A/N: I owe an apology to everyone who has been reading my fic, for not updating for so long. I have honestly been very busy and have also been struggling with a writer's block from Lack of Inspiration Syndrome (LIS (I made that up)).
I have to warn you that I am going to be making the chapters shorter from now on because it is truly a struggle to make them 3,000+ words. Sorry.
~Enjoy!
===With Naruto===
It had been a week since Naruto had woken up at Tsunade and Shizune's camp and honestly he bugged his way into Tsunade's heart. The blond beauty had let him stay with them after he told them his story, from the beginning up until the present.
Right now they were on their way to lightning country. Naruto was really begging her to help him find someone to help him with his lightning techniques, because that was his weakest element. They were walking down a well used forest path when a question popped into Naruto's mind.
"Ne, Tsunade-baa-chan?"
She turned her head to look at him. "Hmm?"
"Uhh… Do you know anything about partner summons?"
Tsunade tilted her head slightly to the side and gently tapped her chin in thought. "Well, I know that they can only be summoned by one person and one person can only have one partner. The summon can appear by itself if its summoner is in danger. Usually they are clan summons, like the Inuzuka dogs, except that the dogs aren't summons." Naruto nodded slightly and looked ahead deep in thought.
'Kurama said something about a clan summon watching me, back in Konoha. So the person wielding it could have been from a clan… Oi! Kurama!'
"What do you want, kit?"
"Remember back in Konoha when you said that there was some kind of summon watching me?"
"Of course I remember! What do I look like? A Goldfish?"
"More like a donkey. What with those long ears and all. Or a bunny… now that I think about it."
"Kit, you are crawling of topic and on my nerves."
"Oh yeah, sorry. Anyway, what kind of summon was it?"
"I already told you, it was a partner summon."
"I mean what species?"
"I'm pretty sure it was a Dragonfly."
"Thanks, Kurama."
"Hmph." With that the mighty beast curled into a ball and fell asleep.
"Baa-chan?"
"Don't call me that!" She sighed. "What is it?"
The boy was quiet for a few moments before he opened his mouth again. "Do you know anything about… Dragonfly summons?" Tsunade looked at him in surprise.
"What's gotten you in theme 'Summons'?" She chuckled lightly. Walking on the other side of Tsunade, Shizune smiled. Her master had really opened up the past week, becoming warmer and more talkative, than she had been in a long time.
"Well, Pervy-Sage had been teaching me about summoning and my other sensei beat him up before I could summon a full toad and Kurama also told me about partner summons." Naruto said as he locked his hands behind his head.
Talking about the Toad-Sage made him a bit sad. He remembers how when he re-told his past to his travelling companions, he regretted yelling at Jiraiya. It was really a spur of the moment when he yelled at his teacher and he was sorry for it. It wasn't the man's fault that the civilian council and the elders were a bunch of retards.
He was pulled out of his thoughts by Tsunade's light voice. "All I know about those summons is that they belonged to a clan in Kirigakure and they had a rivalry wis some other species of summons." Tsunade knew that Naruto had registered what she said, but she could tell that he was really out of it.
"Naruto." He hummed in acknowledgement. "I know that you really wish to apologise to Jiraiya, but it is a cold fact that our chances of ever finding him are slim to none. We will run into him eventually and when we do you can apologise." She smiled at him. She had only known him for a week and yet she felt an attachment to the boy. His spirit really reminded her of that of her brother.
Her brother…
A victim of the necklace's curse.
===At Konoha===
Soon after the declaration of the new Kage, Danzo, came the declaration of new laws and systems.
The academy curriculum became much harder and more brutal in order for the teachers to pick out the weak links in the chain of the ninja systems. Those students were moved to a different program so they could get their habits and attitudes pretty much beaten out of them.
The students with exceptional talents and skills were moved for special training with Danzo's forces. "I understand how proud you would be to know your child is given such privilege." He had told the parents from which he was 'accepting' the ninja or ninja-to-be.
Sasuke had joined Danzo. The Uchiha boy had been sweet-talked by Danzo. He was told that he would be given power greater than anything he could ever dream to achieve from Orochimaru. Sasuke of course, being the power hungry person he was agreed immediately.
Kakashi was now left with only one student, Sakura. He did not wish to ruin his students more than he already had, so he began to train Sakura… as in really train her. Seeing as he could pay more attention to her, he discovered that she was very gifted in genjutsu and medical ninjutsu, but he also needed to know her affininty. That turned out to be Earth, something that he could help her with. So he worked out a schedule for her, though it took a lot of persuasion in order to get one of her senseis to agree.
He had arranged for to spend her time training like this… Basically.
Day 1.
Morning- Affinity Training
Afternoon- Genjutsu Training
Day 2.
Morning- Training with Anko
Afternoon- Medical Ninjutsu training
And repeat.
Sakura could feel herself becoming stronger and more confident with each day of her training, even though it's been a bit less than a week. She could feel her chakra reserves growing. Training with Anko had also cleared her head. She was no longer a drooling fangirl. She would of course occasionally think about her ex-crush. But only to wonder how he was doing.
===Konoha Council===
Many discussions and resolutions were made since the new Kage was chosen. Of course it was always Danzo and the elders who made the resolutions, for no one dared question their ruthless leader.
Homura, the elder, cleared his throat. "Well now, I think that it is time we returned to a topic which we have not discussed in while."
Koharu continued for him "What do we do about the Kyuubi jinchuuriki? Do we brand him as a traitor and put him in the bingo book?" The elder woman question as she looked at the Hokage.
He kept quiet for a moment before speaking. "We shall do no such thing." He said monotonously. The occupants of the dimly lit room looked at him questioningly. "If we put him in the Bingo book every nation will know that we have lost a major part of our military power. They will either take him for themselves or they will attack our village in our moment of weakness."
The clan heads and civilians nodded in understanding. A civilian spoke next. "Then shall we send a search party for it."
"No. There is no point. We do not have his exact location and he might still be on guard, so we will wait until he begins to stay in one area for a longer period of time. Then we shall confront him when he is in a smaller village."
The room was silent for a while, before Danzo's cold voice echoed through. "There is also a high possibility that the boy will be found by Jiraiya soon. Which will result in him gaining protection from a ninja which none of our forces can match. It is best for us to wait and observe."
"What about the Uchiha boy?" Yet another civilian.
Danzo looked at the man. "The boy is blinded by his hatred for his brother. He will do anything to destroy Itachi and we will use that to our advantage." He chuckled darkly. "His second goal is to revive his clan. Which is good for our village. With the way that the kunoichi are training right now, the heirs which he will produce will strengthen our forces to levels that we couldn't have hoped for before." He thought for a moment. "Once we have achieved that power, we can conquer the other nations of the main continent, including Mizu no Kuni. Then we can move to the nations of the sea and ocean. Konoha shall be the strongest and most prosperous village." As the old war hawk finished his speech he already sounded victorious.
The civilians all stood from their seats and applauded Danzo for his genius. Whereas the clan heads clapped looking less than impressed. Then a civilian suddenly asked.
"What if he wishes for a kunoichi outside our village?"
"Even better!" Danzo said. "The strength of our forces is rising steadily we will soon be able to attack other villages. If the boy wishes for a stronger woman to bear his heirs, it is even better for our village."
===Somewhere with Jiraiya===
Jiraiya had just arrived at the gates of Tanzaku Gai. He had thought that that would be where his old-time teammate would be. That and he had to meet up with one of his spies.
He made his way through the bustling streets of the city. People who recognized him stepped aside and made way for him to move through. Some though were in too much of a hurry or just plain ignorant and he was forced to dodge and avoid colliding with them.
He saw a semi-new bar on the side of the street and quickly entered, knowing that it was his destination. He sat on a stool by the counter and asked for some sake. The sage didn't have to sit around for long before a brunette woman came to sit by him. Her blue eyes stood out from her waist-length hair and went well with her gently tanned skin. He looked at her for a moment before speaking.
"What is a candy like you doing in a place like this?" He said flirtatiously.
She looked at him with a smile. "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't looking for something."
"Would you appreciate a little chat here?"
"Is this a place for a chit-chat?" As soon as she uttered those words he stood up and payed for his sake. The two swiftly exited the bar and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Reappearing in a hotel room which probably belonged to the woman. They sat down at the table. "What have you got?"
"What do you need?"
"You know, Kasumi. Once we are out of earshot you don't have to answer with a questions." Jiraiya chuckled.
"Yeah, I know, but I think it sounds cool. Now seriously. I understand that you are looking for Tsunade."
"How did you know?" He raised an eyebrow. Kasumi only smiled.
"You have this look on your face whenever you think about her. Why are you looking for her though?"
"My student ran away and found a slight chakra trail heading this way, about a week ago. I was thinking that maybe she has seen him."
"Uh-huh. OK, so… Tsunade just left a week ago. She was in a general direction heading to lightning. I tracked her chakra a few miles outside the village they stopped to pick up a third chakra source. That's all I have."
"Thank you."
"Anytime!"
With that he was of to Kiminari no Kuni.
===With Naruto===
They had entered Lightning country about two hours ago. They were now nearing the mountains. Tsunade judged the distance and assumed that they were approximately 1km from Lightning Pass.
"We should stop here. It's almost sunset. There doesn't seem to be a lot of animals in the forest near the mountain, so we should eat some of the rations and set up a couple of tents. Shizune you'll share with me and Naruto you'll share with Ton-ton."
"Why me?" He muttered.
"Because you are a boy and even if you are a girl I wouldn't let you share with either of us." No matter how much he kept bugging her on why that is, she wouldn't answer. Tsunade simply ate her food and entered her tent. They didn't bother making a campfire, seeing as the night was warm enough for them to sleep without blankets even.
At sunrise as Naruto exited his tent he saw Tsunade sitting on a tree branch near her tent.
"Are you OK, Baa-chan?"
"Just thinking." She said as she watched him jump on the branch and sit down.
"What about?"
"What if maybe lightning just isn't your strong element?"
"Huh?"
"I mean… You know how some people can have a few elements and yet can only do one or two jutsu with a certain element, for you that element is lightning. You have already tried most of the jutsu in that scroll and haven't succeeded, only with two or three out of a lot more."
He looked down at the ground for a moment before, looking back at her. "What do you suggest I do?"
"I think you should first master your chakra control, then your best element, which I presume is wind. Then water and finally lightning. While you travel you can look for a way to combine your elements. I was also thinking that when we get to Kumo we could ask the Raikage to allow your fellow Jinchuuriki to teach you how to control Kyu-Kurama's chakra." Tsunade looked at the blond teen to see what he thought of plan, it was really just the best course of action.
"Yeah, I think that's also the best thing to do, but this chakra control thing is haunting me wherever I go." He grumbled the last part.
"Well, you have large reserves and add Kurama's chakra, you are bound to need more control training."
"Yeah-Yeah. Oh and… Good Morning."
Tsunade chuckled. "Good Morning."
Naruto cast his gaze over the camp and noticed that Tsunade and Shizune's tent was already packed up, but Shizune wasn't here. Tsunade later told him that she went to gather more herbs for new medicines and poisons. When Shizune came back, she was also carrying some fruits and berries. That was their breakfast, which they of course they shared with Ton-ton after they woke the little pig up.
\
Camp was packed up in record time and the trio (plus Ton-ton) headed off to Kumo.
===Somewhere in the Kumo mountain forest===
"Oi, retard! I can sense something weird!"
"Gyuki! Must you be so nasty! Yeah!" A rather tall man, with a moustache, beard and blond, slicked back hair and dark skin rapped rather lamely. His goggle-like sun-glasses caught the light of the sun making him look 'cool'.
"Whatever. There is another Jinchuuriki headed towards the mountain."
"How'd ya know!? That's a long way away, bro!"
"Are you saying you doubt my powers, you demented ape!?"
"No, bro! I'm just sayin' that we're over here and they're on the other side of the mountain barier!" Rapped the man.
"That did not even rhyme." The great Eight-Tails sweat-dropped.
"Whatever!"
"B!" A second, womanly voice called out to the man now known as B. A woman in her mid-twenties ran up to the man who appeared to be in his early thirties. Her long blond hair was wrapped in bandages and reached her hips. Her purple shirt and black pants stuck rather well to her body and emphasised her slim body and well positioned curves. "Nibi says that she could feel another Jinchuuriki coming towards the village."
B turned to look at her. "So does Gyuki. 'Says they're comin' from somewhere north-west-ie."
"That didn't rhyme B." The girl said.
"Yugito, must you be so mean, yo!"
"So should we tell Raikage-sama about the Jinchuuriki. Wait do we even know which bijuu it is?" Nibi had said that she couldn't really tell, since the bijuu's chakra wasn't really raging like a recently sealed demon's. That meant that the person either had control over the chakra or they were friends with their bijuu.
"We will see when they arrive. Now B's gotta go catch some 'Z's in the hive!"
Yugito stared at his retreating back. 'Why is he so desperate to find a rhyme?'
===T.B.C.===
How was it? Tell me with a review.
I am sorry that I took so long and I am sorry to inform you that I will be taking a while to update.
~Bye!