22 Years Ago...
He approached the gate to the Konoha and stopped, taking one last look around at the village that had been his home for so long. For one moment he actually thought of not doing this, that he should stay here and forget about his fri- his former, teammate. Then that one memory suddenly popped into his head.
"You are fool, now I will show the price of your foolish ideals of friendship."
The memory sparked the pain in his left arm and all doubt washed away in an instant and he knew he had to go. He took a few steps out of the village when a voice suddenly stopped him.
"Where are you going?" the cold female voice whispered into the night air.
He suddenly stopped walking as a strong gust of wind ominously passed.
"I asked you a question!" she yelled angrily.
"That temper of yours is going to get you in trouble, you know?" he answered sarcastically.
"Answer the question!"
He suddenly turned to face her. The harsh look on her face startled him but he didn't let his composure show it. He met her glare with his own emotionless gaze.
"I going to get him back." he answered calmly.
"Why?" she asked the desperation seeping over the edge of her words, "Why does it have to be your responsibility?"
"It's not a responsibility, it's something I want to do. That I need to do." he said keeping his voice as calm as possible, masking pain he felt inside.
"He's far past saving and you know it!" she yelled at him trying to keep back the tears.
"Probably. But I need to do this, not just for him, but for me. No matter what, he was... is my best friend. I won't abandon him." with that he silently turned and started to walk away.
"Jiraiya!" Tsunade yelled at her former teammate.
"Goodbye Tsunade, be strong, protect your brother and the village. Do something more for the village that I never could." with that last whispering line carrying through the air to Tsunade's ears, Jiraiya left the village, officially breaking apart the Legendary Sannin and Tsunade from her best friend.
15 Years Ago...
Trees and mountains collapsed under it's mighty tails as hurricanes and storms lifted destroying everything within miles. Every step the creature took shook the earth terribly and it's horribly powerful chakra burning apart everything in sight. Ninjas from Konohagakure all tried capturing the figure with Chakra endowed spears and nets. Some threw exploding tags or used earth techniques, but nothing could penetrate the beast's terrible chakra. Bodies lay around dead from it's devastation, and most were either injured or tending to the wounded.
"We have to run!" someone yelled frightened by the Kyuubi's horrible roars.
"No! We stay here until the Yondaime gets here!" another shouted, wrapping his torn shirt around his head to keep the blood out of his eyes.
"There's no one left! Platoons 1-89 are all gone! We have to retreat!" he shouted shrilly as others began to run.
"NO! Our orders were to stay here until Yondaime reports! We have to believe in him!" still despite these orders some began to run while others stayed either out of faith or inability to move because of their injuries.
Suddenly a figure crashed onto the ground with a deafening shock. As she slowly rose, the busty woman stood tall, and just like that, some regained hope.
"Who needs medical attention?" she asked loudly to the remaining soldiers.
Then two figures landed behind her with a much quieter entrance but still, it was as if the entire battlefield went silent from their arrival as the two figures stood proudly. Tsunade quickly turned around to see a sight that did give her a slight sigh of relief. There stood Jiraiya and the Yondaime.
"Finally, you're here." Tsunade said quietly.
"Tsunade, quickly gather the wounded. Jiraiya-sensei, could you please scour for any leftover soldiers?" the Yondaime ordered quickly to the two ninjas who praised as Legendary.
"Right!"
"Roger!"
Soon they both dispersed and the Yondaime went to the General.
"How many are left?" he asked quietly.
"75, maybe 80." the general reported.
"I see." the Yondaime muttered quietly.
Soon, Jiraiya and Tsunade reappeared next to the Yondaime.
"All living soldiers have been cleared off the battle field." Jiraiya reported.
"I've healed all lethal injuries and healed as many as I could." Tsunade reported after Jiraiya.
"Good. General, tell your men to clear out. At least fifty yards." the general suddenly looked at the Yondaime surprised by such an odd order.
"But sir-"
"Go." the Yondaime muttered quietly his voice sounding so tired and defeated.
"H-hai." the general agreed after a moment's hesitation.
Soon all the ninja who could walk stood from their posts and helped those who either were unable to stand from withstanding injuries or were unconscious and unable to leave. They all dispersed within a few seconds and the only ones left were those three. For a moment they all stood there frozen, when the roar of the creature could be heard it was as if they came out of a trance and knew what they needed to do. Sort of.
"So, what's left?" Tsunade asked quietly.
"This creature is unstoppable, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was immortal, so there is no technique that can kill it. Not only that but no jutsu can even hope to break through that powerful chakra." Jiraiya said grimly.
"Then I guess I'll be joining you soon Nawaki-neechan." Tsunade whispered to herself, the face of her little brother appearing in her mind, like a ghost of a flash, but that's all he was now, a ghost.
"No, there's still one technique left." the Yondaime whispered.
All that could be heard in those few seconds were the wind as it whistled ominously at that very moment and the progressively louder sounds of the Kyuubi's path of destruction.
"Can you use that technique? Were you able to mater it finally?" Tsunade asked suddenly brimming with hope.
"I won't let you use it. It-" but before Jiraiya could finish the Yondaime appeared in a flash and Jiraiya was out cold from the fierce and decisive blow he had gotten to the stomach.
"Gomen, Jiraiya-sensei." the Yondaime whispered quietly as Jiraiya fell to the ground, now unconscious, "Tsunade, if you would please."
Tsunade nodded and picked Jiraiya's limp body up off of the ground and hoisted him over her shoulder to carry. He had come when the Kyuubi attacked and had given his support, but she knew it was only temporary. As soon as this was over, he would go right back to his personal vendetta. She guiltily enjoyed this moment of holding his unconscious form.
"I'll go clear too." she said preparing to leave when Yondaime's hand had latched onto her shoulder.
"There's one other favor I need from you Tsunade, after I have done this technique." the Yondaime whispered as he showed the small infant he removed from his cloak.
She only looked at the child for a moment and realized what he was going to do. For a moment she didn't know what to say. She had a few ideas, some about what inspired the Yondaime to do this, another was if he understand what fate he was deciding for this child, then there were dozens about his logic behind doing this but none came out. All she could do was stare at the small infant in the Yondaime's arms who must have been no more then an hour old who was about to have his fate greatly changed. Then finally after her extended silence that had felt like several minutes but had probably only been a few seconds, she came out with something to say:
"What's his name?"
Present
"NARUTO UZUMAKI!!!!!!!!" Iruka-sensei yelled as the giant poster unfurled itself.
There up on the giant billboard behind all of the students who had gotten their diplomas was a very large poster of Iruka-sensei in his underwear, unshaved and uncombed, scratching his butt, all the while looking in the mirror with what looked like a very content but tired face. Naruto stood with his diploma laughing the most of anyone, appreciating the handiwork he had done as his final prank at Konoha Junior High School For Boys. The next part was always his favorite though.
The chase.
"Yaa-haha!!!" he laughed loudly as he started to run from a very steaming and red Iruka-sensei.
"NNNNAAAAARUUUUUTTOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!"