came up to Frog Naruto and picked him up in his hands. He looked at him for a moment, and then a thought hit him.
"Well, there is that other option, Gama…"
"Huh?" Gamakichi turned to his teacher and stared. "But that's only worked for a few people, and we only have a small window of time…"
As the frog in Fukasaku's hand croaked, Fukasaku turned to Gamakichi with a defiant look in his eyes.
"We need to contact Konoha immediately."
…………
Sakura held the report tightly in her hands, knowing that Tsunade had been expecting this for a while, even if it was only halfway done.
Shizune's working as hard as she possibly can on Jiraiya's autopsy but she's only half done and has come up with nothing, Sakura thought worriedly to herself. And Shikamaru wasn't coming up with much from the code Jiraiya left behind. How could they possibly deal with Pein if they didn't break the code?
Sakura's stomach tightened as she thought of the Akatsuki member behind Jiraiya's death. She also couldn't help but think of Naruto's words, "I'm gonna avenge that pervy sage."
Twice she had went into Tsunade's office with every intention of asking if there had been any word of Naruto's training from Myobokuzan, and twice she had left without ever mentioning the subject.
As she continued walking to Tsunade's office, she couldn't help but sigh. It had only been four days since he left, so there was probably nothing to report, anyway.
Still, she couldn't help but wonder if everything was going well. Would Naruto be able to master all that Jiraiya had within the span of a week or so? No, that was impossible.
But then, if he can't surpass Jiraiya, he can't possibly defeat Pein, she thought, tensed.
She shook her head. She couldn't dwell on this for too long. She needed to keep her thoughts focused on the hospital and the autopsy, as well as writing that report on the interrogation going on. It was difficult keeping tabs on all these things for Tsunade, especially when Shizune was totally occupied with the autopsy, but Sakura knew Tsunade was not in the best place right now. Someone had to make sure she stayed updated.
"Tell me what's wrong with him or I'll rip your legs off one by one!"
Forgetting her worrying thoughts for the moment, Sakura gasped.
"Tsunade-sama!"
She hurried her pace and ran to the Fifth Hokage's office.
"Tsunade-sama!" Sakura cried again as she pushed open the office door. She had mentally readied herself for battle, if need be, but as she saw the scene unfolding before her, she highly doubted her help would be needed.
Tsunade had a paper, most likely a report, rolled up in her hands, and was chasing a little frog around her office.
"Tell me now!" The blonde beauty cried as she whacked her paper staff at the frog, but the frog immediately jumped from the window's ledge to a large stack of papers sitting on Hokage's desk.
"But they asked me not to disclose any details!" the little frog cried as he jumped onto a file cabinet. "They just wanted me to tell you to summon Gamakichi immediately! It's a life or death situation!"
"I need to know what's wrong first," Tsunade reminded as she used her incredible strength to pour chakra into her paper weapon. Then she charged straight at the frog with incredible speed.
Sakura watched Tsunade with widened eyes. She had been so indifferent to the situations around her lately, but all of a sudden, she was violently chasing a tiny amphibian all around her office. What had gotten the Hokage so worked up, Sakura wondered anxiously, but she was more worried over the life and death situation that was just mentioned by the little frog…He wasn't referring to him was he?
"Summon Gama right away! Bye!" the frog said very quickly, and just as Tsunade's stick came crashing down, the frog disappeared in a small cloud of white smoke.
Tsunade remained with her weapon against the file cabinet for a moment, closing her eyes and breathing heavily. The metal of the cabinet had been folded and creased due to the impact of the Hokage's attack.
Sakura approached her teacher worriedly, outstretching her hand but then retreating it back, wondering if Tsunade was stable.
"Tsunade-sama," she started slowly, "what happened?"
Tsunade slowly opened her eyes and sighed. She let her weapon stay within the deformed file cabinet as she straightened herself up.
She remained sideways to Sakura as her fists clenched at her sides.
"Fukasaku sent me a communication frog saying that something happened to Naruto," she informed quietly.
Sakura's eyes shook slightly. "Did he say what?"
"He wouldn't tell me what, but he did say it was urgent that I summon Gamakichi."
There were so many questions swirling through her mind at that very moment, so she asked the first one that she could articulate.
"You have a pact with Gamakichi, Tsunade-sama?"
"Not exactly a pact, Sakura. He allowed me to summon him when Naruto was done with his training," Tsunade explained as she walked over to her desk. She stood beside her chair and narrowed her eyes.
"Do you think the situation is as serious as the frog implied?" Sakura asked nervously as she came before the desk.
"The frogs aren't known for exaggeration, and they certainly wouldn't joke about such a thing. I suppose I have no choice but to summon Gamakichi."
Tsunade banged her hand against the wood of the desk so hard that Sakura visibly shook.
If anything serious happened to Naruto, I swear…
"Sakura, I need you to move."
She had lost enough of the Hokage hopefuls in her life. She'd be damned to lose Naruto, too. If Jiraiya couldn't be there to look out for his student, then she would be. She owed that much to her friend.
Sakura watched Tsunade walk around her desk. She backed up as Tsunade came directly in front of the desk. The blonde put her hand on the ground in an all-too-familiar fashion.
As she watched, Sakura tried to bite back the rising feeling of fear in her mouth. She tried to calm herself by remembering that the frog would've explained the situation had it really been dire. Most likely Naruto got impatient and his reckless behavior got the best of him.
Yeah, she thought, that's probably it.
A circle sliced into eight pieces formed underneath Tsunade's hand.
"Gamakichi! Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
White smoke filled the entire office, clouding the vision of both females in the room for a moment. However, as Sakura cautiously opened her eyes, she could make out a large, dark silhouette through the smoke around her.
"Gamakichi," Tsunade said as the smoke settled around her. "Is Naruto with you?"
"Ahh…Hokage-sama! Yup, he's right here with me," the large frog, who had to crouch somewhat to keep his head from bumping into the ceiling, replied.
The smoke finally cleared enough for Tsunade to take a good look at the large frog. A small black and orange frog was sitting on Gamakichi's left shoulder.
Tsunade stared at the large frog for a few moments. Naruto wasn't here…
…Damn, Tsunade thought as she brought her hand to her temple.
Sakura was unable to see the frog on Gama's shoulder. Where was Naruto? Was he on the other side?
A croaking sound was heard throughout the room, and Sakura was confused as that surely didn't come from the large frog in front of her.
Another croaking sound rang through the room, and this time Sakura couldn't old her curiosity.
"Gamakichi, you have another frog with you?" she asked. Gama turned to face her, and when he recognized her, he smiled.
"Hey, you're already here! It's perfect," he smiled in happiness. But Sakura had anything but happiness on her face as she saw the little frog resting on Gamakichi's shoulder.
A little black and orange frog.
Black. Orange.
"…Naruto!" Sakura gasped as her hands cupped her mouth, dropping the autopsy report that had been long-forgotten. Keeping her eyes locked on the little frog, she bent down and picked up the report slowly. She placed it on Tsunade's desk.
"What exactly happened to him?" Tsunade asked tiredly.
"Sensei went overboard with the frog oil," Gamakichi replied as he turned back to the Hokage. "Poor kid couldn't control all the natural energy flowing into him, and so he turned into a frog!" he explained a little too excitedly for the current situation.
"Is this really a life or death situation?" The blonde woman asked. "He's not going to return to normal after a while?"
"Actually, if we don't hurry up and change him back to normal soon, he's going to die!" If Gama's hands could reach behind his neck, he would probably be rubbing it nervously.
"DIE??" Both women in the room exclaimed. Sakura's eyes were as wide as plates and the flare in Tsunade's eyes looked as if she were going to smash the frog's head in.
"How could Fukasaku let this happen?" Tsunade asked. "He's been training sages for generations!"
"Well, it's not like sensei did it deliberately," Gama reminded. Tsunade's expression became more lethal—which didn't previously seem possible.
"You said there's a way to change him back, Gamakichi," Sakura said, stepping closer to the frog. "How much time do we have?"
"Well, we have exactly one-hundred minutes after something like this happens, normally," the frog explained.
"And how long has it been?" the Hokage asked cautiously.
"Uhh…let's see…a little less than an hour?" the frog asked more than replied.
"Is that enough time for the treatment?" Tsunade asked. In response, Gamakichi smiled.
"Oh yeah! That's plenty of time, if the treatment works!"
Tsunade's mouth fell open for a moment as she took in those words.
"If the treatment works?" She asked as she leaned against her desk. Wanting to rid herself of the mounting stress, she took a deep breath and let it out. She really could've used that bottle of sake right now.
"Well, nothing's a guarantee. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't…"
"What exactly will happen to him if he doesn't receive the treatment?" Sakura asked, eyeing the little amphibian who didn't seem to have a clue what was going on.
Was there a poison in his system? Would his little body give out after a few minutes? What exactly would make a frog who, aside from the fact that he was in reality a human, seemed perfectly healthy, die?
"Don't worry, it's nothing painful or anything. He'll turn into a stone statue," the frog replied in an incredibly matter-of-fact way.
Sakura's mouth hung open.
"Stone statue?" she asked indignantly. It was hard to believe something that sounded so ridiculous could be the harsh reality she was currently facing.
"Then we obviously do not have a choice but to go through with this treatment, whatever it may be," Tsunade explained as she crossed her arms over her large chest. "And exactly what is this treatment?"
Gamakichi smiled and gave what looked like a thumbs-up to Tsunade, though he turned his attention to Sakura.
"It's really simple. All we need to do is make sure she," he pointed to the young kunoichi, "kisses Naruto."
The little orange and black frog croaked, almost seeming like he agreed with the plan.
…………
Amazingly enough, Sakura didn't go berserk at the thought. She was too much in shock to do anything, really.
"A highly unusual procedure," Tsunade replied as she broke the silence, her eyes slightly widened.
So as the Hokage's surprised, golden eyes glanced over at her, all they saw was a highly confused girl, looking much like a deer in headlights as she pointed to herself meekly.
"Me?" she finally asked after a moment of disbelief.
"Yup," Gamakichi noted.
"Why me?" Sakura asked as a blush came upon her face. First Naruto was gonna turn into a stone statue, and now this? Exactly how many ridiculous explanations did this big frog have?
"Is it a big deal?" Gamakichi asked.
"I'm sure most med-nins would be surprised to hear of such an unorthodox treatment," Tsunade answered for the girl. "Has this ever worked before?"
"Of course it has," Gama replied happily. "And it's the only thing we've got to get him back to being Naruto."
Frog Naruto's lips looked ridiculously wet in the light of the office, Sakura noted with an inward cringe.
"What about another girl?" she suggested. Gamakichi turned to her, confused.
"Well wouldn't it be better if it was you?" The frog recalled Naruto's fight with Gaara.
"I mean, aren't you," he made a hand gesture: he stuck out his pinky and resisted the urge to smile, "Aren't you his main squeeze?"
Blue-tinted chakra formed at her clenched fists as her eyes widened threateningly.
Main squeeze?
"NO!" she cried as she lunged forward. Gamakichi definitely seemed startled at the teen charged at him, and he was positive he was going to have his skull bashed in had Tsunade not intervened.
"That's enough, Sakura," Tsunade said as she grabbed the girl's arm, eyes closed in an attempt to de-stress herself.
Despite being confused for a second as to why Tsunade was stopping her, Sakura calmed down, though she was still very much indignant over what she was just called.
"Yes, Tsunade-sama," the girl huffed as Tsunade released her.
"Well I'm guessing that would be a no," Gamakichi sighed. "We don't have an incredible amount of time, so is there any other girl Naruto is close to?"
This left Sakura to think. She tried to think of all the other female kunoichi in the village, but was Naruto close to them? Well there was also that girl who worked at the ramen bar, if that counted as close.
"Exactly what do you mean by close, Gamakichi?" Tsunade asked as if reading Sakura's mind.
"Well, you know," the large frog repeated the hand gesture, sticking out his pinky and this time winking at Tsunade. "Like a girlfriend."
Tsunade instinctively looked over to her student who was listening to the conversation intently. Gamakichi hesitantly followed Tsunade's gaze. Even Frog Naruto seemed to be looking at her from the corner of his slimy little eye. Sakura was confused, and to be perfectly honest, a little worried about all of this.
"Tsunade-sama, what is it?" She asked, a little embarrassed by everyone suddenly staring at her.
"Well I'm not sure if Naruto has one of those," Tsunade explained, staring for a few seconds longer at Sakura and then turning away. Gamakichi looked at her.
"…But I think Sakura's the closest thing. She's on Naruto's team," she enlightened.
"So they're on friendly terms, right?" the frog asked. Frog Naruto croaked again.
"Though that's all," Sakura answered, her hands raised in front of her as she tried to force away the nervous blush tinting her cheeks. The pink-haired girl asked herself, though, why she was letting her emotions get the best of her.
"We don't have a large amount of time remaining nor do we know that this will indefinitely be successful," Tsunade sighed. She closed her eyes and let out a large breath.
"But we unfortunately have no choice."
Sakura's nervousness disappeared and was overcome by surprise. Her eyes shook very softly as she looked at her mentor.
"Tsunade-sama-"
It wasn't that the thought of kissing Naruto was disgusting to her, really. What really bothered her was that she had never done this before, that is, kiss anyone, and this was not at all what she had in mind whenever she pictured the event. Not to mention, she was supposed to share this special moment with a completely different species!
"Sakura," Tsunade interjected, her eyes now reflecting a sense of determination Sakura had seen many times before. Somehow, Sakura knew how this would all turn out.
"With new reports coming in about the latest Akatsuki sightings and the information we've received about a possible Root ANBU uprising, we'll need every shinobi we have. There won't always be days like this in the upcoming future where the villagers feel safe and out of harm's way. There will be a day when we have to fight. Our job is to make sure everyone remains safe and that we have enough forces to do so, either directly," Tsunade turned her direction over to the frog sitting on Gamakichi, "or indirectly."
"Don't take it so personally," the blonde explained, "I'll count it as a B-Rank mission."
Sakura's mouth let out a small sound of understanding.
Of course what Tsunade said was true, but that didn't make this situation any easier! It wasn't everyday that what was supposed to be a special moment in every girl's life was taken by some slimy little amphibian!
Her eyes took on a small look of determination, though she couldn't help but feel backed into a corner. Using the word 'mission', Tsunade had pretty much made Gamakichi's request an obligation.
"Alright," she spoke softly, almost sadly, Tsunade noted in the back of her mind.
"Then here you go," Gama said as he took Frog Naruto off his shoulder and held it out to Sakura.
Sakura couldn't help but outwardly cringe. I have to hold him?
She placed her palms together and held them open for the little frog. Gamakichi carefully put Frog Naruto into them. The little frog croaked.
As she felt his wet little body in her hands, she shivered.
Eww, he's slimy.
She closed her eyes and puckered her lips, but then, almost instantly, she reopened them.
"Exactly how long do I have to do this for?" she asked the large frog.
"Well," the frog scratched his chin, "just long enough for him to turn back."
"How long could that take?" Tsunade questioned.
"Usually a few seconds or at most a couple of minutes. Not too long."
Sakura's eyes twitched at the thought of kissing the little frog for more than a second. This wasn't going to be easy.
She looked back at the tiny thing in her hands and sighed.
Ok, here I go.
She just had to keep reminding herself of one thing: This wasn't her real first kiss. This was a mission to save Naruto. Right, to save his life. No different than any other healing mission she got, in essence.
Her real first kiss would be somewhere romantic, like the park or a field at night under the moon and stars. And it would be with someone whom she really loved, or at least really liked, not with…
A deep pink blush suddenly overcame the apples of her cheeks. She had no idea this situation would make her so nervous!
This wasn't a kiss, this was a mission. She had done several of those before. Shouldn't be a problem. (Plus, she sure as hell wasn't letting her teammate, and one of her best friends, turn into a statue! The thought of losing Naruto caused another pained sensation through Sakura's stomach.)
And that's what she thought as she brought the frog close enough to her face. She gulped very slightly and closed her eyes as tightly as she could.
Really, it would've been easier if Gamakichi and Tsunade weren't looking on so interestedly.
As quickly and painlessly as she could, she pressed her light pink lips against the wet snout-mouth thing of the frog.
She tried not to think of the sensation; she tried to wonder about the positives, like how any second now Naruto would turn back.
Oh no…what if he never turned back? She would end up kissing this frog for nothing!
She kept her eyes shut, not wanting to see the disappointment of a frog locking lips with her. Any second now! (It had only been a couple of seconds, though.)
She felt a shiver run down her spine. What if Naruto really didn't turn back? He'd be a stone statue, if what Gamakichi said was true. Then what chance would they have at defeating Pein and the rest of Akatsuki for that matter? Not to mention, she'd lose her teammate forever.
The reality of losing Naruto forever made her body go numb. She was doing her mission like any good shinobi should. She had to focus on the here and now.
Her hands were too wet with slime to notice the small weight disappearing from her hands to be replaced by something warm that wrapped around them. And she was too busy wondering why all of a sudden, she heard Tsunade gasp. Oh god, Naruto wasn't turning back, was he? She wasted her first kiss on a slimy little thing…—
Wait…
What she felt against her lips wasn't slimy or wet. Rather it was warm and pretty soft, if she were to be perfectly honest.
Another shiver went down her spine, but this time, it didn't hold a bad feeling. Bravely, she opened her eyes…
…and found herself staring into a pair of cerulean ones.
It took a few seconds to register everything, but when she did, she immediately pulled her head away.
Naruto Uzumaki, though still as orange and black as ever, was no longer in a different class of animals. His eyes seemed a little drowsy, but he was blinking them in an effort to wipe away his fatigue.
And that's when she looked down to see his hands around hers.
"Naruto!" she breathed as she stared at the boy.
"Eh? Sakura-chan! Wow, that almost felt real!" Naruto replied as he looked at the girl. Then he looked around the room, leaving Sakura just as confused as ever.
"Tsunade-baachan! This is the first time you've ever been in one of my good dreams. And I've never seen you in my dreams before, Gama."
"This isn't a dream, Naruto," Tsunade explained sternly as all the happiness she felt got washed away instantly. "What's the last thing you remember?"
"Huh? Oh, I was training with Gramps and Gama when the old geezer put a bunch of that frog oil..." At that moment, it all seemed to register with Naruto. He immediately let go of Sakura's hands and pointed a finger accusingly at the large frog.
"Gramps turned me into a frog!" Naruto exclaimed.
"And Sakura-chan turned you back," Gama explained, doing that pinky hand gesture yet again.
Confused, Naruto turned to Sakura whose blush made the red of her top look pale.
"How'd you do that, Sakura-chan…" Though before he could finish the question, he somewhat figured out the answer.
"You kissed me, Sakura-chan?" he said as his eyes practically lit up.
Sakura crossed her arms over her chest and looked to the side.
"Baka, it was either that or let you die," the girl responded hurriedly.
Naruto smiled. He thought she would surely choose his death!
"And now that you're back to normal, you should probably return to Myobokuzan and resume your training," Tsunade reminded.
"Right." Naruto nodded.
"The autopsy," Sakura quickly said, remembering Naruto's urgent desire for Shizune to finish it ASAP before he left, "Shizune's halfway done."
"Only halfway? Has she found anything?" Naruto asked.
Sakura closed her eyes and shook her head, "Not yet, no."
"And there's no guarantee that she will, either," Tsunade reminded as she Naruto lock his jaw in anger. "You'll just have to train and do the best you can at the moment."
"I guess," the boy replied, feeling defeated.
"Should I send you two back now?" Tsunade asked.
"Well, since we don't have a concrete pact and Naruto's a human, I don't think it will work," Gamakichi explained. "Sensei once mentioned not being able to summon or send away two different species without a pact."
"But he can summon you back, right Gamakichi?" Sakura asked. The large frog nodded.
"As long as he knows we're ready," Gama responded, giving a thumbs-up to the girl.
"Fukasaku left me a communication frog. I can use that to get in contact with him," Tsunade explained.
"That would be great." The frog ran messed up Naruto's hair, "Ready, kid?"
"I've gotta do this sooner or later," Naruto replied as Tsunade walked out of her office.
"How's the training going, Naruto?" Sakura asked. Naruto turned to Sakura and, although he tried to hide it with his smile, there was no mistaking the sad glint in his eyes. She felt a little part of her sadden with him.
"I wish I could learn to control the natural energy without using that nasty frog oil, and the training seems pretty lame, but it's not so bad."
"But you need this training, Naruto. Don't forget, Fukasaku said you'd never be able to take on Pein without it," Sakura reminded as her eyes narrowed.
We won't let you throw yourself into a fight if you're not strong enough.
"Yeah…but it's hard, you know Sakura-chan? I don't know how I'm gonna do it." His smile faded away and his blue eyes fell down. His disposition made Sakura's heartbreak.
"Since when do you think about giving up?" she asked as her fists clenched at her sides. What was wrong with Naruto? Had he really been that affected by Jiraiya's death that he was doubting himself? He never did that, and Sakura wasn't gonna let him start.
Naruto looked back up at Sakura. Her eyes seemed so serious, and she was looking at him with such determination…it was odd to see her looking at him, of all people, like that.
"Hehe, Sakura-chan, who ever said anything about giving up?! It's gonna be hard, but I haven't given up yet! It'd go against my nindo!"
Sakura smiled and looked down, all the while thinking, Naruto…
Gamakichi watched the scene unfold between the two teenagers and realized that he had been right all along.
The door to the office opened and Tsunade came back in. She walked to her desk and sat down, crossing her hands in front of her face as she did so.
"The communication frog has returned. Fukasaku will be summoning the two of you in a couple of minutes," she explained.
"Alright, Naruto, you ready to go back?" Gama asked as he pulled Naruto to his side.
"Are you kidding? I have to work twice as hard this time to make sure Gramps doesn't give me any more of that freaky oil! Of course I'm ready!" the boy exclaimed.
"We'll see you in a few days, Naruto," Tsunade said happily. "Just train as best as you can."
"I will, Tsunade-baachan!" he replied with a fist raised defiantly in front of his face.
Sakura watched this all happen tentatively. He was going back again, and no one knew for sure just what he was supposed to learn and if he'd learn it. But the boy was bent on avenging his teacher, and he had to be ready to take on Pein. He had to.
But if he wasn't ready in a few days and he still decided to take on Pein or any of the Akatsuki for that matter, because they would be coming for him eventually, there was no telling what the outcome of that fight would be. The thought made her feel cold inside.
"Naruto!" Sakura cried as she came closer to him.
"Huh? What is it, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, however, before either of them could say anything more, Naruto and Gamakichi disappeared in a puff of white smoke.
Sakura's mouth hung slightly open as she watched the smoke fade away. She couldn't hide the way her eyes lowered in a not-so-content sort of way.
"Is everything alright, Sakura?" Tsunade asked as she watched her student.
Sakura closed her eyes as tightly as she could for a moment, then she reopened them to show Tsunade a beaming, bright face, as fake as it was.
"I just wanted to wish him luck," she explained.
"I'm sure," the busty woman replied.
"But, Tsunade-sama, I wonder why it worked…Me kissing Naruto," Sakura pondered as she looked at the hokage.
"Gamakichi said it only worked for some people. What makes the difference whether or not it will or won't?" she asked.
As Tsunade thought about the answer, the first real smile she had in weeks, albeit a small one, spread across her beautiful features.
"I'm not sure, Sakura. I don't even know if Gamakichi or Fukasaku know, to be honest."
"It's an unreliable treatment, then," Sakura noted to herself. "They should work on another method. Naruto could've turned to stone!"
"Yes," the blonde agreed as she turned her chair around, hiding the smile.
"But we shouldn't worry about that for now. I need an update on the interrogation," Tsunade ordered.
"Yes, Tsunade-sama," Sakura replied as she turned around and walked out of the office.
Tsunade figured she should put that sake anyway. She didn't feel the need for it anymore.
Well…actually…
…one more swig couldn't hurt.
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The End
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Well I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I had fun writing it!
I have the link to Memoriez's fanart on my profile incase any of you want to see what Frog Naruto looks like.
So please leave some feedback! I'd truly appreciate it.
And thanks for your time!!
-Celestial Night