A Change in Plans
Just to mention something that I should've mentioned in the first chapter: Neither Jiraiya nor Tsunade know about Naruto's heritage. I own nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!!
'Blah'- inner thoughts
"Blah" - talking
'Blah' - demon/monster speaking
"BLAH" - talking with extreme emotion
"Blah" - jutsu being performed
"BLAH"- really angry yelling
# - scene change
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Chapter 2: Lost in Thoughts
The day started out as any normal day would: the sun was out in the clear blue sky, and there was gentle breeze flowing every now and then. Several people would consider these conditions to be the start of a very good day. Naruto, on the other hand, wasn't one of these people. Right now, Naruto was sitting on a bench that was placed across the entrance of a casino waiting impatiently, all the while muttering under his breathe about busty, old blondes and their reckless urges to gamble. It never ceased to amaze him how the Slug Sanin could be so reckless with the money that she borrows from practically every bank or loan shark.
Naruto originally wanted go in as well and possible win more money so that he could set it aside for an emergency fund. Not to mention that he was still recovering financially after that stunt his mega-pervert sensei pulled at the "make-out" bar. That was the last time that he would ever let that man guard his money again. Unfortunately, the casino didn't allow anyone below the age of eighteen to gamble. Now normally, this wouldn't have been a problem for Naruto since a simple Transformation Jutsu could've amended the situation. Tsunade's threats of giving him the beating of a lifetime, however, was the real reason that he wasn't inside right now doubling his life savings. Instead, he was ordered to wait outside with Jiraiya while she went in. Speaking of the devil, the infamous peeping tom was no where to be found.
"Well this is just great, Granny Tsunade and Shizune are having a blast at the casino, and Pervy Sage is probably off peeping in yet another women's hot springs. Meanwhile, I'm stuck here waiting for them, looking like some idiot that's lost their way." he muttered to himself.
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With the stupid per . . . I mean Jiraiya
While Tsunade was at the casino, Jiraiya was at a bar stand, sipping down a bottle of sake. He was having a very good day. He and Naruto (mostly Naruto) had convinced Tsunade to accept the title of Fifth Hokage, meaning that he no longer had to worry about the council trying to make him take the job himself.
'Now that Tsunade is left with dealing those wrinkly, pompous council members, I have plenty of time to catch up on my research. Sure, having the rank of Kage sounds pretty cool, but it's really just a pain-in-the-ass desk job. Though, I wonder if I should warn Tsunade about what she had just agreed to do. . . . Nah, it'll be funnier once she finds out on her own.' thought Jiraiya gleefully. Suddenly he spotted a young busty brunette in his peripheral vision walk in and sit down at the bar two seats to his left. Acting on habitual behavior, the older man pulled out his notebook and an ink pen to jot down some quick notes for his new book. But as he got a good look at the woman's face, Jiraiya immediately froze up, and allowed his pen to fall to the floor.
All time seemed to stop as Jiraiya continued to gaze at the young woman that was sitting on his left. Nothing else was as important as the face that was before him. The woman had a smooth, angular face with cream-colored skin. Her eyes were of a bright aquamarine color that shown brightly in the shaded environment of the stand's drapes. Her luscious lips shone with a light pink hue. As Jiraiya continued to gaze upon the young woman, whose looks rivaled Tsunade's when she was in her prime, one name instantly popped into his mind. A name whose owner was the first to ever render him speechless by her beauty. A name that had brought so much happiness and despair to him at the same time. The hair color was all wrong, but she was almost completely identical to her.
"Shina . . ."
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Flashback
"Just hang in there, Shina! We're almost there, the hospital is just a few more feet away!" shouted Jiraiya, as he leapt across tree after tree carrying a very battered kunoichi. She had several deep gashes all over her body that were already bandaged, yet she was still losing a lot of blood.
'Please hang on, love. I can't bear to lose you.' the white-haired nin mentally pleaded.
"Jiry . . ." came a weak voice. Jiraiya looked down at the girl that he was carrying and gazed into her half-closed eyes. "Jiry, please . . . please don't. My injuries are too severe. I don't think I can make it.
"Yes you can, Shina!" exclaimed Jiraiya, as he doubled his pace, and prayed that he could get there in time. "You've been through worse situations than this! You can make it, just don't give up! And don't even think about saying that you have no problem dying like this, not after everything we've been through!"
"Ji . . . Jiry . . ."
"Shina? . . Shina?! . . . SHINA!!!"
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In Present Time
"Sir? . . . Sir?" was the voice that brought Jiraiya back to his surroundings. Immediately, he realized that the woman was looking at him with a worried expression adorning her face.
"Sir, are you alright? You were looking very vacant, and were talking to yourself about some 'Shina'."
It took a while for Jiraiya to process what exactly had happened, and realized that he must of zoned out while he was still staring at the woman.
"Uh, yeah, yeah, I'm alright." he said awkwardly. "I'm sorry about that, it's just that you look a lot like someone I used to know." And without a further word, he paid for his drink and left the bar. As he walked aimlessly away, his mind was still focused on that woman that looked so much like his Shina.
The moment that he had first laid eyes on her, his entire world was turned completely upside down. He immediately became tongue-tied whenever he spoke to her, and would often become very clumsy whenever they were alone together. But, he had somehow overcome these problems and had asked her out, which she enthusiastically agreed to. From that moment on, Jiraiya vowed to make sure their relationship lasted. Unfortunately, on one tragic day, Jiraiya learned just how cruel fate can be when he watched the love of his life die in his arms. It was also the start of a year long depression for the Sanin. To make matters worse, he couldn't turn to his family for comfort and help, as his parents were alcoholics that fought with each other on a daily basis.
To help deal his suffering, Jiraiya began to indulge himself in his perverted nature and created the "Make-Out" series, based on his own life experiences, as a way to numb his emotional pain. But there was only so much that one could write without their work becoming dull. Jiraiya knew this and began to start peeping on women, once again, in bath houses to get new material. When he published the first book, it became an immediate success, and instantly made Jiraiya a filthy rich man. His new found wealth then led him to his excessive spending in strip clubs and alcohol. Pretty soon, he had almost completely forgotten about Shina all together, if it weren't for that encounter at the bar.
'Shina,' he thought sadly, 'if you could see me now, you'd be utterly disgusted in what I've become. Gah! How could I have been so stupid?! How could I have just let myself go like that? Peeping on women, writing those books, throwing Naruto off a cliff just to make him master summoning; what's wrong with me?! Well, no more! I'm stopping this foolishness right now! I'm going to start acting like the man and sensei I should be today!' And with that, he started towards the casino that Naruto, Tsunade, Shizune, and Tonton were at. But when his mind landed on Naruto, he realized of a certain debt that he had with the boy that needed to be repaid. So changed directions and headed towards the nearest bank to make a withdrawal from his account.
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Back With Naruto
Naruto's patience with the two Sanin was diminishing quickly. According to the others, the Sanin of the Hidden Leaf Village were supposed to be well-respected ninja of great power and wisdom. But after his encounters with all three of them, Naruto couldn't see why these adults were so well-respected: Jiraiya was a complete pervert, Tsunade was both an alcoholic and a gambling addict with a short temper, and Orochimaru was a twisted, snake-loving psychopath. But then again, even though the first two Sanin had their faults, they were still loyal to the Leaf and had a kind side to them as well. Suddenly, he felt a familiar chakra signature approaching from behind him. Naruto turned around to see the infamous Jiraiya approaching him.
"Naruto, why are you waiting outside?" asked Jiraiya.
"The doorman wouldn't me in because I was 'too young' to gamble. So Granny Tsunade told me to wait here until she was finished." replied Naruto in a sour tone.
"You, taking orders from Tsunade? That's not like you at all. I would've thought that you'd try to sneak in." joked the Sanin. "I guess that now that she's the Fifth Hokage, you're trying to get on her good side, huh?"
"Oh please, she's not the Hokage, yet. Besides, she threatened to beat me to death if I tried to get in. And it's too bad, I could've used that extra money to replace what you spent on those women." retorted Naruto, who was still angry about that incident. This caused Jiraiya's guilt to increase after he heard that comment.
"Oh, uh, about that Naruto," he began in a more somber tone, which immediately caught Naruto's full attention. "Look, I just what to say that I'm sorry about the whole money incident. It was a shameful thing for me to do, and I apologize for it. I promise that it won't happen again." And with that, he handed an envelope to Naruto, who realized that it was quite heavy. When he peaked inside, his widened at the sight of several ryo bills.
"What is this?" Naruto asked quietly, still overcome with shock.
"It's all the money I borrowed from you, every last ryo that you started off with at the festival. I made sure that I kept track of how much you had before I spent it." answered Jiraiya. "Also, I'd like to apologize for not being more active in your training. But I want to make it up to you. So after we get back home, how's about I give you some tips on the Rasengan so that you don't have to rely on a shadow clone to perform it?"
Naruto looked at him as if he had grown an extra head. The Pervy Sage had actually apologized for stealing his money, and even paid it all back! Now, he was offering to give him pointers on the Rasengan. The last time he had asked for help, the man had the nerve to demand money in return for his advice.
"What about what you said before, about how I should be able to learn jutsu without getting help from others?" asked the jinchuriki who was watching for the older man's reaction in order to determine if the old pervert was really trying to help, or just messing around with him for a laugh. But to Naruto's surprise, Jiraiya didn't explode with indignance and call him an ungrateful brat. Instead, he just stood there, and even looked somewhat hurt. But that hurt expression was quickly replaced with a smile; a smile that Naruto knew from experience was a fake one.
"Well, even though shinobi should be able to learn things on their own, there's nothing wrong with asking for help when you need it." replied Jiraiya.
"And you promise that you won't get pissed off when I come to you for help, and that you won't charge me for advice?"
"As a shinobi of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, I give you my word." Jiraiya said seriously. Naruto just stared at him, trying to find some sign that the man was lying, but found none.
"I'd like that very much. Thank you, Jiraiya Sensei." answered Naruto. Jiraiya was surprised the boy didn't call him "Pervy Sage" like he normally did. But, he was just glad that he was able to patch things up with his student.
"DAMMIT! DAMMIT ALL TO HELL!!!" boomed a very familiar voice. A second later, a very irritated Tsunade stormed out of the casino, followed by a worried Shizune and Tonton. An employee was following them, ordering that Tsunade pay the casino the money that she owed. Her response was punching said man so hard that he plowed through the casino's wall and then later flew through the back of the building. When she saw Naruto and Jiraiya looking at her direction, her anger only increased.
"What the hell are you two gawking at?! Let's just get out of here, I want to reach Leaf before I die of old age!" And with that, she stomped off in the direction of Leaf, with several people on the street giving her plenty of room so as to not provoke the woman's wrath.
Naruto looked to Jiraiya with a scared expression on his face. "Is she always going to be like this?"
"No, not all the time." said Jiraiya. "You just have to have the right timing."
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On the Road to Leaf
As the cavalcade continued towards their destination, and after Tsunade had cooled off, the rest of the trip went off without a hitch. They were making great time, and they made very few pit stops. One of those stops was due to Tsunade's gambling addiction, and had to be practically dragged away by the three remaining ninja in order to prevent her from losing more money. But on the rest of those stops, Naruto noticed a change in his Jiraiya's behavior. Not once had he made any perverted remark about Tsunade or tried to score a grope on her. Additionally, whenever they stopped at a rest stop, he didn't try anything with any of the women there. Hell, he didn't even try to peep on the women at the hot springs, and that was his favorite hobby.
'Something is definitely up with Pervy Sage.' thought Naruto, as the group reached the last rest stop before they reached the Leaf Village. 'It's as if he's a completely different person. But what could have happened to him to make change like this?' He tried to think of some sort of reasonable possibility, but nothing came to him. The only feasible solution that he came up for his dilemma was to talk to someone that knew Jiraiya personally. Unfortunately, the Third Hokage was dead, and there was no way in hell that he would've gone to Orochimaru for answers. That meant that he was only left with Tsunade. 'I just hope that she's not drinking right now.' he thought as went to find the Slug Princess and get some answers.
He found her on a bench and looking out into space. Figuring that this was the perfect time to talk to her, Naruto spoke up.
"Um, excuse me . . ." was all that Naruto could manage to say before he had to jump out of the way of Tsunade's fist, which collided into a tree and went straight through it.
"Dammit Jiraiya, I knew that you were just biding your time!" screamed the voluptuous kunoichi.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on now, I'm not Jiraiya!" shouted Naruto, with his hands up in front of him, trying to calm the older woman down. Seeing that it was just the second most irritating male that she knew, Tsunade's anger was instantly replaced with annoyance.
"Oh, it's just you." she said indifferently. "Well, what do you want now, brat? And you better not call me 'old', or else you'll be in the same state as that tree over there."
Naruto silently gulped as he peered through the hole in the tree and was able to see what was behind it. Plucking up courage, Naruto pressed onward.
"It's about Per . . . I mean Jiraiya-Sensei." he began.
"Ugh, that sick pervert. What about him? Don't tell me he went off to do some that 'research' of his." retorted Tsunade.
"No, no, it's nothing like that! It's just that I think that something's wrong with him."
"Kid, I've known Jiraiya for years, and I can safely tell you that there is always something wrong with him."
"Look, I'm not joking around. He's been acting off ever since we left that casino. He hasn't broken into that "Toad Sage" dance since left Tanzaku. You said so yourself that he hasn't even tried to flirt with you. Hell, he hasn't even tried to flirt with, peep, or grope any of the women that we passed by!"
This caught Tsunade's interest; Jiraiya was never one to pass up a free grope, or try and get a young woman to go out with him. Add in the fact the man hadn't even made one of his cheesy moves made her worried. At first, she thought that he was just waiting for the right time to strike. But, with the information that Naruto had just given her, she began to suspect that something really was amiss with her lecher of a friend.
"Thank you for telling me this, Naruto. I'll talk to your sensei when we get back to the Leaf Village, but I pretty sure that it's nothing. He'll probably be back to his old ways in a week." said the Slug Sanin.
Naruto just smiled. "Thanks, I really appreciate it." he said. Just then, the two blondes heard Jiraiya's voice booming loudly.
"Naruto! Tsunade! Quit dawdling and get a move on already!" Realizing that Jiraiya, Shizune, and Tonton were waiting for them a few feet from where they were, Naruto and Tsunade raced to catch up. Once they caught to them, Tsunade couldn't keep her mind off of Jiraiya. From the day that they were put onto the same team to the day they fought Hanzo from the Hidden Rain Village, Jiraiya was always the same in her opinion: a shameless pervert that was willing to hit on any attractive woman he sees.
When she began her relationship with Dan, she had noticed that Jiraiya had become more withdrawn and had stopped asking her for dates. During that time, she had just put his behavior off as an unsuccessful way to make her jealous and then dump her boyfriend to start dating him. She found out that wasn't the case when Dan died in the line of duty. Sure, he was there for her whenever she needed a shoulder to cry on, but he had never tried anything else on her. But when she was reunited with him almost a week ago, he was back to his old self, as if nothing had happened. Now after hearing Naruto's report about Jiraiya, she began to suspect that something serious was troubling her friend.
'It's happening all over again.' she thought. 'When I saw him again at that bar, I thought that he had finally gotten out of that slump. But if what Naruto said is true, then something is seriously wrong with him. Maybe this time, I can finally find out what's causing him to act like this.' And with that, Tsunade followed the group onwards to her old home, and her grandfather's legacy. Only this time, she would be coming back as the Fifth Hokage.
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AN: So there you have it, another update. Sorry that it took so long, but college can be a pain sometimes. Hope you all enjoyed your Christmas gift. Feel free to R&R. Happy Holidays Everyone!
