Naruto: the Elemental Star
Chapter 9: Hope & the Mother
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but I do own the fighters, the guns and a few of the Jutsus. Others can use them at no cost.
Beta Reader: Albert
Last Update: 05/11/2018
Scene 1
"Hokage-Sama," an elderly man named Homura Mitokado sitting in elders' part of the council spoke up to the Council Chamber. "I don't understand the delay. It has been two weeks since Tukiko has lost one of her hands on the Wave Mission. Why are you putting off in dismissing Tukiko Uchiha from the Leaf Forces?"
"Because she is not here to do so," the old man Sarutobi, answered his onetime teammate. "She is currently on a mission."
That got the attention of an elderly woman beside Homura named Koharu Utatane as she had snapped at the Hokage, "You sent out a crippled girl on a mission?"
Koharu's question caused a general round of shouting among the Leaf's Council. In Leaf Forces, the council was split into four parts: civilian, shinobi, clan, and elders. While the other three handled the day-to-day operation, the elders presided over the others and even step in if the Hokage was not available. Therefore, the Elders held most of the power in the Council, second only to the Hokage.
They certainly had the power to make people argue until the Hokage ordered them to stand down, "Enough! I am the Hokage, and you will sit down and listen!"
The council became quieted down as the Hokage continued, "Now yes I have sent a Tukiko Uchiha out as she will be vital to an experiment to replace lost limbs with a cyb-cyber… uh, a robotic hand that the user can channel chakra through."
Within the Shinobi part of the Council, a distinguished woman name Eboshi, head of Leaf Forces' medical program spoke up, "I read her design. It is fascinating, and it could help our ninjas that have or do lose their limbs to return to work. It is just, unfortunate that only…" Eboshi stopped as she realized what Sarutobi was up to, "I see. You sent them to find Tsunade for the procedure."
"Yes," the Hokage answered Eboshi. "I sent them to get Tsunade's aid to heal Tukiko and hopefully convince Tsunade to return to Konoha without the need of force. Its time she returns home."
Whispered conversations were held among the groups of ninjas as they discuss the implications of the possible return of several of their ninjas to active service that had been forced into early retirement. However, one of the three elders had other ideas. Danzō, the former head of ANBU and rumored to still be in command of the illegal Root ANBU, in which Sai, a member of Team 7 was a part of. On the Council, he was considered a crippled war hawk that walked around with a cane. Wearing bandages across his 'mangled' right arm and his 'missing' his right eye from a battle that left a crossed scar over his chin for all to see. His noticeable battle scars gave him a particular status among the group as a valuable veteran, giving him a significant weight of power in the Council despite being a warmonger.
"I understand the importance of such a mission," Danzō stated before moving in for the kill. "However, you are interfering with the girl's responsibility to continue the clan."
"What do you mean?" asked a raven-haired beauty with black coral eyes, she was head of the Uchiha clan and Tukiko's aunt, Mikoto Uchiha.
"I mean a contract created by the Uchiha's heir, Sasuke Uchiha," Danzō smirked as he held up a marriage contract between Tukiko Uchiha and one of his men.
Mikoto quickly grabbed the contract and read it over, "I didn't agree to this!" Mikoto yelled as it was passed to the Hokage.
"It doesn't matter," Danzō stated. "As heir, Sasuke Uchiha can make choices for any civilian members of his clan even if they are of age. And since you are a temporary Head, you can't override Sasuke's decision if Tukiko becomes a civilian."
Mikoto could not believe her own son would do this to his own cousin. She was so distraught that she did not see her young son in the shadows. A smile appeared on Sasuke's pale skin as a twinkle appeared in his coral eyes in anticipation of his cousin's fate. For too long she had, the girl had been in his mom's eye, and now she can get her out of the way while getting something else he wanted from Danzō.
"You seem to forget that Tukiko is still a ninja," Sarutobi stated after looking over the contract. "Like a ninja, she is still under my control and Mikoto's protection. She would need to be decommissioned within three months before this contract can take effect and I am not going to do that before I know she has no chance of being healed."
Most were nodding in agreement while Danzō smirked, "And how long do you plan to wait? Will you keep her in the service out of pity?"
It quickly became quiet as Elder Mitokado continued for Danzō, "What my collogued is suggesting that we have a timetable set up before she is brought before us to determine her fate."
"I believe two weeks from now is a reasonable amount of time," Homura suggested, providing enough time that the Hokage could not refuse, but it was cutting it close to finding the Tsunade.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had no choice but to grunt in agreement, "Very well. I will contact the team and inform them they have two weeks after this meeting is concluded for Tukiko to find a replacement arm, or to bring her before us to be discharged from the forces," Sarutobi added with a sober tone before he switched gears. "Now if anyone has any objections, let's get back to the shinobi reports."
As the various compartments gave their reports, Sasuke walked behind Danzō to question him in a demanding voice, "I thought you said getting Tukiko kicked out would be easy."
Danzō sighed as he gripped his cane in frustration, "Patience Sasuke. Tukiko will soon be out. Two weeks is not enough time to find Tsunade. Just remember the plan."
"I remember," Sasuke spoke to Danzō with a clear tone that held anticipation. "You get Tukiko for a year and have your men do with whatever you want with her until she is pregnant. Naruto will be forced to marry me to save Tukiko by promising to annul her marriage. After Naruto and I have produced a child with the Elemental Star and the Sharingan, Naruto will be forced to work in your Root ANBU while I go kill Itachi."
"Very good," Danzō stated as he had formed another plan in his mind, where Sasuke died on his revenge mission, leaving him in control of the Uchiha and Ryū through Naruto and her children. His master plan was all coming to fruition, and he now had a backup plan. Should Tukiko somehow healed, he would still win as he could use the medical procedure to return former Root back into service. Either way, it would be a win for him or that was how he reasoned it to himself as he plotted for power.
Scene II
In the pilot seat of a grounded Shadow Fox was Hinata Hyūga, going over flight control with their newest member, Haku. In the back seat, Naruto was taking a break from trying to get a new technique down called the Rasengan, taught to her by Jiraiya. It was the Fourth Hokage's original A-rank offensive jutsu. For some unknown reason, Jiraiya had taken an interest in her training and forced her to accept him as her teacher.
If he were a peephole pervert, she would be worried, but this was not the case. While he was a pervert, he was not interested in kids and was earnest when it comes to training that he did not notice the women around him. Therefore, Naruto had to reason he was so insisted on teaching her was nostalgia since he was her father's sensei.
The Rasengan was a three-step technique that usually took months to master. However, Naruto had completed the first two stages in three days due to her higher chakra supply, problem-solving mind, Colonel Nine of Nine's help and a high chakra control she had obtained from her training. The first stage depended on bursting a water balloon by spinning the water inside in multiple directions at once. The second stage was to burst a rubber ball by making her chakra denser until the weight broke through the ball.
After the two stages, she worked on putting them together into a perfectly round shape that is the Rasengan. Her training had paid off as she able to do it with a clone but she had not mastered it until she could do it with one hand. That would be awhile as the Rasengan was not the only training method she was doing. As she physically mastered the Rasengan, she used multiple clones finished honing her training in lightning manipulation every time they land, slowly developing a complete eye.
While Naruto was training solo on the road, Anko and Kurenai teamed up to train Tukiko with her teammates' assistance. Tukiko had to get used to fighting without a right hand for a time, and they were making the most of it. Haku also taught her how to do one-handed Jutsus to help Tukiko along. After the first two days, Tukiko realized how much she had depended on her right hand, and she hopes to find Tsunade soon, especially after she had received news from the Hokage. The message was simple unless she was capable and healthy enough to be a ninja within two weeks; she would be forced out of the Leaf Forces and into a marriage with someone that she did not know. The news caused Tukiko to pace around in frustration as she waited for Jiraiya to return.
"What is taking that pervert so long?" Tukiko demanded. "It's been six hours!"
"Tukiko, please calm down," Naruto cautioned her friend. "He needs to develop leads on where Tsunade might be as she is very elusive."
Tukiko grimaced as she remembered the debriefing. Tsunade Senju is the last of the Senju clan and the mother of modern medical jutsus. She was also a gambler that always loses to the point she earned the title 'the Legendary Sucker.' If that was not bad enough, she also had the habit of borrowing money to pay for her gambling habit and could never pay it back due to losing all the time, so she was constantly on the run to avoid her debtors. She was the same age as her fifty-year-old teammate Jiraiya, and she was very vain about her age. So much so that she used a genjutsu that would look, feel and taste so real that she might as well to be twenty-eight years old. She also used that genjutsu to hide from debt collectors by routinely changing her appearance and age, making her difficult to find.
"I'm sorry Naruto. I just don't want to be forced out of the ninja services and marry someone I don't know," Tukiko admitted.
Naruto nodded in agreement as Haku got up to stretch. "You won't," Haku told Tukiko, "not if we can do anything about it."
Tukiko smiled back at Haku as Hinata walked up to Naruto. In silence, Hinata turned up to see Kurenai walking in with Anko, discussing things like their students' training and Kurenai's possible boyfriend. Anko smiled as Kurenai tried to deny her crush, even if it was obvious to even Naruto. As the students watched the heated discussion, a familiar strong man jumps in through the fighter's hatch. It was Jiraiya with his wild, long white hair and in clothing that resembled a kabuki warrior without the makeup, except for the red marks from under his eyes.
"Good news, girls, and beautiful ladies. Tsunade is in the next village, gambling as usual," Jiraiya stated, unaware of the anxious situation he was walking into.
"You spent six hours in this town just to find out she was in the next town?" Tukiko asked quietly while getting a kunai out with her left hand.
"Well, the beauties of this town were very distracting," Jiraiya foolishly answered.
Tukiko jumped on him with her kunai drawn and yelled, "I am going to castrate you!"
She would have succeeded if Haku, Anko, and Kurenai had not dragged Tukiko off Jiraiya. Haku tried to calm Tukiko down, "Calm down Tukiko, he will not make that mistake again, right?"
Haku gave the evil eye to Jiraiya as got up and asked, "What's the big deal? I mean we have plenty of time."
Haku looked up in pure anger to state, "We don't have 'plenty of time.' We have only two weeks before Tukiko could be forced out of service and you are wasting our time with your whoremongering."
Jiraiya eyes widened when he mumbled, "I didn't know."
"Hinata, Naruto, be a dear and get us to the next town as fast as possible under stealth. We don't want to spook our target," Kurenai ordered while holding Tukiko down.
Hinata and Naruto moved to the cockpit to lift Shadow Fox off while cloaked until they reached the next town. The girls didn't know they were being followed as they flew off.
Scene III
Feeling the fighter's presence, an ugly man with a hunchback, covered from head to toe was heading to the very same town. "Soon my contract will be completed, and the Mother's hunger will be satisfied," the ugly man stated as a tentacle from his hunch back rubbed the back of his head, affectionately. The Mother was pleased.
Scene IV
Within a large town with a castle, the Leaf-nins arrived on the Shadow Fox in the outskirts before they run into a local casino to find that Tsunade had left an hour ago. She had won for the first time in years and ran out as she considered winning a bad omen. This led to team Vixen smacking Jiraiya up the side of his head for his delay ensures they had to track down Tsunade's trail, again. After Jiraiya had recovered, they decided to head to a bar to get something to eat and drink while getting information while the sun slowly disappeared on the horizon.
As they entered the bar, they spotted a blond-haired woman with a bust that men dream about and could not possibly be real, yet it is. Her hair was tied into two ponytails away from the purple diamond on her forehead as well as her beautiful face. Eating with the woman was a black-haired woman with a pig in her lap. Jiraiya ran over to a woman, practically dancing as he recognized his teammate anywhere.
"Tsunade, is that you?" Jiraiya asked.
The busty woman looked up with glaring golden eyes, "Jiraiya! What are you doing here?"
The group joined Tsunade at the table as Jiraiya stated, "We were looking for you."
"Why?" the woman asked harshly, and Naruto ignored it to take the opportunity to give a quick answer.
"Tsunade, I am here to request your services."
"My services?" Tsunade asked while her black-haired assistant, Shizune was wondering the same thing.
"Well, I need your help with an operation to replace Tukiko's right hand," Naruto stated as she pulled out a scroll and opened it to reveal blueprints and a book on how to perform the operation for a robotic hand. She handed it over to Tsunade as she raised an eyebrow.
Tsunade took only one look to get interested as she pored through the book and design. Thoughts began to form of performing an operation in what would be a pioneer in medical technology. As she pondered the details of the operation, Jiraiya to the moment to add, "Also, sensei wants you to return home."
It was the worst thing to say as Tsunade snarled out to Jiraiya, "The first request, I may do for you for a price. But the other request, I will tell you now: fuck no!"
"You said the same thing to me that one special night," Jiraiya commented dreamily.
"I was drunk… you were drunk, and you took my virginity. You were lucky I didn't castrate you!" Tsunade screamed before she calmed down. "Why would I return to the village of idiots who die for stupid dreams like someday being the Hokage? I will never!" Tsunade then turned to the girls to state, "Now about the payment I was thinking-" Tsunade never finished as Naruto punched her right in the mouth.
"How dare you insult our comrades, you bitch!" Naruto yelled at a woman known for her super strength.
"Listen to you brat. Do you know the pain I had to go through because of that village? If you had experienced my pain, you wouldn't want to return to that place," Tsunade stated.
"All I see is an old hag with a vanity issue, running away from the past instead of facing it!" Naruto yelled.
"What did you call me?" Tsunade asked her temper rising.
Naruto foolishly answered, "Do I need to spell it out for you? You are an old crow who hides behind a disguise."
Tsunade destroyed the table with one punch and yelled, "Outside now!"
Naruto complied and went outside to face a pissed Tsunade. Her teammates, Anko, Kurenai, Shizune, and Jiraiya, watched with concern. "You think you can win, Genin?" Tsunade snarled as she straightens a green trench coat with the words 'wager' on its back.
"Honestly, no," Naruto answered truthfully. "But I think I can take you down a few pegs."
Naruto went through a few hand signs, 'Lightning Style: Lightning Strikes Jutsu,' to send a huge wave of lightning towards Tsunade. Tsunade slammed her fist into the ground to uplift a huge boulder to absorb the lightning strike. The lightning strikes then dispersed, and Tsunade lifted the boulder up and threw it at Naruto. Naruto dodged the boulder and went through some familiar hand signs that shocked Tsunade. Naruto used 'Wood Style: Spear Head Jutsu,' to send a long, thin wood spear at Tsunade. She countered it with 'Wood Style: Whipping Willow Jutsu,' as a small branched tree grabbed the spear and slammed it to the ground.
Tsunade dispersed the tree to look into Naruto's eye to see that it was a blush green eye with a yin-yang pupil. It also had five colored triangles coming out of the pupil with red being faint and the other four colors, brown, dark blue, yellow and white being full. "The Elemental Star! So it does exist, and it looks like you have mastered four of the five elements," Tsunade commented.
"I just finished mastering lightening today thanks to shadow clones. Now to show you two of those things," Naruto stated before she used a new jutsu, 'Ice Style: Entrapment Jutsu.'
Tsunade found ice cubes around her limbs, keeping her in place. While Tsunade was held by ice blocks, Naruto formed two ice clones and one shadow clone. The ice clones grabbed onto Tsunade's limbs to keep the ice from melting or breaking while the shadow clone stayed with Naruto. The clone helped Naruto form the spiral blue ball that was the Rasengan. Naruto then charged at Tsunade with the Rasengan while the shadow clone kept it intact.
As Naruto rushed the Sennin, Tsunade broke free at the last second with her super strength. She kicked one of the ice clones into Naruto's legs at high speed. Naruto fell forward in pain as she slammed the Rasengan into the ground. The shadow clone and ice clone dispersed due to the Rasengan blast as Tsunade pulverized the other ice clone, leaving Naruto alone and with her undivided attention. Pissed, Tsunade rushed towards Naruto and punched her in the stomach. The amount of power behind the attack forced Naruto into the next building as the thin wooden walls caved in. Naruto survived the attack as she slowly pulled herself out of the building, still a little wobbly.
"Naru-Chan!" Hinata yelled before running to Naruto to help her up.
"Jiraiya, what were you thinking? Teaching that brat that man's technique," Tsunade questioned Jiraiya.
"She has the talent, and it is hers by right. Granted, she is not like the Fourth. He was a warrior prodigy. While Naruto is a multitasked pioneer," Jiraiya admitted.
"And even he died at a young age and wasted his talents on a stupid dream," Tsunade commented.
"Don't you dare insult my father!" Naruto slipped out as Tsunade scowled.
"I see. You are Minato's daughter. So you are like your old man, a fool trying to live a fool's dream of being Hokage," Tsunade commented.
"It's not a fool's dream. He died doing something a coward like you couldn't do: Save lives even at the cost of one's own life! He lived his dream unlike you!" Naruto yelled back and only garnered more of Tsunade's wrath.
"What about you brat, what is your dream?" Tsunade asked with a snarl.
That question struck Naruto. She did not know what she wanted to be. She built things more as a hobby than anything, and she was a ninja to protect the things she considered precious. Precious, brought back memories to a time when the Third Hokage told her how the village was his family. How he was protecting it from a force outside and within the village's wall. Naruto realized that she considered a lot of the people in the village precious to her. After a long moment of silence, Naruto began to chuckle before laughing like a mad woman.
"You know," Naruto began while she started to stand on her own two feet. "I never had one. I just had the desire to build things and to protect my family and friends, but I never had a goal or dream. However, now I realize something. I want to be the strongest to protect those precious to me. To make the decision to save lives and keep them safe. I want to be the best ninja there is. I want to be the most powerful Hokage of all time to make sure my home and more importantly my friends are safe."
Tsunade looked at Naruto to see two people she loved her. She felt the sorrow catch up after so many years of running. Tsunade looked into Naruto's eye to ask, "So brat, you think you can be Hokage?"
"I know I can," Naruto stated without question, which made Tsunade smirk.
"Then brat, how about a bet?" Tsunade asked rhetorically. "I noticed that you are still far from completing the Rasengan. You master the Rasengan with one hand in one week, I will return to Konoha, help you and your friend for free, and give you this." Tsunade showed off a.
"Lady Tsunade!" Shizune gasped.
"What is so special about that rock?" Tukiko asked.
"That jewel shard belongs to the First Hokage and is worth three mountains full of jewels and can suppress demonic chakra. It is also said that only the future Hokage can wear it," Jiraiya told the amazed Genin.
"And if I lose?" Naruto asked the woman before her.
"If you lose, you will give me a sixth of your estates for the medical procedure, scrolls detailing the new medical techniques from Konoha, and DNA samples from you," Tsunade explained the details.
"Why do you want samples of my DNA?" Naruto asked.
"You are a former Uzumaki. The Uzumaki have active and dormant bloodlines that could provide me the answer to have the ability to continue the Senju line," Tsunade told the girl.
"Alright, I agree with everything except the blood. I will let you just have it if it will help save your family's line." Naruto pulled out a needle and took some blood out of her arm. Naruto then held out a vial of blood to Tsunade. "I swear on my blood that I will fully master the Rasengan in one week."
Tsunade, who had a phobia when it comes to blood, accepted the vial hesitantly while Naruto walked to the fighter to get ready for tomorrow.
Scene V
It was early in the morning as Naruto, her senseis and teammates talked about today's training when they heard a knock at the bottom of the fighter. The hatch opened to reveal Shizune there with a worried face. "Can I come in?"
"Sure," Naruto showed Shizune in.
Shizune walked into the room and got in front of Naruto, "Listen, I need you to talk to you about your bet."
"What about my bet?" Naruto asked.
"I want you to call it off," Shizune shocked the group.
"Why does Naru-Chan need to call it off?" Hinata asked.
"It has to do with the cursed necklace." Shizune got everyone's attention as she began to tell the sad tale about Tsunade.
It started the day her brother was born. At the time, the Senju clan began to die out because of a birth defect; one out of ten had a chance to survive childbirth while the rest died during birth. As Tsunade grew up, she dreamt of being a medic that would one day save her family. However, the Third Great Shinobi War started, and she went to the front line with the majority of the Senju Clan. During the war, her brother Nawaki was given the necklace when he became a Genin because he wanted to be Hokage. Nawaki died on his very first mission because the medics were not able to treat him quickly enough. After the mission, she proposed for every team to have a field medic, but it was shot down because they did not have the resources or the time to train medics during the war.
During that meeting, she met her future fiancé, Dan. After three months together, Tsunade gave Dan her necklace after he told her about his dream of being Hokage. On his next mission, he died with her teammate/future traitor, Orochimaru. His remains were splattered all over a room, creating her phobia of blood. A year later, the war ended thanks to Minato Namikaze, and Tsunade was the sole survivor of the Senju clan besides the elderly that were too old to produce a child, ensuring the clan will die off. In her grief, Tsunade left Konoha with Shizune, her apprentice. She swore would never return to Konoha, not she will ever give away her necklace to anyone ever again.
While the group was saddened by the tale, Naruto formed a determined look. Naruto got up and began to walk out. "Where are you going?" Haku asked.
"I am going to master the Rasengan," Naruto stated.
"Naru-Chan?" Hinata asked quietly before she looked at the determination in Naruto's eyes. Hinata then nodded, "I understand."
As Naruto left, Shizune asked, "What do you understand?"
"She realized there was a bigger purpose for the win," Hinata explained for Naruto. "Tsunade did not give the bet to crush Naruto's dreams. She made that bet so she could believe in something again."
Shizune only stared as she watched Naruto leave the fighter for some heavy training.
Scene VI
Tsunade was troubled emotionally. She did not know how to take the brat. On the one hand, she was oblivious to others emotions to the point that it was almost comical. Just watching her and the Hyūga dance around each other not knowing they had feelings for each other was hilarious and made her laugh for the first time in a long time. However, when you spoke to her, she replied with an intelligence that you could not ignore. And after a discussion at a bar with a serious Jiraiya, she realized that Naruto had a strong will of fire that made her want to succeed.
Flashback
Tsunade was sitting at a bar; enjoying a large glass of shake when Jiraiya joined her after ordering a large glass of bourbon. As they enjoyed their drink, Tsunade looked up to ask, "Why did you take that brat as a student? Is it because she is your student's child?"
Jiraiya took a sip of bourbon before answering Tsunade, "No. It was because Naruto-Chan is so different from any other student I ever had."
Tsunade looked at Jiraiya in shock as he explained himself, "You remember, Minato-San. He was a born warrior. He could pick up any fighting style to call his own and was a prodigy on the battlefield. Men had reasons to tremble when they faced him. But his daughter, his daughter is a problem solver. Give her the tools and tell her the problem and she will go out of her way to solve it. I never thought of using Shadow Clones to stabilize a Rasengan and help cut her training time to a fraction of what it should be. That is why I like to train her as she wasn't afraid to obliterate the box she works in."
Tsunade looked down at her shake and thought about Naruto's unique eyes, "She also has a fire in her eyes that makes people go to the gates of hell for her. You raised your goddaughter well."
Jiraiya sighed out, "I didn't raise her." Tsunade looked at Jiraiya in shock, as he continued, "I wish I could say that I did, but I know the truth as I was too busy reuniting daughter and mother."
"Reuniting?" Tsunade asked.
"I am the world's best seal master, and I was tasked with not only spying on our enemies but breaking the seal that the Uzumaki use to control Naruto's mother and her half-sister," Jiraiya explained. "I was so busy with my spy network while trying to get mother and daughter together that I lost track of time. Months became years, and I was so busy I didn't realize that fourteen years had gone by until I saw her at that window. I don't think I can be considered to be her godfather, but at least I can make her happy now."
Tsunade looked at her drink before she stated, "I am sure you will, and I will keep quiet that you are the girl's godfather. She has enough on her plate anyway."
Jiraiya nodded with a smile as they continued to drink in silence.
End Flashback
After drinking herself into a stupor, Tsunade began to spy on Naruto with 'Chameleon jutsu' to see the girl was determined as she worked almost eighteen hours straight a day. The only breaks were to eat and sleep. She did not stop training even as she used shadow clones to help Tsunade reattach her friend, Tukiko's hand.
Flashback
Tukiko was on the table while Tsunade was connecting the bio-circuitries to the nerve clusters and bone. Working alongside a subdued the Sennin and Shizune was Naruto's clones kept an eye on the arm processors. An operation Tsunade used to take notes through a headset in her ear. During the operation, Tsunade made small talk with Tukiko as the girl related how she became friends with Naruto, Hinata, and Haku.
"A teammate's bond is such an amazing thing. No matter who it is between," Tsunade commented as she put the final touches on the hand by stretching a synthetic skin over the robotic hand.
"I guess it is," Tukiko commented to Tsunade. "It's nice to have someone that has got your back."
"So the bet that Naruto agreed to. Do you believe that Naruto will win?" Tsunade asked as she finished covering Tukiko's hand with the synthetic skin. Once she was done, Naruto's clones activate the hand.
"I know she will," Tukiko answered as she brought up her new hand. It looked and felt like it had never even been cut off. "She promised she would win just like she promised you would repair my right hand."
Tsunade watched Tukiko admire her new hand with a broad smile.
End Flashback
Tsunade knew Tukiko was right as she watched as Naruto formed a Rasengan with one hand and obliterated the tree in front of her. Tsunade saw Naruto's triumphant smile as she decided to cancel her 'Chameleon Jutsu.' Naruto nearly jumped out of her skin when Tsunade appeared within her sight. Tsunade laughed at Naruto's reaction, as she did not notice the older woman was there for hours.
Realizing she was spied upon, Naruto focused her attention on Tsunade to ask, "How long have you been spying on me?"
"A couple of days," Tsunade stated playfully. "Had to see if I will be paying you or not."
"Well, no matter how old you are, that's kind of creepy," Naruto commented, as Tsunade twitched. "However, it's also fortunate, as I don't have to show you again that I mastered it. I won granny."
Tsunade stared at Naruto before pulling out her necklace, "Yes, you have."
Tsunade then slowly approached Naruto. Naruto got nervous as Tsunade leaned over and placed the necklace around her neck as she asked, "Did you know there is a tradition in how to give this necklace out?"
"What… kind of tradition?" Naruto asked nervously. "It's not hazing, is it? I don't do hazing well."
Tsunade laughed, "No… nothing like that. It's just something to show you earned it."
"Alright," Naruto said nervously.
Tsunade smiled as to put the necklace around Naruto's neck. Then, without warning came up to kiss Naruto on the forehead. Naruto was shocked as Tsunade pulled back to explain, "When I receive the necklace from my father, he kissed me on the forehead as he put the necklace on. The same thing happened to him when his father gave it to him, and I did it to Dan and Nawaki before they died. Now, I do the same for you."
"Why?" Naruto asked.
"You… your eyes look so much like Dan-Kun and Nawaki-Kun," Tsunade answered. "You have the same fire, and it makes me want to help. To make me consider you are family."
"I… thank you Granny," Naruto answered cheekily.
"Brat," Tsunade snarled as she flicked Naruto on the head, which for Tsunade amounted to being bashed in the head with a fist.
"OW," Naruto muttered.
"Now, why don't you prep your flying machine? Your team is there so I will get Shizune and Jiraiya before we get out of this town and back home," Tsunade told Naruto.
"You got it Lady Tsunade," Naruto bowed before she ran to prep her fighter for liftoff as Tsunade went back to get the others.
Scene V
It was over an hour later before Tsunade had gathered Jiraiya and Shizune together to prepare to leave for Konoha. An excited Shizune commented, "It's good to be going home after being on the road for so long."
"Yeah, I wonder how-" Tsunade then noticed a stranger with a hunchback and a body covered in a gray cloak and hood.
"Can we help you?" Jiraiya asked as he tensed.
"Yes, I have a contract with you three. You and your summons will do very nicely to quench the Mother's hunger," the man stated as he swished back and forth his arms and his grey decaying hands.
Tsunade, Jiraiya and Shizune tensed as Tsunade yelled, "Are you insane?"
Shizune noticed the man's appearance and asked quietly, "What happened to your skin?"
The man chuckled as he removed his hood to reveal a sickly grey skin, a mouth that resembled a squid's beak, and eyes that were a bright yellow with fine slits for pupils. "Intrigued, are you not?" the man asked while he chuckled sinisterly. "You are drawn to the majesty of my kind."
"Who or what are you?" Jiraiya asked in disgust.
"I was once a wealthy merchant who traded and bartered to gain power, but I was never satisfied until I met the Mother and became her follower," the man replied.
"Who is this 'Mother?" Tsunade asked the follower.
"She is a creature designed to fight the machines in the Mechanize War, years before mankind set off the EMP bomb that sent everyone back to the Stone Age. However, unlike her fellow brother and sisters created by your kind, the thin-bloods, she feasted on all things. Especially the energy that life itself produces. The thin-bloods quickly realized what they had created, and they contained her. However, they never thought that she could still feed on the pains of the human race while trapped and gather followers to serve her. That is the weakness of the thin-bloods. They don't realize there is more than one way to gain power."
"There are more of you?" Shizune asked.
"Many more, spread all over the world, willing to give their lives to the Mother."
"How did you escape the notice of my spy network and the other villages?" Jiraiya asked with concern.
"We are fast and silent when we need to be. Besides, no one notices or cares when a few villagers, low-level missing-nins, bandit camps, and weaklings disappear here and there. After all, things like that happen all the time," the follower of the Mother had answered the surprise group.
"Why are you here?" Tsunade demanded.
"A man reached out to us and had contracted us for a special job for him: to kill you, Tsunade, and any Hidden Leaf Ninja Forces that contacted you, in exchange for a thousand sacrifices, and a way to get to your summonses," the man replied.
"Who is this man?" Jiraiya asked.
"His name was Orochimaru," the follower replied before leaping away from a surprise attack from Jiraiya. The sage was pushed into a frenzied rage when the follower mentioned the man's name that had once been Tsunade and Jiraiya's teammate before he betrayed the Leaf to freely experiment on human test subjects.
The others began to join the fray against the evading follower who fought back with kick strikes. Kick strikes that had even matched Tsunade's super strength. Tsunade responded with 'Wood Style: Root Grab Jutsu' to have a root grabbed onto the Mother's follower. Tsunade then tried to strike with a wooden war hammer she created with 'Wood Style: War Hammer Jutsu.' The follower was able to kick itself free while also being able to kick Tsunade away. She let her weapon go as she flew off the ground until she was caught by Jiraiya.
Shizune followed up with her wrist-mounted launcher that shot out multiple poison needles at the follower. The follower escaped Shizune's attack to power up a summoning Jutsu. Tsunade and Jiraiya felt the chakra build up and powered up their own summons. They timed it just right for all three to have summons formed at the same time. The follower summoned a giant grey squid, Tsunade summoned a giant blue and white slug, and Jiraiya summoned giant red toad with a sword, with a scar over one of his eyes and a pipe in his mouth.
"The Squid Clan is here. I never thought I would see one outside the nightmare realm. Jiraiya, this is a very serious battle. I am glad you summoned me for this," The toad told Jiraiya on top of his head.
"Glad you see it that way, Gamabunta," Jiraiya told the toad.
"Lady Tsunade, what will you have of me?" The slug asked Tsunade in a gentle voice while Shizune was at Tsunade's side on top.
"I need your help to take that summon down, Lady Katsuyu," Tsunade replied as the summons prepares for battle.
Scene VI
Away from the battle, Haku was outside the fighter when she saw the summoning battle. She ran in to tell everyone, which made everyone run out. "Fuck," Anko stated before she powered up her own summoning jutsu. Anko brought forth a giant, purple cobra, with green eyes and large fangs. It was her friend, and most loyal summon, the True Snake Boss, Kingu.
Anko then turned towards Naruto, "Alright, Naru, you need to summon-"
Naruto interrupted Anko. "Anko-sensei, I can't summon for at least another week," Naruto told Anko.
Anko cursed before barked out orders, "Alright, you guys stay with the fighter. Kurenai, hop on and let us go blow this joint. Kingu, let's go." Anko Kurenai jumped on Kingu's head with Anko.
"You got it, mistress," Kingu compiled as it slithered to battle.
As the girls watched Anko and Kurenai ride off to battle, Naruto ran into the cockpit. The three followed to find Naruto preparing for lift off. "Naru-chan, what are you doing?" Hinata asked nervously.
"Getting the fighter ready for battle," Naruto replied as the fighter's engines, weapons, and shields powered up. The girls quickly got into her cockpit seats to prepare for battle.
"Isn't this against orders?" Haku asked as she played the group's conscience.
"She said to stay with the fighter. She said nothing about taking the fighter into a danger zone," Tukiko commented, as Naruto got the fighter ready to fly.
Scene VII
At the summoning battle, it was at a standstill as the squid was holding its own against Gamabunta and Katsuyu. The three were an equal match as the squid just floated in the sky and shot out ink blobs. The battlefield shifted to Leaf-nins favor when Kingu slithered up from behind the squid and bit into the summon's skin with its poison fangs. The squid shrieked before it went limp within the snake's mouth. The follower had jumped off his dead summon and landed in front of the giant toad and slug. A normal man would be scared and beg for his life, but instead, he began laughing as if he won.
"Why are you laughing? We just killed your summon," Anko sneered.
"A disposable pawn that I no longer need that I don't need anymore; the Mother is ready to come into this world," the man answered as he removed his robes to reveal something that freaked the entire group.
His hunchback was a squid's eye that had black chakra swirled around it. They stood there in horror as black tentacles began to shoot out of the follower's back before grabbing onto the ground around the man. The squid slowly pulled itself out of the followers' back, and they could do nothing as they were frozen in disbelief. They watched the man disappeared within the giant squid known as the Mother. A mother of despair as it was as black as a starless night and more massive than all three of the summons combined.
Jiraiya summed it up for the group when he said, "Aw, shit,"
The Mother came to life, swimming through the air before it attacked the leaf-nins and their summons. The land summons slithering or jumped away as the squid slammed into the ground with a force that left meteor carters in its wake. Once far enough away to not hurt themselves, the summons return-fired with acid (Katsuyu), venom (Kingu) or oil (Gamabunta) with Jiraiya and Anko adding fire using 'Fire Style: Fire Dragon Jutsu.' It had little success, as it moved without hindrance and its tentacles grabbed onto Katsuyu. It began squeezing Katsuyu until the slug dispersed into several mini slugs while Tsunade jumped off with Shizune. The two ran away where Katsuyu was reforming while Kingu spits out venom to get the Mother's attention and allow Katsuyu time to reform.
The Mother responded with a couple of tentacles slammed onto Kingu. Kingu was in pain as the squid captured him with tentacles. Claws from the squid's suckers' claws dug in deep into the snake to prevent its escape. Around the squid, the others tried to use several high power Jutsus to get Kingu free while the Mother dragged the snake closer to its beak. Anko and Kurenai were too scared and loyal to run and tried to fight back even as it proves pointless. They expected to die with Kingu as they embraced each other.
Death never came as a pair of red torpedoes hit the squid. This made the Mother released Kingu as it tumbled away. The fighter, Shadow Fox let loose to a bunch of bullets and lasers to hit the squid repeatedly until it flew over the squid and the squid gave chase. Everyone on the ground watched as the fighter weaved and turned as the Mother tried to grab on the nimble Shadow Fox.
"That thing is massive," Tukiko commented from the back seat.
'You bet it is,' Nine of Nine commented. 'It was a failed experiment meant to help end the war between the Machines and us. It had liked killing too much, and we had to trap it.'
'How?' Naruto asked mentally as she evaded the thing's ten arms.
'We trapped it in a pocket dimension using Chakra and Anti-matter that we developed in a lab,' Nine of Nine explained. 'I personally would have killed it, but we didn't have enough firepower as most of our resources were too busy slowing down the Machines. It was designed to take a few nuclear bombs at point-blank range and still be able to fight.'
"There has to be a way," Naruto mumbled before she barked out orders. "Hina-Hime, scan that thing to find any possible weak points."
Hinata acknowledged Naruto's orders before she got to the fighters' scanners. She scanned the creature using the ships scanners while she used her bloodline to find anything the scans might have missed. After a third swipe, Hinata finally got results as she reported, "Naru-Chan, there is a lot of temporal anomalies holding the squid in place. They seem to come from someone connected to this monster squid. I theorized if the person is severely wounded or killed that the squid will return to wherever it came from."
"Alright, sounds like we have a plan," Naruto commented, but Hinata disagreed.
"But we have a problem in the fact that the person is protected within the squid, and we don't have enough firepower to get to him."
"There must be some way to get him," Naruto commented as she evaded another tentacle.
Haku looked at a hologram image of the squid and pointed out a weak point, "I think I can see an opening, but I don't think it's big enough for our ship's torpedoes to get through and hit the guy."
"I think only a person can squeeze through and hit the guy," Hinata added.
"I'll do it," Tukiko volunteered. "Just get me there, and I can slip through and get the bastard."
"Tukiko, it is too risky," Haku had pleaded and Hinata nodding in agreement.
"We don't have a choice," Tukiko pointed out.
After a moments silence, Naruto said, "Do it."
"Come on Haku, I need you to operate the hanger's controls for me to skydive," Tukiko told the girl as she led Haku to the fighter's back.
Within the back of the fighter, she suited up in a jumpsuit with a helmet and a parachute. Once Tukiko equipped her with an assault rifle, she gave a signal that she was ready. Haku opened the hatched doors and placed a force field to keep air from being sucked out. Haku had to hold on for dear life as the fighter nose began to face the sky. Tukiko's gravity boots kept her up as she moved down the hatch.
As Tukiko moved into position, Naruto spoke over the intercom to state, "I am going straight up into the sky, and that squid is just behind us. It's now or never."
"Good luck," Haku told Tukiko as Tukiko prepare to jump.
"Always," Tukiko stated before she jumped past the force field and began to drop toward the squid.
Tukiko sped down to the Mother and sailed through the squid's arms while she held onto her assault rifle for dear life. Once she got through arms, she slid into the inner catacomb of the squid's arms to see the Mother's follower. The follower did not see Tukiko until she had positioned her assault rifle up and put a few rounds into the guy. The man could not do anything as Tukiko continued her fall and slid out of the squid. Once she had escaped, she released her parachute and sailed away from the squid that began to fall.
As the Mother began to free-fall, she faded in and out of this dimension and back into her trap but fighting it while others moved to finish her. Above the squid, the Shadow Fox turned into a nosedive towards its target to fire two torpedoes at blinding speed. The two torpedoes hit the Mother and caused a massive explosion that made the squid disappear completely back into its dimension while the follower fell to the ground at a force that would turn an ordinary person into a pancake. Tukiko landed next to where the follower lay to see the man was not dead. He was in fact barely alive, despite falling to certain death. Tukiko removed her helmet and retracted her parachute by a press of a button. As the parachute retracted, she slammed her rifle and foot into the man's chest and held him down.
Approaching Tukiko was Tsunade, Jiraiya, Shizune, Anko, and Kurenai. Their summons had disappeared as their part was over and needed to report to their tribes what had happened. Nearby, the Shadow Fox had made a soft landing before girls disembarked to join their fellow leaf-nins. They all circled the Mother's follower as Tukiko step back.
The follower began to laugh out with blood as it stated, "I can't believe… (cough) The Mother and I were defeated (cough) by a bunch of little girls."
"Well, believe it. These girls seemed to make the impossible possible," Tsunade commented.
"Especially when one of the girls has the Mother's enemy sealed inside her." The follower shocked the group as he pointed at Naruto. "She will be pleased her mortal enemy is trapped, just like her."
'She can sense you Nine, and she wants to get revenge on you?'' Naruto asked in her mind.
'I guess she does. However, I don't want to think about the Mother coming after us. We will discuss this later,' Nine of Nine replied through the seal before going silent.
"You think you have stopped us. I am just one follower out of many, and the Mother will come in time, you can be sure of it," the follower stated as he laughed with hysteria.
"And they will die just like you," Naruto stated as she pulled out a sword empowered by multiple elements.
Naruto then raised her empowered sword before she stabbed the follower in the head and twisted the blade. The sword made short work of him by carving a large hole and destroying most of the brain within seconds. Sure that he was dead, Naruto removed the blade and put it back into the sword's sheath as Jiraiya got to work to seal the body in a scroll to be examined later. They did not notice that at a distance, a pale snake man observed the whole exchange. He had a smile on his face before disappearing into the ground as the Leaf-nins prepared to head home.
"Well, I think it is time to leave," Jiraiya commented as he sealed the body up.
"We need to return to Konoha before anything else happens," Tsunade commented as the others loaded up in the fighter to head back to Konoha.
Scene VIII
It was early in the morning when the Council was called into a meeting by Sarutobi. No one knew why but the Elders were suspicious it had to do with Tukiko as they saw Mikoto smiling. It soon became apparent when the Hokage walked in flanked by Team Vixen, Jiraiya, and Tsunade, with Tukiko up front to show the operation was a success. She now had two hands instead of one. The Councilors murmured to each other as they moved to their seats.
Once they were seated, Sarutobi stood up right up to state, "I am proud to say that the mission was a success. We now have a new way to replace lost limbs, and Tsunade had returned to the Leaf Forces."
It was then that Team Vixen gave their report on the mission. When they reached the part about Tukiko's hand, Danzō and the other two elders posed a dozen questions about her hand. They found nothing amiss as Tukiko was backed by Tsunade and Eboshi. Tukiko even gave a show by creating a colossal Fireball with 'Fire style: Fireball Jutsu,' that she was capable kunoichi of the village. The three elders gave up their quest quickly as Danzō began to plan on how to get some of his wounded men back into service.
While Danzō was scheming, Mikoto mentally sighed in relief. She had a plan to use a power she had gained by helping her eldest son Itachi in killing Fugaku and his guards during the Uchiha massacre. This power had allowed her bloodline to evolve into the Mangekyō Sharingan. When activated, it gave her the ability to easily hypothesize most people into doing whatever she wanted them to do. She rarely used that power because it was against the law to use such powers against comrades, and it was a double-edged sword for it could lead to blindness after it was used too many times. She was willing to use such a power to save her favorite child, her child, even if it meant that her son would have an 'accident' to take him out of the picture. Mikoto quickly shook out such thoughts as she listened to the team's report.
After Team Vixen finished their report, the Council began to discuss the events that transpired. "While I am glad the mission was a success," the purple-haired ANBU commander Yūgao spoke through her cat mask. "I am concerned about this 'Mother.' This monster can be a threat if left unchecked."
"We will have our hunter-nins on a look out for any of its followers along with our ANBU," the wild-haired Tsume spoke as head of the Hunter-nins instead of the Inuzuka Clan.
"That's all we can do for now, besides warning our allies," Sarutobi stated before turning towards Team Vixen. "Team 13, please leave."
Team Vixen nodded and left the Council, the two Sennin, and the Hokage. Sarutobi turned to address the Council, "Alright, now that we are alone, I would like to inform you about the Chūnin Exams, and if intelligence is correct, possible interference by the Uzumaki Clan and my traitorous student Orochimaru…"
Scene IX
Overlooking the village, Naruto stood on top of the monument watching the sunset color in the sky. Naruto silently was having a discussion with Nine of Nine. 'Things are getting interesting?'
'I never thought the Mother would escape,' Colonel Nine of Nine stated with a sigh. 'We now not only have that monster to deal with, but also the Uzumaki Clan and possibly this Danzō and Sasuke if you take Tukiko's aunt's warning seriously. If Murphy Law any indication, we may face additional enemies.'
'We'll be ready for them' Naruto thought as she watched the sunset dim into the dark.
Thanks for reading this story and hope you enjoy it. Now review to tell me how much you appreciate or hate this story or just a plain review that says, 'I was here.' Also, do not forget to vote, this time on Sasuke's fate again.
Author Note
A) I put a Pool up for this story.
How will Sasuke die for version 2?
1. Orochimaru accidentally kills Sasuke (curse seal mark)
2. Itachi kills him after Tobi recruits Sasuke
3. Mikoto puts Sasuke into a trance to kill himself
4. Die by accident (do something stupid that gets himself killed)
5. Die by 'accident' (assassinated by Sai)
6. Piss an enemy ninja off and is killed by said ninja (can be suggested who in review/private message)
