Finding Tsunade

With Sasuke

"Kakashi…" Sasuke paused when he opened the door and found Kakashi resting in bed.

"Why is Kakashi asleep?" He asked not caring if it was Gai, Asuma or Kurenai to answer is question. He was well aware that Kakashi could be tardy but he was not one to be lazy or sleeping the day way for no reason. "And why are jonins gathered here?" He continued to the displeasure of those gathered there.

"What happened?" He demanded when no one present even acknowledged his first two questions.

"Nothing much happened." Gai answered not looking Sasuke in eye.

"Is it true that the Itachi came back?" An unknown jonin asked when he barged into Kakashi's room to confront the gathered jonin. "And he's after Naruto?" Questioned the idiot further not noticing the scary look he was receiving from Gai.

"Idiot." Kurenai said when the man finally realized that Sasuke was standing there. Sasuke's eyes widened as he processed the information, after a brief minute he ran from the room.

"And why did things turn out like this." Gai said in an annoyed voice as he watched the retreating back of Sasuke.

Sasuke ran as quickly as he could. 'He's back in this village, and is after he's after Naruto? What's going on?' He questioned in his mind as he focused on finding his friend. He headed first to Naruto's apartment, when he opened the door Sakura nearly ran into him seeing as she was just about to leave.

"Sasuke…"She began as she looked at him in confusion.

"Where's Naruto?" Sasuke demanded in a stern tone, Sakura folded her arms over her chest.

"I just got here…" She began, he fan off right away realizing that she didn't know.

'If he gets caught by Itachi, Naruto's dead! I won't let that happen.' Sasuke thought as he ran as fast as could to the next spot he thought Naruto would be at. He came to a stop in front of the Ichiraku ramen shop.

"Old man, Naruto should've been here. Do you know where he went after he left?" Sasuke asked the ramen chef in a hurried voice.

"Oh Naruto, let's see," the ramen chef rubbed his chin as he was thinking, "Jiraiya came here around noon, they had some ramen together, then they said they where going somewhere."

"Where?!" Sasuke demanded.

"I think the lodging town that is located a little way from the village." The man answered, "He did leave with Jiraiya." The old man added trying to make Sasuke, who was obviously worried, feel a little better.

"Jiraiya?" Sasuke questioned, the old man held up three fingers.

"Jiraiya, one of the Sannin, the three genius ninjas. He just looks like a big, white-haired old man, though." The old ramen chef said with a wide smile on his face.

"Big and white-haired…" Sasuke said before he ran off.

With Kagome

'Well I must say that Sasuke sure is similar to Inu Yasha when it comes to predictability.' Kagome thought as she felt Sasuke quickly approaching.

"Sasuke, where are you going in such a hurry?" Kagome asked him as she stepped in front of him, forcing him to slow down.

"My brother is after Naruto." Sasuke said in a hurried tone, "I have to find Naruto, before Itachi does."

"No you don't." Kagome said, as she started to move out of Sasuke's way.

"What do you mean? Of course I have to." Sasuke yelled at her as he started to move forward, only to be stopped by Kagome's hand on his arm.

"And to think that people actually call you a genius, you certainly don't act like one. You're not doing anything, we are." Kagome said as she smiled lightly at her companion.

Sasuke merely smiled at her as they both started traveling at their fastest speed, well at least Sasuke was.

With Naruto

"This is a weird city." Naruto said as he looked around at all of the interesting sites.

"Naruto." Jiraiya called as he beckoned Naruto to come is way. "We're going to stay here today." Jiraiya said when he motioned to the front of the motel.

"What? I can still walk." Naruto said as he stepped forward, walking towards Jiraiya.

"An apprentice must follow his master's orders." Jiraiya said as he shot Naruto an annoyed look.

"I just want to learn a new technique." Naruto said as he stopped before Jiraiya.

"And that's what makes you my apprentice." Jiraiya said as he leaned down so that he could look Naruto in the eye. Jiraiya stopped talking and looked up as a beautiful woman stopped walking a few feet from the entrance and looked their way.

"Naruto." Jiraiya yelled as he started running in place. When Naruto turned to face him, Jiraiya placed the key to their room in his hand. "Here are the keys. Go to the room; mold some chakra, train, and go to sleep. Okay?" As soon as the keys had been passed off Jiraiya started patting his clothes, in order to check his appearance.

"What?! Are you trying to say that from here on out is the world adults?! No fair, perverted hermit." Naruto yelled as he gripped the keys tightly in his left hand.

With Sasuke and Kagome

"It's the lodging town…it's not very far." Sasuke said to Kagome as the jumped tree to tree quickly gaining on Naruto and Jiraiya.

"When we get there, do you want to split up or look together?" Kagome asked as she gave Sasuke a sidelong look.

"From what you said Itachi is with a powerful friend, and it would be unwise to split up." Sasuke said as he stared straight ahead.

"Are you going for your brother, or to you want to fight a shark?" Kagome asked as she looked away from Sasuke and concentrated on the path before her.

"I hate my brother, but I don't know if I can match is power." Sasuke said as he widened his eyes. He looked at Kagome with a strange look.

'You might be able to handle him, though. Does it really matter who kills Itachi, as long as he is stopped?' He questioned himself, as he felt the spot on his neck where the cursed seal had been before Kagome had removed it. 'When Kakashi had heard through Naruto that Kagome was able to remove the cursed seal he couldn't believe, he even said flat that it was impossible. Kagome is stronger than most people will ever be.'

"I will take my brother; you worry about Naruto and the shark." Sasuke said as he found even more speed.

'And here I was thinking that he might be ready to give up the idea of revenge.' Kagome thought as she matched his speed and shook her head. She could see the lodging town just up ahead.

"I can feel Naruto's aura, I'm going to go ahead just a little and warn him. Make sure you catch up quickly." Kagome said as she left Sasuke in the dust.

With Naruto

"When… whenever I'm with the perverted hermit, it always turns out like this." Naruto said as he tried to concentrate on molding chakra, it didn't work so he made a few shadow clones of himself.

"Hey, why are you all asleep?" Naruto said to his clones when he opened his eyes and saw that he was the only one still concentrating. Naruto looked up when he heard someone knocking at the door; he dispersed his clones and started toward the door.

"What? He's already been dumped and decided to come back?" Naruto said as he made it a step to the door. Whoever it was knocked harsher.

"Okay!" Naruto yelled as he slipped his shoes on. "I'm opening it." He said a few moments later. When he opened the door he froze as he saw a person who could have been an older Sasuke.

"To think that this little boy has the nine-tails inside him." Came a voice from behind the Sasuke-look-alike.

'How does he know about the nine-tails?' Naruto thought as he turned his attention to the tall man that walked from the side of the door.

"Naruto, you're coming with us." Said the cold and calm voice of the Sasuke look alike.

"Let's go outside." The cold voice said as the Sharingan looked down without mercy on Naruto. Naruto stepped out and the look alike stepped back given him room, yet never breaking eye contact.

"Itachi, it would be annoying if he moved around. Perhaps we should cut off a leg or two." The blue guy said as he grabbed the handle of a sword that was hanging on his back, he waited for a reply.

"Then shall I?" The guy said when he received no reply. He took a step towards Naruto, and gripped his sword handle even tighter.

"It has been along time…" Itachi said, pausing Kisame in his approach. They all looked back at the new arrival. "Sasuke." Itachi finished after a short pause.

"Itachi Uchiha." Sasuke said with a cold dangerous voice.

"Itachi Uchiha?" Naruto repeated as he examined the man standing in front of him.

"Ah the sharingan…and he's very similar to you. Who is he?" Came the voice of Kisame as he turned his head slightly looking at Sasuke.

"My little brother." Came the simple reply from Itachi.

"I had heard that the entire Uchiha clan was killed, by you." Kisame said giving his partner a strange look.

'This is the guy that Sasuke wanted to kill?' Naruto thought as Itachi turned fully around toward Sasuke. Sasuke summoned the chidori in his hand and ran at Itachi, who only grabbed Sasuke's wrist, held it off to the side and broke it. Naruto brought his hands together and summoned the fox's chakra.

"His chakra is filling up the space. I see it must be the nine-tail's chakra." Kisame said as he raised his Samehada and used it to absorb the foreign chakra. When he did Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke. Itachi kicked Sasuke back with an extreme force when he saw that.

"A shadow clone." Itachi said simple.

"Of course, it's not like I would be that easy to catch." Naruto's voice came from down the hall; he was kneeling to the right of Sasuke.

"Actually he would be, if he didn't have wonderful friends." Kagome said as she stepped from behind a corner and kneeled at Sasuke's left. She did quick hand seals, and started healing Sasuke's broken wrist.

"Well I must say that I was hoping not to run into you again, Sharky." Kagome said as she stood and placed herself in between Naruto, Sasuke and Itachi, Kisame.

"You again, girl. I'll kill you for calling me that!" Kisame said as he raised his Samehada and pointed it at her.

"Kisame, we should take both Naruto and this girl with us." Itachi said as he narrowed his eyes at Kagome. Naruto and Sasuke both widened their eyes in surprise.

"You make it sound like it would be so easy. That sword is huge, will you really be able to wield it in such a cramped little hall." She paused for a moment before she smiled.

"What's with the smile?" Kisame asked.

"Wrong question." Kagome stated.

"How did Naruto know to use a shadow clone when opening the door?" Itachi said as he narrowed his eyes even more at Kagome.

"That's easy to explain." Naruto said, from behind Kagome.

Flashback

"Naruto, stop it's not your teacher." Came the voice of Kagome from behind him.

"Kagome! What are you doing here?" Naruto asked as he looked at his teammate who seemed to be having some difficulty breathing.

"The two people on the other side of the door are after the nine-tails, make a shadow clone and have it answer the door." Kagome said as she grabbed his shoulder and pulled him threw the open window.

End Flashback

"That explains why you went ahead." Sasuke said as he stood up started to walk forward, before Naruto pulled him back. Sasuke gave Naruto a questioning look, and Naruto just shook his head and pointed to Kagome's left hand. It was then that Sasuke noticed the bow.

"You two make great targets." Kagome said as she changed her stance and grabbed an arrow from her back.

"You think you can really do anything with those arrows?" Kisame asked as he started laughing. He stopped when he noticed how the arrow glowed a pink color when she notched it.

"I don't think so," She paused and smiled wider, "I know so!" She yelled the last part as she released the arrow. The pink glow shot down the hall straight at the two Akatsuki members.

When the light faded they weren't there.

"You have great reflexes." Kagome said as she focused on the whole that had been created when Itachi diverted Sasuke's chidori. Neither answered as Kisame started running down the hall and was about to strike Kagome with the Samehada. The huge blade was stopped by a toad.

"I wouldn't let a woman seduce me with her beauty. When you are great like me, women will go crazy over your own beauty." Jiraiya said as he made himself known standing to the left of Kagome. He had the woman from early thrown over his shoulder. Itachi appeared just a few feet behind Kisame.

"Yeah, right! You were excited over a simple wink from that woman! I don't think you should be showing off like that right now, perverted hermit." Naruto yelled as he pointed an accusing finger at Jiraiya.

"Come on, now. Don't call me that in front of people." Jiraiya said as he rubbed the back of his head, and managed to look slightly guilty.

"Shut up! More importantly is that these guys are stronger then the look, perverted hermit!" Naruto yelled.

"Stop calling me perverted hermit!" Jiraiya yelled as tears started to form in his eyes.

"He is the great Jiraiya, who was praised as one of the legendary Sannin, after all." Kisame said with a laugh, which sounded almost like a girlish giggle. "Even if you are an extreme lover of women, I knew that we couldn't hold you off that easily." He finished as he smiled slightly.

"It looks like you have dispelled the illusionary technique from that woman." Kisame said after Naruto and Jiraiya stopped bickering once again.

"You are a disgrace to all men, using your eye to hypnotize a woman to separate me from Naruto." Jiraiya set the woman down next to Sasuke as he was talking. "So you're after Naruto, after all." Jiraiya stated.

"No wonder Kakashi knew, did you also tell the girl about our organization." Itachi asked as he gazed at Kagome.

"What girl?" Jiraiya said as he looked and then saw Kagome, "Oh, nice to meet you I am the great Jiraiya, and you are?"

"My name is Kagome Higurashi, and you must be the idiot who taught Naruto how to harness the power of the nine-tails." Kagome said as Jiraiya sweat dropped.

"I can't say I gave the girl any information." Jiraiya said as he turned and gave Itachi his full attention.

"So you were Kakashi's source. It is an urgent order by our organization, Akatsuki, to take Naruto with us." Itachi said as he moved his gave from Kagome to Jiraiya. After a moment the silence that was created was broken as the frog holding the Samehada disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"I can't hand Naruto over to you." Jiraiya said in a steely voice. Kagome grabbed Naruto and pulled him back behind Jiraiya, and stood next to Sasuke

"We'll see about that." Itachi said in response.

"Very well, I will get rid of you two here." Jiraiya said.

"No I'll….." Sasuke had begun to speak, but before he could say anything stupid. Kagome punched him in the in face, sending him flying into the wall.

"I sure as hell hope that, that knocked some sense into him." Kagome said as she straightened.

"What are you doing?" Naruto said as he raised his hand and pointed at Kagome.

"Well, it worked with you, didn't it?" Kagome said as she gave Naruto a small smile. Naruto did the wise thing and just remained silent. Kagome turned her attention to Kisame and Itachi. Itachi stared impassively at Sasuke, and Kisame looked at Kagome with a smirk on face.

"Frog Mouth Trap." Jiraiya send as he sensed that something was about to happen. The hall transformed to look like the inside of a frog's throat.

"You're out of luck Itachi, Kisame. You're inside my stomach now. I summoned the esophagus of a gigantic frog from the Myouboku Mountain's rock inn. You two are wanted criminals anyway. I'll turn you two into food for this rock frog. Naruto stay still." Jiraiya spoke with a small smirk on his face.

"Kisame, come." Itachi said as he started running down the end of the hall.

"It's useless! No one has ever escaped from this before." Jiraiya said as the throat started contracting, trying to stop Itachi and Kisame. Everyone watched as Itachi and Kisame turned a corner, and then listened as a moment later there was a huge boom.

"What?!" Jiraiya said as he stood up and started running towards the sound, Naruto and Kagome right on his heels. At the end of the hall, where a window had once been was a huge whole with black flames burning on the edges.

"No ones ever escaped before, uh." Kagome said looking down at the whole; Jiraiya sweat dropped and fell over.

"What is this fire?" Naruto asked as he stood really close to it.

"Don't go near it!" Jiraiya yelled as he stood up from his spot on the floor. Jiraiya walked forward a pulled out a blank scroll, he started writing on it and when he was done he performed the Flame Sealing Technique.

"Okay. This should do for now." Jiraiya said as he started tying shut the now used scroll. "Now we should check on Sasuke that was one hell of a hit." Jiraiya said as he looked at Kagome. Kagome and Naruto ran down to where Sasuke was and Jiraiya stomped his foot, undoing the summon.

"Kagome I think you should heal him." Naruto said as Kagome kneeled down next to him.

"No way." She said simply.

"Why not?" Naruto asked with confusion evident in his tone.

"I can't, I used some of my chakra in the punch. He won't wake up until at least tomorrow afternoon." Kagome said.

"Why would you do that?" Naruto said this time with disbelief.

"We didn't have time to deal with Sasuke and his revenge issues." Kagome said as she went to check on Jiraiya's lady friend. Jiraiya was looking down at Naruto and Sasuke when a kunai flew right in front of his face. He stepped back just in time to see someone about to kick him in the face.

"Dynamic Entry!"

"Gai?" Jiraiya said the moment before Gai's kick connected.

///////Five minutes later. /////////

"I don't see why you won't heal me." Jiraiya said to Kagome, after Naruto had made the suggestion.

"Consider this a girl's payback for you writing those perverted novels." Kagome said as she crossed her arms and frowned at him. Jiraiya only frowned and then turned to face Gai.

"I'm sorry I hit you, I was in a hurry and forgot my mirror. I used my forehead protector as a mirror, but it was blurry, and I mistook your rugged face as that of an enemy, and I let my burning youthful spirit take over, and I carelessly attacked." Gai said as he laughed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Is that supposed to be an apology?" Jiraiya demanded as he almost growled at Gai.

"I'm not good with words." Gai said as he stopped laughing.

"Okay just forget it for now. Take Sasuke to a medical squad." Jiraiya demanded.

"Yes, sir." Gai said as he picked Sasuke up and started to carry him, piggy back style.

//////Ten minutes later. ////////

"We're off now, Gai." Jiriaya said as he and Naruto and Kagome prepared to go the opposite way, Kagome had informed him that she was going as well. He had tried to talk her out of joining, but that didn't go over very well. "Take care of Sasuke for me." He finished.

"Please find Tsunade and bring her back…" Gai began.

"We'll find and bring her back for sure." Naruto said quickly. Gai smiled at Naruto as Jiraiya put his hand on Naruto's head.

"Naruto, I like kids with guts like you." Gai said as he started ruffling through pockets in his vest. "Lee became strong with this" Gai said as his hand stopped moving, Naruto's eyes nearly popped out of socket.

"What, what?" Naruto asked with excitement.

"This!" Gai said as he pulled out a green jumpsuit. "It's splendid at maintaining moisture and allowing air to pass through, is perfect in form and has beautiful curves. Wear it during training and you'll be able to tell the difference right away. You'll become addicted to it. And then you'll want to wear it all the time like Lee." Gai said as he gave to Naruto, who jumped kicked the air and smiled at Gai.

"Will it look good on me?" Naruto asked Jiraiya and Kagome, after Gai left. Kagome snorted before she started to walk away.

"Don't. Look at the guy in front of you. It looks really crappy." Jiraiya told Naruto as they both looked at how it gathered on the butt. The three of them started walking away; they traveled for a while before Naruto stopped.

"Naruto?" Kagome questioned.

"What's wrong?" Jiraiya asked.

"Hey perverted hermit, why did they come after me?" Naruto asked. "You know, right perverted hermit." Naruto finished.

"They're not really after you. They're after the thing inside you." Jiraiya answered.

"They plan to use the nine-tails and the other demons, for world domination." Kagome cut in before Naruto could say anything else. "With the powers of those demons, no one would dare stand up to them, and they could gain control over all the ninja nations. Then once all the ninja nations are theirs they could work on gaining control over the rest of the world." She finished as she refused to turn around and look Naruto in the eye.

"How do you know that?" Jiraiya questioned.

"It was a theory that they all but denied back in Konoha. Naruto it's not fair that they're after you because of the demon, but that's why I'm here. Don't worry about anything; you have Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke and everyone looking out for you." She answered as she looked over her shoulder at him. After a small moment they all continued on their journey, Naruto with a slight skip in his step.

'What an unusual girl.' Jiraiya thought as he looked ahead at Kagome as they were walking, he smiled slightly when he looked at Naruto.

The next events in the anime weren't important so I'll be skipping them. This is after most of Naruto's training.

A few weeks later. ////////

"Tsunade is short tempered and impatient, you know." Jiraiya said to Kagome and Naruto. Naruto didn't hear, as he was working on the Rasengan steps and when he messed up he was blown back.

"Hey, Naruto, you have no time to lie on the ground. We need to hurry, or we won't find know where that bad-tempered woman is going to go." Jiraiya said as he stared straight ahead. Naruto jumped up and pointed his finger at Jiraiya and was about to say something.

"Naruto, if you two bicker one more time, then I'm going to have to drag you both back in body bags." Kagome said coldly as she gave him what he and Jiraiya had dubbed 'The Glare of Painful Death'. Naruto put his head down and nodded as he got in line after Jiraiya and started walking quickly. They spent the day looking around, not finding anything; Jiraiya had the idea to start searching on higher ground. He stopped and looked at the old stairs, Kagome had stopped by his side but Naruto was still going.

"Naruto, this way!" Jiriaya yelled as he started following Kagome up the steps.

"Isn't there supposed to be a castle up there?" Kagome said in a questioning tone as she looked at an area that was strangely empty.

"It's gone." Jiraiya said in bewilderment.

'Not only is it gone, but I have a chill running up my spin.' Kagome thought, 'The last time I felt something like this was when I removed the curse seal from Sasuke.' Kagome narrowed her eyes that her new found discovery. Her thoughts were proved true when a group of people ran by screaming in fear about the giant snake that destroyed the castle. They started running in the direction of the snake, only to arrive to late to catch Tsunade.

"Come on, she couldn't have gotten that far." Jiraiya said as he stared walking after looking at a fallen wall.

///////Later that night. ////////

"Let's have dinner here, for now." Jiraiya said as he stopped walking.

"This is a bar!" Naruto yelled.

"So?" Jiraiya said, Naruto once again was about to reply.

"Both of you just shut the hell up." Kagome said from behind them, they both jumped and nodded as the stepped inside. Jiraiya looked around and saw some one very familiar.

"Tsunade!" He yelled as he pointed a woman with gold eyes and blonde hair.

"Jiraiya!" The woman yelled as she stood up from her booth and pointed at him. "Why are you here?" She asked in a loud voice.

"I finally found you, boy I'm I tired." Jiraiya said as he walked over to her booth and joined her and her companions. The sat and ate quietly for a few minutes.

"What a day… meeting old acquaintances everywhere." Tsunade said as she leaned forward on the table.

"Orochimaru? What happened?" Jiraiya asked the very drunk Tsunade.

"Nothing much. We just said hello." Tsunade answered. She pulled out a deck of cards and started shuffling; when she was done she placed them down on the table between Jiraiya and herself.

"What do you want from me?" She asked.

"I'll get straight to the point." Jiraiya said as he split the deck. "Tsunade, the village has requested that you become the Fifth Hokage. Much to everyone's shock, even Tonton, Tsunade's loveable pig looked up in surprise. Naruto was about to say something, but stopped when Kagome put her hand on his arm.

"Have you heard about the Third?" Jiraiya asked as he picked up his cards and took a look.

"Orochimaru killed him, right?" Tsunade said in a calm voice. "I heard from him directly."

"Orochimaru killed old man the Third?" Naruto said loudly. "Who is this Orochimaru?" Naruto asked as he turned toward Jiraiya.

"You idiot, you and Sasuke fought him in the chunin exam. Remember the guy with the tongue that gave Sasuke the cursed hickie." Kagome said as she grabbed the back of Naruto's head and forced him to sit back down.

"He is also the other Sannin." Jiraiya said to Naruto.

"Who are these kids?" Tsunade asked.

"Naruto Uzumaki and Kagome Higurashi." Jiraiya answered with a slight grin.

'That is the nine-tails kid?' Tsunade thought with surprise as she looked at Naruto.

"Okay then why aren't we doing anything about this Orochimaru person. Also, what do you mean this person is going to become the Fifth Hokage?" Naruto said in his loud voice.

"Naruto be quiet for awhile." Jiraiya said sternly.

"So what is your reply?" Jiraiya asked Tsunade, she didn't answer at first she just looked at the cards in her hands as she thought.

"I don't know what's going on!" Naruto said after a minute, while he gripped his head and pulled his hair in annoyance.

"Not possible. I refuse." She finally answered as she discarded her whole hand.

"I remember that line." Jiraiya said with a smile. "I asked you to date to date me a long time ago. You said the same thing and turned me down."

"What are you saying?" Naruto yelled, Kagome closed her eyes in irritation and tried to find her happy place.

"Don't panic, only Tsunade is capable of becoming the Fifth. During the fierce war, she contributed greatly to Konoha's victory. Her combat and medical skills are still unrivaled. Also, Tsunade is the First's granddaughter. Combine that with her abilities and she is the most suited to become Hokage. If she does become Hokage she will have to return to the village. And there, she can heal the two you mentioned. Also, this is a decision made by Konoha's highest decision makers, the advisors. It's not something a genin like you should comment on." Jiraiya said to Naruto.

"Oh, so we are old enough to risk our lives protecting our village, but we can't even know what the hell is going when we are doing something for the village. If you are hiding anything else, speak now or you will feel unimaginable pain." Kagome said as she opened her eyes and started to stand.

"There's nothing else! I promise!" Jiraiya said as he waved his hands around. Kagome nodded as she sat down again.

"Jiraiya, your new apprentice seems to be ruder, stupider, and uglier than the previous one." She said with a smile on face.

"What did you say?" Naruto questioned as he almost lunged at her.

"It's hard for anyone to beat the Fourth in those fields. His capabilities as a ninja were unrivaled in history. He was talented with techniques, incredibly smart, and popular. He was also handsome like me." Jiraiya said to Naruto.

"But even the fourth died young. He threw his life away for the village. Life isn't like money. Only an idiot bets his life so easily." Tsunade said as she started to look at her cards.

"Dying young, well at least that's one thing you don't have to worry about." Kagome said as she frowned at Tsunade.

"What did you say?" Tsunade asked her with a hard voice. "My grandfather and the second wished to end the war, but they wasted their lives before they could accomplish that. I will forget you said that, girl." Her voice stayed icy.

"You've changed, Tsunade. I don't know what you've been thinking, but you put it in words." Jiraiya said as a frown marred his features.

"I'm in my fifties, even if I look like this. Time changes people. Sarutobi- sensei is the same. If an old man tries to act brave, of course he'll die." She paused to look at her last card, only to see that it ruined her hand, "The title Hokage is a piece of crap." She said as she leaned her head back. Only an idiot becomes one." Naruto leapt on the table and went at Tsunade, only for Jiraiya to pull him back.

"Anyone who makes fun of the Fourth or the old man, I don't are if the person is a girl, deserves to get their ass kicked." Naruto yelled as he stared down at Tsunade.

"You've got guts to say that to me." Tsunade said as she stood up on the bench and looked Naruto in the eye. "Step outside, kid." She told him in a commanding voice. He listened and met her outside.

"Even though I look like this, I was one of the Sannin. There's no need for me to get serious with a genin." She said in an 'I'm full of myself' voice.

"What did you say?" Naruto yelled his question at her.

"One finger will go against you." Tsunade said as she held up her right index finger. "Come on, little boy."

"Don't play with me!" Naruto yelled as he rushed forward carelessly. He pulled out some weapons, but Kagome had taken away his sword. He was beaten rather easily. When he was pushed back slightly Tsunade flicked him in the forehead sending him back several yards.

"Hey kid! Let me ask you one thing before you pass out. Why do you care so much about the name Hokage?" She asked him.

"Unlike you, I'm going to take on the title 'Hokage' for sure. Hokage… being Hokage is my dream." Naruto said, reminding Tsunade of her loved ones.

"That boy…" Shizune said as she looked at Naruto then at Tsunade. Naruto prepared to use the Rasengan; he concentrated on gathering his chakra and then ran at Tsunade. She used her super human strength to create large crevice in the ground and Naruto ended up being thrown back.

"That Tsunade, she's always had that insane strength." Jiraiya said to Kagome as he looked at his old teammate. Shizune came and helped Naruto out to the crevice.

"Jiriaya, was it you who taught him the Rasengan?" Tsunade demanded as she looked over at him.

"I guess you could say that I'm his teacher." Jiraiya answered.

"That technique could only be used by you and the Fourth. Teaching him something he cannot learn. You call yourself his teacher?" She said in a heartless voice. "You've got to be kidding. That's why that kid says nonsense like he wants to be Hokage."

"It is not nonsense!" Naruto yelled as he stood up and faced her. "You freaking idiot. If I had three days I could master this technique."

"Hmm, you said it. Guys are supposed to stand by what they say." Tsunade said in tone that was degrading.

"Huh, I will not go back on my word. That is my way of the ninja." Naruto said in a challenging voice.

"If that's the case, let's make a bet." Said Tsunade.

"Bet?" Naruto questioned.

"I will give you one week. If you master that technique, I will accept you as being able to become Hokage. And I will give you this." As she spoke she pointed to the necklace she wore.

"I don't need that worthless necklace." Naruto said as he put his hands behind his head.

"Don't say that Naruto. That necklace is one of only two in the world. It's worth enough to buy mountains. It belonged to the First Hokage." Jiraiya informed Naruto.

"Alright, we have a bet then." Naruto told Tsunade.

"Alright. However, if you are not able to master in within one week, you lose. And I will take all of your money." Tsunade said as she held up Naruto's wallet.

"We're going, Shizune." Tsunade said as she started to leave.

"Wait right there." Kagome said. "Your comment early was an insult to me as well; I would like to challenge you."

"What you too, girl?" Tsunade questioned as she turned around and looked at Kagome.

"I am stronger than Naruto, so I expect you to use more than a finger." Kagome said as she stepped forward.

"Come on then, girl." Tsunade said as she smiled at Kagome. Kagome took one step forward and put her hand palm down on the ground. She closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment.

"What are you trying to do?" Tsunade asked as she looked at the strange girl in front of her. She stepped back when a huge root shot from the ground and went straight at her, she jumped up. She was trying to get behind Kagome, but the moment she landed vines shoot up and grabbed her. Even with her super human strength she was unable to break free.

"I call this Soulful Vines. I got this idea from a dear friend of mine that died years ago. I really don't care if you insult me, but never insult some one I care about. I lost my family years ago, and then I lost my makeshift family after that. I will not hesitate to kill any one who brings harm, physical or psychological, to my friends." Kagome said as she looked Tsunade in the eye. The vines and the root retreated back into the ground as Kagome walked over to Naruto.

"Shouldn't you head off to master that technique?" She asked with a smile on her face as he just nodded dumbly at her.