Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto, won't do so in a near future neither.
This story is semi-AU
Naruto was sick of walking around in Tanzaku, so far they hadn't found any real leads to where that Tsunade was, the only positive thing was that his Gama-chan was full to the brim.
"Let's go in here," Jiraiya declared as they walked past a bar.
"What, that's a bar, I'm still a child Ero-sennin!" Naruto protested.
"I'm not telling you to drink, just eat of the appetizers, this is where we can find information," Jiraiya said before walking in, Naruto grudgingly walking after the white haired sannin. The pair hadn't taken more than two steps inside the establishment before Jiraiya suddenly halted, Naruto still focusing on his balloon bumping into him.
"Tsunade!" Jiraiya exclaimed and pointed at a booth on the opposite side of the entrance, an accusing "Jiraiya!" coming from the booth.
Naruto stared at the blonde that was supposed to be Jiraiya's old teammate, meaning she should be in her fifties, instead he saw a well-endowed blonde woman in her mid-twenties sitting there. 'What a swindler,'
As Jiraiya walked over to his old friend and love interest he noticed that Tsunade had her apprentice and old lover's niece Shizune with her.
The four shinobi and Tsunade's pet pig Tonton sat in silence for several minutes as the two elder shinobi drank sake while Naruto wolfed down appetizer after appetizer.
"What a day, meeting so many familiar faces," Tsunade muttered, something that wasn't missed by Jiraiya.
"Orochimaru, did anything happen?" he questioned, already knowing that the meeting between his old team-mates was the cause to why the city no longer had a castle.
"Nothing much, just a little greeting," Tsunade replied after giving Shizune a harsh glare, "You, why have you come?" she questioned as she withdrew a deck of cards and started shuffling them.
"I'll get straight to the point," Jiraiya said as he picked up his cards, "The village has requested that you become Godaime Hokage," Tsunade visibly froze at that. Jiraiya saw from the corner of his eyes that Naruto started choking on the fish he had been in the process of eating.
"You've heard of Sarutobi-sensei right?" Jiraiya asked.
"Orochimaru killed him, right?" Tsunade said as she gave Jiraiya a pointed stare, "He told me himself,"
"This Orochimaru, he killed Sandaime-jiichan!?" Naruto asked angrily, why hadn't he heard about this before? "Who is this Orochimaru?"
"The last sannin," Jiraiya answered neutrally.
"Why, the sannin are Konoha ninja right?" Naruto protested, "Then why?"
"Who's this kid?" Tsunade questioned as she stared down on Jiraiya's blond companion.
"Uzumaki Naruto," he said somewhat proudly, his voice showing emotion for the first time during the conversation.
"Ka-chan!" the blonde hurricane that swept into the booth had all the occupants caught by surprise as Tsunade cursed her infallible luck, or rather lack of luck. "I'm all out of money,"
"Ka…chan?" Jiraiya questioned, his cards falling from his hands as he gawked at the blonde girl sitting by Tsunade, nestling her head into the older woman. The resemblance was definitely there, in there were just two changes compared to Tsunade when she was about eleven, the hair for one was slightly paler, and this girl wasn't totally flat-chested; otherwise the girl was just like a younger Tsunade.
"Alright, Shizune will give you some more money, now run off again Kana-chan," Tsunade said, once the girl had received some money from the brunette she set off from the bar.
"As you see I got other priorities, so I refuse,"
"I… see," Jiriaya said, still stunned from the revelation that Tsunade supposedly had a daughter.
"Besides, the title of Hokage is crap. Only an idiot becomes one," Jiraiya had to physically restrain his student from attempting to attack Tsunade.
"This is a bar Naruto, you haven't even been drinking, so no need to start a bar fight," Jiraiya said as he drew back the boy from the blonde sannin, still holding on to the boy.
"But, anyone who makes fun of the Yondaime or the old man deserves a punch to the face, regardless of whether they are women or not!"
"Oh, you've got a lot of guts to say that to me, brat," Tsunade said as she stood up on the table as well, taking the boy's statement as a challenge, "step outside,"
Jiraiya simply sighed as he watched the two blondes walk outside; they were both stubborn as mules.
"One finger, that's all I'll need to beat you," Tsunade said to Naruto as she held up a single finger.
"Why you…" it didn't take long before Naruto charged the woman, throwing a few shuriken in her direction before he withdrew a kunai. Before he managed to connect the attack Tsunade intervened, snagging the kunai from him with the single finger she said she'd use against the boy. In one swift motion she used the kunai to flip off his hitai-ite and in the process unbalance him.; both kunai and hitai-ite were now sailing in the air.
Naruto could only look as Tsunade's finger closed in on him, with a flick he was sent tumbling backwards several meters. 'She's strong,' he had to admit as he watched as the kunai landed only after he'd stood up again, the hitai-ite landing shortly thereafter.
"Brat, before you pass out, let me ask you one thing. Why do you care about the title Hokage so much?" Tsunade asked, feeling confident that he would fall any moment now.
"Unlike you, I'm gonna take on the title Hokage for sure," Naruto said, "Because Hokage is my dream!"
For a moment Tsunade thought she could see her former lover and her brothers' reflection in the blond boy as he said those words, visibly freezing.
'She dropped her guard, maybe I can use that jutsu,' Naruto thought as he saw how she seemed slightly unaware of her surroundings. He used the stages he'd learned from Jiraiya and charged her.
Tsunade snapped out of her brief travel down the memory lane, to her surprise she found the blond brat charging her with one of Minato's prized techniques. She moved her arm quickly and used her strength to crack the ground with the single finger she had restricted herself to use, the crack unbalancing Naruto. Instead of hitting her he hit the ground a meter in front of her before he was sent rocketing backwards from the technique. 'It looked just like the Yondaime's jutsu, but the effect was weaker,'
"Jiraiya, why have you been teaching this brat Rasengan,"
"Yes, I'm his teacher after all"
"Only you and the Yondaime could use that technique, are you acting like a teacher and teach him something he can't master? Don't give him any ideas," Tsunade said harshly, "That's why this kid likes to daydream that he can become Hokage one day,"
"I'm not daydreaming, idiot!" Naruto said vehemently, "I can master this move in three days!"
"You said it kid. A man never takes back his words," Tsunade said, was the boy willing to bet perhaps?
"I'm not taking back my words, because that's my nindō!" Naruto said confidently.
"Then let's make a bet,"
"A bet?" Naruto questioned,
"If you can master that jutsu in one week, then I'll acknowledge that you can become Hokage… I'll even give you this necklace," Tsunade said, pointing to the necklace hanging around her neck.
"Tsunade-sama, that's an important…" Shizune went to intervene before Tsunade lost an important family heirloom.
"I don't care about a crappy necklace like that," Naruto said before Shizune got to finish.
"Gaki, that's a unique crystal that could buy three mountains if you sold it. It belonged to the Shodai Hokage," Jiraiya informed his student.
"Well, then its fine I suppose," Naruto said as Jiraiya only sweatdropped, the kid seemingly loved money.
"Okay, but if you don't master it in a single week, then you lose, meaning I'll take all your money," Tsunade said as she held up Naruto's wallet.
"Ah, gama-chan!" Naruto said as he fervently searched his pockets. He watched as Tsunade and her apprentice walked away.
"Well, you know where we're staying, I'm gonna go and check if I can get any information here," Jiraiya said before walking off, leaving Naruto alone on the road.
"I apologize for my mother," Naruto nearly jumped out of his skin when a young girl walked up to him from a neighboring alley.
"You're the girl from earlier, the old lady's…" Naruto started as he pointed accusingly at her.
"Daughter, yes. My name is Senju Kaname,"
"Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage!"
"I heard you say that before," Kaname said as she stared at the boy, "You think you can manage to master the jutsu in seven days?"
"Of course!"
"Well then, since my mom and your guardian went their ways, how about we go and gamble a little!"
"Actually, I'm planning of going to bed early since I need to rest and all since I'm gonna train all day tomorrow…"
"What are you? Forty? Come on and have some fun, I'll help you train in return!" Kaname questioned.
"But your mother took my wallet, I don't have any money," Naruto tried.
"Don't worry, I can lend you some, Shizune-neechan gave me a lot," Kaname said as she dragged the boy with her.
Naruto discovered that Kaname wasn't the luckiest at the gambling house, he on the other hand had a freakish luck, and soon Kaname had given up on playing herself, instead she watched as Naruto raked in money.
To Naruto's delight he had found a ramen stand and was greedily devouring his food of choice when he felt someone taping his shoulder. Turning around he could see Kaname standing there.
"Good morning Uzumaki-san," Kaname said as she sat down beside her partner the evening before. They had managed to begin the process of cleaning the whole place out, netting them a hundred thousand ryō before the owner threw them out; citing their young ages. 'Next time we'll use henge! That way they won't suspect anything.'
"Ohayo, Senju-san!" Naruto said after he had swallowed the mouthful of ramen he had been in the process of eating. He had figured that it was better to be safe and call her by last name, just in case she'd take insult of him being improper and she had the same freakish strength as her mother. It was probably the most valuable lesson Jiraiya had taught him about women, don't anger them too much.
"One veggie ramen please," Kaname said to owner of the stall, though ramen was no favorite she supposed she'd survive eating it once.
"So, when are you going to start training, its noon already Uzumaki-san," Kaname asked the blond.
"Please, call me Naruto instead, Uzumaki feels so weird," Naruto said, it felt out of character to be nice, usually he was much more vocal about his opinions and didn't voice them as kindly. He supposed he could credit that to the fact that the girl beside him potentially had the same strength as Tsunade and he didn't want to be sent flying.
"Well, if you insist, then you'll have to call me Kaname instead, Senju feels off," she said as she absentmindedly tugged at the hem of her white haori.
"Sure thing, Kaname-chan," he wore a bright grin that was contagious, eliciting a small smile from her.
"Well, back to the question; since someone kept me from going to bed early I woke up relatively recently, so I was thinking of training as soon as I've eaten," Kaname blushed slightly at that, she'd never thought that he would sleep for that long only because he was up late gambling with her, but apparently he had.
"Sorry about that Naruto-kun," Kaname said apologetically just as her own meal arrived before her.
"No problem, now I have more money than before at least, it's only half a day's setback. I'm sure I can regain that!" Naruto said, dismissing it as nothing big. After paying for their meals the pair set off towards the outsides of the village.
"Naruto-kun, can't we have a spar before you start with your training?" Kaname asked once they had reached an area Naruto deemed suitable to train with the rasengan.
"But I wanna train with the rasengan," Naruto protested, the pout that she gave him at that was something he would declare illegal the moment he became Hokage, "How about you spar with one of my kage bunshin?"
"Is that a solid clone or what, and besides, don't clones need commands to move?"
"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" a single shadow-clone appeared beside Naruto, "they are just like me, except they go poof when they take a wounding blow, now I need to start practicing with my rasengan," Naruto said as he walked a good hundred meters away to practice on a lone tree in the rocky terrain.
He had only practiced for ten minutes when suddenly a huge stream of information went into his head, "You got that crazy strength as well!" Naruto screamed at the blonde girl, he could see the ground that had went flying, causing his clone to dispel. 'Wait a second, how'd I know that before I even saw that…'
"Kaname-chan!" Naruto yelled, beckoning the girl to come over to him. Just as she reached him he created another shadow clone, "I want you to take this clone with you and tell him something you're sure I don't know and then destroy it,"
"Okay…" Kaname said, not really seeing the point but she would do it anyway.
Two minutes later a small stream of information entered his head.
"You wish to see your mother's home village!" Naruto declared as Kaname reached him, "That was what you told the clone right?"
"Yeah," Kaname said hesitantly, 'does he learn what the clones learn?'
"Awesome!" Naruto declared as he rushed up to Kaname as she was walking back, giving her a kiss on her cheek, "I bet I can speed up training this way." The still blushing Kaname could feel the chakra Naruto started to summon; she could swear that she could see it forming a thick sheet around him.
"Naruto-kun, I don't think it's good for you to make thousands of clones…"
"What? Why?" Naruto questioned, "The more clones the more I'll learn right?"
"But can't it overload your brain as well if you take in too much information, I read in one of my medic books that too much information only hurts the brain, it'll simply shut down instead," Kaname told the boy, he looked somewhat deflated and she could feel as the chakra he had loaded up dissipated.
Naruto settled on only using ten clones, opting to follow Kaname's advice. If she was right then he might just be out for days if he had summed up a thousand clones as he had originally planned.
Instead of requesting another clone to spar with Kaname settled on watching as Naruto trained with his technique. It seemed like Naruto had difficulties controlling the jutsu, as when he added more power his control of the rotation slipped, and when he focused on the control of the rotation the power suffered.
"Naruto-kun; how is your chakra control?" Kaname asked the boy after two hours without any marginal progress according to the boy, according to her he was only tiring himself out.
"According to the closet pervert; my control is shot to hell," Naruto said grumpily after another attempt of Rasengan had resulted in that the control of the rotations had been lost.
"Maybe you should practice that then?" Kaname asked, perhaps that way he'd be able to use the technique.
"But how does that help…"
"Everything, even I can see that it's your control that's the problem here; and I'm not even a genin," Kaname said, though she knew that she probably knew more than most genin knew since her mother had trained her for quite a few years.
"So… I'll just walk up trees and walk on water?" Naruto questioned.
"Yeah, considering what you said about your control that'll probably be what you can do, maybe even add holding a leaf stuck to your forehead with chakra if you can manage that as well,"
"Yosh, you heard Kaname-chan, you five do the tree walking exercise," Naruto said, pointing to five of his clones. Kaname joined Naruto on the water walking, simply sitting there and meditating.
Inside Tanzaku city two members of the legendary sannin sat in a bar; playing a game of poker while drinking some sake.
"So… You have a kid now?" Jiraiya asked as he took a sip of sake from his saucer.
"Yeah, funny how things turn out," Tsunade said, her was as usual lousy, throwing down all cards she took five new.
"How old is she?" Jiraiya asked his old teammate as he looked at his cards, Aces full of kings
"Twelve years, her birthday was fourteen days ago," Tsunade said as she poured herself some more sake.
'So she was born on the 17th of July,' Jiraiya stored that piece of information in the back of his head, it wasn't important to him now, "Who's the father?"
The blank stare he received told him he wasn't going to be allowed to know that, "Well, she seems to have taken after you, but there's something about her that's different from when you were her age, more specifically her…" he said with a lecherous grin that soon was twisted in pain, an unusually powerful kick to his shin; not even when he'd mentioned Tsunade in the past had he received a kick quite that hard.
"She's my daughter, don't even imply anything with your lewd behavior when speaking of her," Tsunade said threateningly, Jiraiya simply nodded as he rubbed his right leg, thankfully it wasn't broken; only badly bruised.
"So how is it you managed to keep her hidden all these years? I'm sure the advisors would have a fit if they heard that you had a daughter,"
"Yeah, that's one reason why I kept myself under everyone's radar,"
"Building gambling debts isn't what I call keeping yourself under our radar though," Jiraiya said, emptying his saucer of sake. When he attempted to fill it up he found the bottle empty, raising the bottle over his head the owner got the message and another two bottles were sent to their table.
"I still managed to hide that I had a daughter didn't I?"
"You have me there," Jiraiya said, presenting his cards to Tsunade, unsurprisingly she didn't have anything to counter it.
"Tsunade-sama! Kana-chan haven't come to the hotel for dinner, she went out for lunch since then I haven't seen her; do you know where she is?" Shizune's appearance had the two sannin standing up. Jiraiya paid for the drinks as his female companion had already exited the establishment. He mourned the two untouched bottles that remained on the table as he ran after Tsunade.
"Tonton, tell me when you smell Kana-chan's trail," Tsunade asked her pet pig. A squeal of affirmative was heard when they passed a ramen stand.
Jiraiya whom had caught up by now had his suspicions now that ramen came into play, Naruto had still been in the hotel right before noon but was preparing to leave, so going from there it was fairly reasonable that he had eaten at that stand since it was close to their hotel.
The trio of shinobi started to move towards one of the city exits, further giving Jiraiya belief to his theory. Once they reached a small river just by a small forest his suspicions were confirmed as he saw Naruto and several clones there. 'What's the gaki doing? He's training his chakra control?'
"Well, there you have her, the gaki is with her," Jiraiya said, case closed according to him.
"Shizune, go out there and reprimand her," Tsunade ordered her apprentice.
"What?" the brunette exclaimed, "Why do I have to look like the bad one?"
"Because, you're the mean big sister, and she can't just run off without telling her mean big sister where she's going so the mean sister can tell her she can't be with the student of Konoha's biggest pervert. He's probably already mentally twisted by being with Jiraiya," Tsunade said matter-of-factly. With a sigh Shizune walked over to her little sister in a sense.
"I wish he was perverted…" Jiraiya muttered, "But no, the kid's a bloody saint!"
Tsunade snorted at that, Jiraiya had very well succeeded with his last student, whose Hiraishin had been used to flip skirts for a while before the consequence of flipping one Uzumaki Kushina's skirt had come crashing down on the feared Konoha no Kiiroi no Senkō in the form of a weeks hospitalization, putting an end to his most known perverted streak within the walls of Konohagakure. (Though it was regarded as a village secret since if it became known outside the village that their most powerful shinobi had used his deadly technique to flip skirts would drastically lower the morale and their credibility.)
"It's true… Minato was better in that aspect, so gullible back then," Jiraiya said, a smile on his face as he reminisced about the past. The sannin never noticed as Shizune returned, her head shaking a negative.
"Why didn't you take her with you," Tsunade whispered harshly as she watched her daughter continue to meditate on the water, though she had started to manipulate the water now as well. It was encircling her in a fluid dance, taking on the shape of a dragon.
"She'd say what you hid underneath your pillow if you forced her," Shizune said curtly, "She promised to be back tonight though, she was rather adamant that she'd help Naruto to train this week, something about owing it to him,"
Tsunade pinched her nose; this would give her a headache for sure. Even her own daughter was against her. For the moment she wished she didn't have such a stubborn daughter, would've made a lot of things easier in her life, especially since her daughter was more stubborn than she herself.
Six days later
"So Tsunade, what is your answer?" Orochimaru asked his former teammate, he knew that his offer was very hard to resist, the two persons she cherished the most brought back to life just for healing his arms. It wasn't that hard of a choice was it?
"I'll… heal your arms, if you promise to leave Konoha alone," with a wicked smile Orochimaru walked over to the blonde nodding at her, slowly lifting his nearly unmoving arms upwards so that she could heal them easier. Her already green glowing hands were just about to touch his arms when two thrown kunai forced them both to jump backwards.
Looking up at the perpetrator Orochimaru saw Kabuto, "Why come this far; only to betray me… Tsunade?" reaffirming it Tsunade rushed Orochimaru who jumped aside, her punch reducing the wall that had been behind him to a fine dust.
"How could you come to an answer like this Tsunade-hime, to try to kill me?" Orochimaru asked as his yellow eyes questioned the blonde, "I was really intending to revive those two; I even promised to leave Konoha alone,"
"Heh, Nawaki and Dan were among the most important people to me, and I would really have loved to see their faces once more," Tsunade said, tears starting to well up in her eyes at the thought, "However, if I had agreed to your deal then I would have upset someone that's even more close to me, that's why!"
"So the deal's off… No choice then… we'll have to force you," before Orochimaru had a chance to attack Tsunade moved, delivering an axe kick that the pair avoided. Kabuto stared in wonder at the crater the kick created.
"It's a bit crowded here Orochimaru-sama, how about we move away from here,"
"You want to move the fight?" Orochimaru asked his servant. He could see no reason why the battle couldn't be fought here.
"I spotted someone with Tsunade's assistant that could be trouble, he's like you and Tsunade, one of the sannin," without a word Orochimaru followed by Kabuto jumped away. They didn't get that very far outside the village, about five minutes outside the village the pair found that Tsunade had managed to catch up; along with her was the one they had hoped to avoid.
"Orochimaru," Jiraiya said coldly as he stared down on his former teammate from atop Gamabunta. The moment of attention that Orochimaru and Kabuto gave Jiraiya was something Tsunade decided to capitalize on as she rushed in to deliver a killing punch to the snake summoner.
Kabuto was too slow to react as Tsunade charged, there was no way he could manage to land a blow against the woman, however her could do something that would get her out of the fight anyway.
Naruto watched in numbness as Kabuto took out a kunai and cut himself in the right arm, the blood spraying all over Tsunade. He watched as Tsunade froze all her movement and started to shake. 'Why are they fighting?'
Tsunade was sent flying by Kabuto as he delivered a fierce punch, luckily for the blonde woman her assistant was quick to jump off Gamabunta and catch her before she crashed towards the ground. Kaname was hot on Shizune's heels as they retreated a distance away from where the fight was about to commence.
"Kabuto-san, why?" Naruto asked the man who'd introduced himself as a fellow genin in the exams back in Konoha.
"You're so thick Naruto-kun," Kabuto said as he looked to the blond genin, "That's why you can't compare to Sasuke-kun,"
"Look at his hitai-ite carefully Naruto," Jiraiya said to his student, "He's Orochimaru's subordinate,"
"That's right, I'm an Oto spy,"
"Mom, what's happened to you?" Orochimaru's attention was focused on the girl that was shaking Tsunade's near catatonic body.
"Kabuto, help me summon, after that I want you to go for the little girl, use her to force Tsunade to help us," Orochimaru ordered as he stared at Jiraiya. The silver-haired boy removed the bandage on Orochimaru's left arm and swiped a small stream of blood over it, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu," a huge plume of smoke appeared, a single large snake revealed from the cloud's confines, Kabuto no longer present.
"Naruto, help Shizune to protect Tsunade and her daughter, I'll deal with Orochimaru," Jiraiya said as he pointed to Kabuto who was dashing towards Tsunade. It didn't take long before Naruto was off in the same direction.
Naruto watched as Shizune fought against Kabuto, but the fight was going in Kabuto's favor as he managed to avoid her poison mist and cut her ankle tendons. He reached the pair of fighters just as Shizune was sent to the side unconscious from a punch to her head.
"Naruto-kun," Kabuto said neutrally as he saw the blond boy standing in his way, "I've realized now that you stand no chance against Sasuke-kun," the fierce glare Naruto gave him was laughable from Kabuto's perspective, "Here you're just a misplaced genin even if you make such a scary face. You may have the power of the Kyūbi within you, but compared to the sannin that assembled here you are worthless, you're like a bug. If you try something here…" the threat was left hanging by the youth.
"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto created four clones, rushing the Oto-nin. The assault was easily dismantled by Kabuto as he spun around, blinding the two clones furthest to his right with blood from his still open wound. Grabbing the leftmost clone he used it ass a bat and swatted at the others, dispelling the clones and sending the original flying backwards. Before Naruto landed on the ground Kabuto followed up on the attack with a vicious punch that made a huge impact in the ground.
"Well, with that out of the way," Kabuto said as he walked towards Tsunade after looking down at Naruto's unmoving form for a few seconds, "I'll get right onto business," Kabuto dodged the punch that the blonde girl attempted to hit him with and with the momentum he had from the move he grabbed her throat and lifted her from the ground even as she attempted to kick him.
"Tsunade-sama, I believe it would be in your best interest to help Orochimaru-sama, unless you want any harm to be done to this girl," Kabuto said as he held a kunai to Kaname's stomach as well to discourage the girl from trying to kick him.
From her catatonic state Tsunade could only watch as Kabuto threatened to harm her daughter unless she helped Orochimaru, there was no way that she could do anything, both the distance and the blood that covered her stopping her.
"Perhaps you don't see how serious this is," Kabuto said, back behind him Orochimaru wasn't faring too well so it was impervious that his master was healed soon. He turned the girl around so that she faced Tsunade and held onto her neck so that she wouldn't pass out from suffocation.
The sensation as the kunai entered her stomach was shocking and her entire world was filled with pain, but it didn't stop there; in the distance she could hear someone cry a terrifying scream filled with pain. As the pain was dulling after what seemed like an eternity she felt the man twist the kunai from within the wound, she realized then that it was she who had been screaming all along. The grin on the man antagonizing her never disappeared as her world started to fade to black, only to it to return as the man used a medical jutsu to keep her conscious.
Kabuto noticed too late as the girl was wrestled out from his hands by Naruto who gently put her down next to Tsunade. 'He's limping from when I punched him into the ground, did I manage to break one of his bones?'
"You're gonna pay for hurting Kana-chan!" Naruto said as he pointed to Kabuto, his features looking animalistic as his eyes had changed color and appearance to demonic red.
"That's it Naruto-kun, for your insolence I'll kill you!" Kabuto stated as he charged towards the blond, the kunai aimed for the boy. Judging from Naruto's moments his right leg was badly injured.
To his surprise Naruto had blocked the attack by taking the kunai in his hand and held onto Kabuto's right hand. He watched as chakra started to circle in Naruto's right hand. Tsunade noticed it was just like the night when he had challenged her… or no, this time it was spinning faster and more compressed. "Rasengan!"
"Looks like you'll have to give me that necklace after all, old lady," Naruto said, turning around to Tsunade who still was unable to move. She watched as he staggered towards her, passed her a short distance and fell down on his knees. There at his knees she saw her daughter, the kunai still deeply embedded in her stomach, it was with that realization that her daughter had been badly wounded that she rushed into action and carefully withdrew the offending object.
Up from his summon Orochmaru watched the defeat that his subordinate suffered and how Tsunade seemed to have snapped out of her catatonic state and stopped trembling. The odds were greatly against his favor. "Manda, take Kabuto, we're retreating," even as Gamabunta tried to stop the large snake from picking up the silver-haired boy the snake managed to nestle its way past the large toad, picking up the boy with its tongue.
Jiraiya watched as Manda slithered away, "Bunta, we're staying here," he commanded before the toad jumped off.
"Why, this is our chance, he's greatly weakened at the moment,"
"So am I, I don't know how much longer I can keep this front up," Jiraiya said as he fell down on his back atop Gamabunta, "Tsunade slipped something into my sake last night, luckily Tsunade's daughter could make a semi-effective antidote, but I'm still very weakened at the current, it was a miracle I was able to summon you,"
"Come on kid, don't die on me," Naruto watched as Tsunade's hands glowed a bright green as she held them above the wound that Kaname had received, even though the wound had been healed Kaname's vitals weren't improving, "Please Kami-sama, I can't take another loss," the tears that started to freely flow from Tsunade's eyes had Naruto cursing himself for not being faster, not only was Tsunade fearing that her daughter was dying, but it was also his new friend. He watched as Shizune looked on in the distance, unable to move over.
"Why… are you crying… ka-chan?" the inquiring voice from below had shocked Tsunade even as a hand weakly closed in on her face, "You know… you'll have… to give that necklace… to Naruto-kun now…" she felt as the necklace that used to belong to her grandfather was ripped away from her.
The tears of sorrow were replaced with those of relief as she watched her unconscious daughter's smiling face as she held the necklace a few inches away from an equally relieved Naruto.
"Hey brat," Tsunade said gaining Naruto's attention as she attempted to dry her still flowing tears with the sleeves of her jacket, "I'll take the title of Hokage, I wasn't thinking straight when I said those things,"
"That's good to heard old lady," Naruto said before he too passed out, having exhausted himself after the brief bout when he had used the Kyūbi's chakra.
Izumo and Kotetsu had landed themselves gate duty, probably one of the dullest and most leisure-able C-ranks available. Check the I.D. of any people that wanted to enter the village and the jut down the names in a journal. With the invasion the amount of checks they had to do had dropped dramatically since there were more teams doing missions where they helped to rebuild the village so it was even less work at the moment. Even more so when they were working during the night.
"Don't you wish something happened her for once?" Izumo questioned his friend who was busy with reapplying the bandage over his nose; having nothing better to do.
"Nah, this is good," his friend replied after a few moments.
"Hey, who's that?" Izumo asked, pointing down the dark road.
"Aren't you just imagining things now Izumo?" Kotetsu questioned once he was done and turned towards the road, seeing no-one.
"I swear there's someone walking over there," Izumo protested even as he himself was unable to see anyone there now as well.
"Not a faulty observation, but shouldn't you say something along the lines of 'halt, who's there' when you see someone you can't identify closes in on the gates, especially with how Konoha recently was under attack?" a third voice asked, the source originating from between the two men before they jumped back in surprise.
"Ah, Jiraiya-sama, you're back?" Kotetsu asked, still standing with his kunai ready.
"Yes, the great Jiraiya-sama has returned with his student after successfully accomplishing the mission, so that means Tsunade and her two apprentices are with me," Jiraiya said proudly. 'Perhaps best if Tsunade drops the bomb to the council later, better she tells the old coots than they hear it by the rumor mill,'
It was then that the two chūnin saw four others walking up the booth, or more specifically three persons walking up as the fourth was riding on the back of one.
"Naruto-kun, I can walk just fine, it's embarrassing if anyone saw this when walking through the village, besides aren't you tired," the person riding piggyback complained.
"No way Kana-chan, it still hurts right," Naruto said to his newest friend, carrying a friend who was hurting was nothing if it eased their pain.
"Just let the boy be; you should have learned by now that he's even more stubborn than you are," the blonde woman walking beside them said.
"Jiraiya, can we go inside?" Tsunade asked the white haired man, who in turn looked to Kotetsu and Izumo.
"Yeah, just walk on in," Jiraiya said upon seeing the pair nod at the unspoken question, "See you guys later then," he told the pair before he too set off after Tsunade.
"Okay, one of the sannin just sneaked up on us and then one more walked through the gates, you happy now Izumo?" Kotetsu asked once he was sure they were out of earshot.
"I'm surprised you actually managed to get her to come," Homura said as he surveyed the blonde woman as they stood atop the Hokage tower.
"Well, you know being as handsome as me; something like that isn't very difficult for me," Jiraiya said proudly before giving off a boisterous laugh.
"Well, let's gather the local lords then and celebrate the inauguration of the Godaime Hokage," Koharu said before turning towards the two tokubetsu jōnin standing there as well, "Genma, Aoba; announce this to the village,"
"Wait a sec; she's still got some stuff to do!" Naruto said, the original reason he'd been told why they were going after her not having been attended.
Waking up Uchiha Sasuke and Hatake Kakashi hadn't proved to be much of a deal for Tsunade, Rock Lee however was a whole other matter, the damage to him was severe, at best he would have a fifty percent chance to survive the operation procedure that would enable him to be an active shinobi again, her best advice for him was to quit being a ninja.
She could only sigh as the last sheet of paper was put in the "out" box. Second day in the village and she'd been forced to sign five stacks of papers already, the council had avoided all paperwork during the time when Konoha lacked a Hokage. And then she had not-so-very-important papers left to sign that accounted to ten stacks. She let her eyes travel over the office, wondering where a good place to hide sake could be. She had a good feeling she would need it.
"Ka-chan," the voice of her daughter interrupted her thoughts as the door was thrown open.
"Shush, what did I tell you, call me Tsunade-shishou here," Tsunade scolded Kaname who looked sheepish as Shizune helped the girl walk in.
"I don't get why we have to be so secretive about you being my mother," Kaname complained, her now blue eyes staring at her mother. Wearing contacts was such a drag!
"Because the council is a pain," Tsunade replied, "Now what are you here for, didn't I tell you just to rest back in the house?"
"It's boring there," Kaname responded as she slowly walked around, inspecting the office with Shizune's aid, "Chūnin exam evaluation…" she mumbled as she picked up a paper from one of the stacks Tsunade hadn't gone through yet, "You think Naruto-kun participated in the exam?"
"Yeah he did, he was upset when he saw the Nara boy wearing the vest earlier,"
"Hm…" Kaname started to flip through the papers looking at the results, "Well from what the judges gave him he should have passed, if just barely… or no wait; there's some veto against his promotion here,"
"What?! Let me see that," Tsunade said, suddenly feeling invigorated. Kaname walked over with the papers before sitting down in one of the chairs before the desk. "Those old bats…" Tsunade mumbled, the advisors had vetoed the motion to have Uzumaki Naruto promoted, well too bad for them that the Hokage had a stronger veto, meaning there would be two promotions from that exam. Since the results hadn't been officially approved by the Hokage she was allowed to change it. 'Congratulations on a promotion then brat,'
"Well, Shizune can you arrange for someone to get Uzumaki Naruto here to receive his promotion to chūnin," Tsunade asked as she signed the document after going over it one last time, checking if there was anything else that seemed off, luckily there wasn't.
It took about twenty minutes before Naruto showed up, wondering why he had been summoned, having a flak jacket thrown in his face hadn't been on the list of things he expected.
"Congratulations on the promotion, gaki," Tsunade said at seeing the dumbfound expression on his face as he sat on the floor, the vest still over him.
"Congratulations Naruto-kun," Kaname said as well while giving him a smile.
"Wha…?" he still didn't really get it; he'd gotten a chūnin jacket thrown at him… did that mean?
"You became a chūnin, is that so hard to fathom?" Tsunade asked the blond boy, who nodded weakly after a little while. "Well, get that into that thick skull of yours, now off with you… and take Kana-chan with you so that she learns what the village looks like, can't have her here annoying me all day when I have work to do,"
"Alright," Naruto said as he rose up, occasionally fingering the vest, seeing if it was real before taking it on.
"You'll have to help me walk Naruto-kun, but I'm not riding piggyback today!" Kaname said as she rose from the chair, wincing a little as the injury made itself reminded.
"Hey, what's happened to your eyes Kana-chan?" Naruto asked upon seeing that her eyes were blue instead of their golden-brown color.
"Tsunade-shishou doesn't want anyone finding out our relation, something about the old bats on the council," the girl answered as the pair started to walk out of the office, "Now that we're in a fairly large village and you got a new flashy vest… let's find a clothing store so we can buy clothes that doesn't clash so terribly with the vest. Orange just doesn't work with olive-green," Naruto was just about to protest, but the glare sent his way left no room for argument, so he started to lead the girl towards the market district.
She was shocked when the storeowner at first denied her access when she walked inside with Naruto, however at the mention of being the Hokage's apprentice and how denying her access to the store would be a big mistake she'd been allowed to browse through the clothes along with Naruto.
"Hm… black, definitely black clothes," Kaname declared after browsing through the available apparels.
"With a little orange," Naruto piped in, but quieted at the glare she sent his way.
"Does not fit with the vest; besides that orange stands out way too much, it's bad enough with your blond hair really," Kaname said as she picked out some clothes and sent him inside the booth to test them out.
Looking himself in the mirror Naruto found that it was pretty much the same as what Kakashi was wearing, minus the mask… though a mask might be cool. But that idea was soon scrapped, the mask was Kakashi's thing. Though it was with a heavy heart, Naruto did have to agree that it would fit better with the clothes he was trying it with the vest. Walking outside he could see that Kaname was glad as she watched him showcase the clothes.
"Perfect, now to pay for them and some extra pairs," she said before marching off towards the register, dragging Naruto with her.
"But what about my old suit," Naruto protested as he was dragged off.
"Leave it there; you aren't going to need it anymore," Kaname said, "Here's the money you'll need to pay for it along with three extra sets,"
"Sure, that's four thousand ryō," the man said smiling from behind the desk after Naruto asked for another three sets and was offering the money given to him by Kaname.
The glare she sent the man while limping towards the counter had chills going down the old man's spine, "The price tags tell me it should be a total of four hundred ryō for four sets, don't try anything old man,"
"But it's the…" the man protested.
"I wouldn't say any more," A voice interrupted from the entrance of the store, standing there was Jiraiya, "I see you got promoted gaki, congratulations… and thank god Kaname-chan for getting him some new clothes."
Before she could blink she found that the three extra sets of clothes she wanted had been set up on the desk and the four hundred ryō Naruto had been holding up had disappeared while the old man was working with the register. Seemed like Jiraiya had a lot of respect here even though he was a super pervert.
"Well then, let's continue the tour now that we've addressed the most pressing matter," Kaname announced, as Naruto carried the extra clothes in a bag in his right hand while supporting Kaname with his left. Jiraiya was walking a few steps behind the pair, unnerving them.
"So Ero-sennin, why are you following us?" Naruto questioned as they reached the Hokage tower.
"Can't a teacher look out for his student?" Jiraiya huffed indignantly,
"I'm sure that's fine Jiraiya-sama, however walking after your student while scribbling in a notepad that my mother tells me contains stuff that I shouldn't read I doubt it would be called looking out for your student, perhaps I should tell ka-chan about this?"
"Point taken, you two were boring anyways," Jiraiya said, slipping the notebook back inside his vest, "well, have fun showing off the village then Naruto, I'm off for some worthy research,"
"Okay, now that he's gone I'm gonna show you one of the most awesome places in Konoha," Naruto declared as the pair started to trek behind the Hokage tower, the climb up the mountain proved to be a rather slow process. The view however was well worth it once they stood atop the head of the Sandaime.
"Soon your mother's face will be here as well, just beside the Yondaime," Naruto said pointing to an area to their left just beside the stone head of the deceased Hokage.
"Yeah…" Kaname said, "You know… I've always wanted to see what my mother's home village was like; and here I am, looking over the village from the monument of her teacher. I'm even about to start life here, ka-chan said she'd even let me join the shinobi forces once she found an opening in the teams to let me join, but that's another two months before the next batch of genin graduates from the academy,"
"Why can't you just join, you've trained with your mother right?" Naruto asked confused.
"It's because I haven't been operating in a team before and that I'm all new to Konoha, she wanted me to get to know people before I join the ranks, beside I can use the time until then to train, it just means I won't get to do any missions before that,"
The pair sat there for a while as Naruto pointed at the various areas of Konoha, explaining what each part contained with a fire burning in his eyes as he talked about certain places like the academy where 'Iruka-sensei' worked or the ramen stand with 'Teuchi-ochan and Ayame-neechan' which he apparently frequented for meals.
"Naruto-kun, how about we head back now, I feel hungry; maybe you can show me that Ichiraku ramen place?"
"Sure thing Kana-chan!" Naruto said jubilantly, he was never going to say no to eat at Ichiraku, and now he had a lot of money as well, "Just gonna pass by my apartment to drop the new clothes off,"
Kakashi wasn't really surprised when he heard Naruto's jubilant voice from the Ichiraku ramen stand. The kid didn't miss a chance to eat at his favorite place it seemed.
"And then I used my new move and blasted him away, you should have seen it Iruka-sensei!" Kakashi decided to take a meal as well; he was hungry after being forced to only eat hospital food since he woke up the day before and now he had finally been released.
"Oh, Naruto, you… I see congratulations are in place," Kakashi said surprised when he saw his student sitting there with Iruka, gone was the orange jumpsuit, replaced with clothing similar to his own; he was even wearing a flak jacket.
"Thanks Kakashi-sensei! I was just telling Iruka-sensei about the awesome new move I learned," Naruto said as Kakashi sat down on the stool next to Iruka.
"Care to tell me something about it?" Kakashi asked his blond student before ordering a miso ramen for himself.
"Instead of tell you I can show it to you and Iruka sensei later," Naruto said proudly as before finishing the bowl he had in front of him, "Ah, I'm full," he declared as he set the bowl atop the small pile of seven bowls he'd created. Now that Kakashi was the only one who had yet to finish his meal the silver-haired jōnin found that the two chūnin were staring at him intently, waiting to see his face.
He was thankful when the girl to Naruto's right sneezed, garnering the chūnins' attention for a moment; enough for him to finish off the meal. Second time he'd been saved at Ichiraku by a third part he noted.
As they walked towards the training fields Kakashi noted that the blonde girl was following them, or rather, Naruto was supporting her as they walked, "Naruto, is that your new girlfriend?"
"What? No, you know I love Sakura! I'm just showing this girl around the village since she's new and all!" Naruto protested as the girl was blushing while sputtering protests along Naruto's lines. Kakashi found that the girl reminded him of someone, he just couldn't place who it was.
"Well then, can you really showcase the move with her here, I see she has no hitai-ite?" Kakashi continued as they reached the training field.
"Of course, she helped me figuring out how to do it," Naruto said as he helped her to sit down on a large rock. Walking away a few meters towards the edge of the training field Naruto took up a dramatic stance, "Now watch this Kakashi sensei!"
Kakashi's visible eye widened as he watched something began to form in Naruto's hand, "It's the…"
"Rasengan!" Naruto said as he shoved the jutsu into a tree; the resulting splintering kicking up a large dust cloud as the tree was torn in two.
"Naruto, who taught you that technique?" Kakashi questioned, he really shouldn't be surprised; the boy was the number one unpredictable ninja after all.
"Ero-sennin did," at the inquisitive look that Kakashi and Iruka gave him the girl spoke up for the first time.
"He means Jiraiya-sama; it's just Naruto-kun's way of endearment calling him Ero-sennin,"
"Excuse me, who are you? I don't think I've seen you before," Kakashi said,
"Kakashi-san, shouldn't you present yourself before speaking with a lady," Iruka said as he elbowed the older man.
"Ah, sorry if I offended you, I'm Hatake Kakashi by the way, Naruto's teacher," Kakashi said as he rubbed the back of his head.
"None taken," the girl said as she smiled at the man, "I'm Kaname, Tsunade-sama's apprentice,"
He could tell that she wasn't lying, but he had a feeling that she'd left something out there, but for now he'd let it slip, he was sure he would find out in due time.
"Well then, how about we check up on Sasuke now Naruto-kun, I think he should be up and about now as well, you can join us as well Iruka-kun," Kakashi said as he smiled at them all. Perhaps talking with the girl would give it away.
"I'm afraid I'll have to pass, I have a mission early tomorrow so I need to fill up on some supplies," Iruka said before starting to leave, "It was nice meeting you Kaname-san, a friend of Naruto's is also a friend of mine. And once again Naruto, congratulations on the promotion,"
"Thanks Iruka-sensei and good luck on the mission," Naruto said to the waving chūnin as the trio walked towards the hospital.
"So Kaname-san, you're a kunoichi then?"
"Not officially, Tsunade-shishou said I'd have to wait until the next batch of genin graduates before I can join officially, until then I'll have to settle with simply training, something about getting to know people and learning teamwork properly," Kaname said a little bitterly Kakashi noted.
"Well, maybe you can come and observe when my team do some missions if you'd like, at least as long as they're D-rank," Kakashi said, Naruto visibly blanched at the mention of D-rank missions.
As they entered the hospital room where Sasuke was staying they found it to be in somewhat of a mess, there was broken glass and apple slices over the floor as Sakura stood there, holding her hands to her chest worriedly.
The stare directed at Naruto as Sasuke saw his dress had Kakashi narrowing his eyes. That wasn't a gaze one gave a comrade, for a moment Kakashi was prepared to defend Naruto from an attack from the Uchiha before the boy snapped his head around after giving Kakashi a quick gaze, huffing as he did so.
"Naruto… why are you wearing a vest?" Sakura asked as the awkward silence prevailed in the room as Sasuke refused to look at the visitors.
"I got promoted!" Naruto said as he grinned like a Cheshire cat, "So how about you go on a date with me to celebrate,"
The resulting punch that sent Naruto to the floor had Kakashi wincing while Kaname's face darkened slightly. 'This is a team?' she questioned as Sakura berated the blond team member as Kakashi attempted to dissuade the situation. Eventually the pinkette relented after stating that she never would go out with Naruto.
"Well then, you guys play nice," Kakashi said as he saw a bird land on the windowsill, 'A mission already?'
"Well then, maybe we should leave now as well Naruto-kun, your teammates still seems a little beat from being under that jutsus effect," Kaname suggested, the pair was just about to leave when Sasuke spoke up, having turned back towards Naruto again.
"Fight me, Naruto," he demanded; the sneer present on his face again. Naruto wasn't slow to match it as he turned around.
"All…" a hard poke to his ribs stopped his reply, looking at the girl on his side he saw her shaking her head, thinking after he too found the idea a little preposterous, he'd gotten promoted to chūnin yet Sasuke hadn't that had to count for something right? "No thanks Sasuke,"
"It wasn't a request Naruto, just let the bitch care for herself and fight me!" Naruto found that Sasuke was charging up towards him, but before he had a chance to react other than taking up a defensive stance he felt that Kaname's presence had disappeared completely. He watched in amazement as a single punch sent Sasuke airborne before he reached Naruto, Sasuke's form soon wrecking the inside of the room while Sakura stared at the blonde girl in amazement.
"Do not ever dare insult me ever again, boy," Kaname said as she stared down on the now unconscious boy darkly before she limped over to Naruto again, giving him a pleasant smile as she took a firm grip on his left arm.
"Shall we go Naruto-kun?" she asked as she started to walk out of the room with him following slowly just as a nurse came rushing into the room.
Soon the nurse was out of the room, "Uzumaki Naruto, what have you done to Uchiha-san!" the nurse accused the blond as she walked over to the boy, "I'm going to report this to the head of the hospital, attacking a fellow Konoha shinobi is a serious crime,"
"I'll have you know that Uzumaki-san did nothing, I was the one who knocked that boy out after he attempted to attack us, it was purely in self defense," Kaname said as she stared at the nurse coldly, "So don't come with false accusations when you weren't even there," with that she once more lead Naruto out of the hospital.
Two weeks later
"You want to what Jiraiya?!" Tsunade said as she stared at the man in disbelief.
"I said I wanted to bring Naruto along on a three-year training trip, along with Kaname-chan," the white-haired man said as he stood back up, her yell having sent him in a crouching stance, prepared to be hit by the blonde woman.
"I can understand Naruto, but why Kana-chan as well?"
"Well, you don't want the council to know she's your daughter right, if she's with me they won't figure that out since she won't be in the village anymore,"
"Just how do you plan that she can enter the Konoha forces smoothly if she doesn't get to interact with a team beforehand?" Tsunade protested, "And how can I trust you with my daughter…"
"It'll be no problem, Naruto can fix that; he's got his way with people, besides they've been hanging around with Naruto's fellow genin the last two weeks all the time," Jiraiya responded, besides it wasn't like foreign ninja that joined Konoha were ostracized, so why would someone that was the daughter of one of the sannin be? The hard part would be to convince Tsunade that he could handle taking care of the girl as well.
"I'm sure I'll be fine Tsunade-shishou," the voice coming from the window surprised the two sannin, how'd Kaname managed to sneak up to the office, and just how much had she heard?
"Yeah, if Ero-sennin tries anything I'll kick him good," Naruto added as he too popped up with his head.
"You two, beat it!" Tsunade ordered as she walked over to the windows, closing them. Sitting down on the desk she activated a seal, soundproofing the room.
"Jiraiya, I'll trust you with the two of them, but I want them back in three years time or I'll personally castrate you! What I'm about to tell you is in total confidence, and I trust that you won't tell anyone about this unless I clear you to do so," the white haired man nodded as his face adopted a somber appearance. As Tsunade started the tale his skin became increasingly paler, until his skin had almost the same complexion as his hair, as Tsunade finished the man fainted. 'At least he won't cause a problem now… I hope,"
The morning after Kaname and Naruto had been summoned to the office where they had been told in detail about the training trip, after being dismissed the two went to pack the belongings they wanted to bring along on the trip. Now the two stood along with Jiraiya at the main gate, ready to set out. Just as they were about to set out they were stopped as Tsunade had appeared.
"Were you just going to leave just like that Kana, without my going away present," Tsunade scolded pleasantly, "close your eyes for a moment," the girl did as she was told, she felt something being tied around her neck and something heavy and round was put in her hands; after she felt her mother kiss her forehead she was told to open her eyes. Around her neck a forehead protector had been tied and in her hands she held a large scroll.
"Now, guard that scroll tightly, it's a family scroll and I'm trusting it to you, make me proud of you as a kunoichi," Tsunade said as she hugged her daughter.
"Yes, ka-chan," the girl replied as tears started to flow from her eyes, unable to control herself.
"All right, enough with the mushy stuff, let's go already, Naruto is way ahead of us!" Jiraiya said annoyed, only to cower at the glares he received from the two Senju females. However the two parted after a few moments and Tsunade watched as Jiraiya and her daughter started to run after the energetic blond that'd set out before them even though Jiraiya was the only one who knew what their first destination would be.
A/N: This has been simmering in my head for quite a while, and now with how hard the words came to me for Arashi no Mae I decided to write this and see where it would lead. Hopefully it'll help me get going with Arashi no Mae once I get this out of my head, so anywho, some changes made to canon here (obvious one is that Tsunade has a daughter,) and more to come. Here Naruto set out with Jiraiya before Sasuke defected to Oto, so that'll mean some major changes. I didn't feel like doing a total retelling of all events in canon that remain as in canon, so some have been left out from this writing, hopefully you guys can fill out the blanks yourselves. The plan is to focus on Jiraiya and his two new students' travels; the other genin will come into play once they return to Konoha.