Freedom has a Price Chapter 10: When No One Can Save You, a naruto fanfic

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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Naruto shifted in bed lightly as he opened his eyes slowly, to say he was comfortable would be an understatement. Despite all of the revelations he had learned as of recent, he couldn't help but want to relax in bed.

'Wait a minute... a bed?' Naruto opened his eyes completely and saw the black haired young woman whom ran around with the blonde the other day hovering over him from the side of the bed. It was like reflex, Naruto quickly kicked the covers off of him and kicked outward at the woman off to the side of the bed before jumping off the side of the bed near the window. Last time he woke up with a woman above him he could easily say that it was one of the least pleasing moments of his life thus far.

Naruto wasn't in any mood to wait around for an explanation, he was already unfastening the window with one hand as he glared at the black haired woman. The woman was at a loss of words at the display and called out "Tsunade-sama!"

The effect was instantaneous. The moment Naruto got the window open and was ready to leap out of the window, he was grabbed by the back of the neck and thrown down heavily on the bed. He impacted so hard that he initially thought that he had broken the bed.

Yet the one thing Naruto did note about the situation was the woman was far far stronger than she appeared to be.

Naruto got another look around the room since he had been tossed on the bed and realized that there was another person's presence. A older man, with white hair that went down his back that almost looked like a lion's mane.

"That was a bit... rough... Tsunade-hime." The man said weakly as he looked towards Naruto after he had been slammed onto the bed.

Tsunade huffed, "Yeah, quite. Anyways Shizune, we're leaving." Tsunade said with a scowl. This action appeared to throw the white haired man off.

"Tsunade, you know I have come here because I need to bring you back to the village, and you know I wouldn't of come if it wasn't absolute necessary." The man said seriously. An expression that Naruto was able to note of looking out of place on the man's features.

The blonde Tsunade scoffed, "Jiraiya, I'm not going back, you wasted a trip. Be thankful that I decided not to leave your apprentice laying in the dirt yesterday. Shizune, come on." Tsunade said as she made her way for the door brushing past Jiraiya, until Naruto let his voice be known.

He knew the moment he heard the name, he knew he had heard it somewhere before. However with all of the events that had been going on the past day, his thought process was entirely scrambled, and his mind unorganized. So it took him a few seconds to realize just whom the man was. Yet sure enough, he confused stare instantly turned into a deepening scowl. He suddenly didn't want to be in the room with any of these people.

"You are Jiraiya of the Sannin?" Naruto asked sourly.

All previous action stopped, and attention turned to Jiraiya upon Naruto's question.

"I thought you said he was your apprentice?" Tsunade asked curiously with a raised eyebrow.

Jiraiya had the decency to look a bit sheepish and rubbed his hand behind his head with a laugh, "Well the kid doesn't really kno-"

Naruto cut him off sternly and made his voice known to everyone in the room, "Ha! That's it, I'm leaving." He said in frustration before going once again to open the window.

Tsunade looked mildly surprised on her young features as she saw this action. "Shizune, follow the boy." she said calmly as she motioned with her head out the window where Naruto had since jumped out of. Tsunade couldn't help but notice her teammates deepening look of regret as he continued staring towards where the blonde was formerly standing.

"Hey? Pervert!" She said in annoyance as the man was seemingly ignoring her, which in reality was probably the first time... ever... that he ignored her. She snapped her fingers in front of his face to grab the man's attention.

He snapped out of his "trance" with a shake of the head and asked the blonde, "Sorry. I sort of zoned out, did you say something Tsunade-hime?"

Frustration didn't even begin to describe what Tsunade was feeling at the moment, but she bit back the idea of punching the man in front of her through the wall and asked, "I thought he was your apprentice?"

Jiraiya gave a weak laugh, "Well it was supposed to be that way..." Jiraiya said weakly, "But I am sure you know better than anyone things never work out as planned eh Tsunade?"

The woman scowled before crossing her arms over her chest, not really wanting to get into a discussion about her past. However she was not against painting a look on her face that told her former teammate exactly just one thing.

Explain

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Naruto ran long and hard into the forests outside of the town. He didn't know how long really, he had since stopped paying attention to the time, and instead was trying to get the black haired woman off of his back. Yet it was to no avail. With his terrible chakra control right now, he was stuck running on the forest floor and vaulting over fallen trees and bushes. There was no way he could ever attempt to outrun the woman.

He flipped over one more fallen tree before quickly slowing down in front of a small stream that seemingly went on for miles. Naruto sighed and got down to a squat as he looked over the water, and small fish that were swimming against the current.

No more then mere seconds after, he heard the black haired female drop down, supposedly from a tree above the rocky area before the stream. It quickly became apparent to Naruto that while the woman may address the blonde as her superior, she certainly didn't take after the blonde. She instead of brute force relied on being calm, quiet, and sincere. She came up next to Naruto and tapped his shoulder lightly before crouching down next to him.

"Hi..." she said awkwardly breaking the silence that reigned in the area beside the stream.

Naruto scoffed quietly to himself and picked up a rock and throwing it into the water. "Hi..." he said dryly as he watched his rock not even skip once, and just splash into the water to get carried down with the current.

Shizune gave a weak smile and sighed, "So why did you decide to run Naruto?" she asked getting straight to the point.

Naruto rolled his eyes at the woman's question. Telling people his secrets was the last thing he wanted to do right now. "Why did you decide to follow me?" He shot back with a raised eyebrow.

Shizune gave a quiet chuckle at Naruto's response to her question, "I was asked to follow you if you must know. However you still haven't answered my question Naruto." she finished with a smile.

Naruto was able to note that the woman appeared quite calm, and the smile actually looked welcome on her features. She could truly be genuine in her intentions, even if she was apparently told to follow him. However... Naruto knew better than to just trust a smile after what happened with Mei. He was quite convinced as of late that girls, and women were just all fake. Whether it be Mei? Or his mother. He had learned that the closest women to him in his life would lie to get what they want. It wasn't a situation he wanted to place himself in again.

"I didn't like the company." He said flatly as he ran a hand through his hair. Several twigs and leaves had gotten caught in his hair during his run. One of the negatives of running along the ground. Luckily whatever cuts he had received from stray branches were fully healed.

There was once again silence throughout the surrounding area. Something Naruto was able to note that he didn't particularly like. When it was silent, it gave him time to think, and to feel. Particularly feel the physical pain he was in due to the two tailed beasts stuck in his body. Something he was sure that should never happen. It also gave him time to think over his stress, whether it be about his mother? His deal with Kyuubi? Or his parting with Mei.

"Can you keep talking?" Naruto asked with pursed lips. It was frankly an odd request to the normal person, but he wasn't about to say he was in complete pain to a woman he had met through her chasing him.

Shizune appeared perplexed at the request, but perhaps if they talked, she could figure out what the problem was. "Well my name is Shizune. I don't know if you knew that." she said with a small laugh.

Naruto nodded his head in recognition toward the woman, but urged her to continue. He wanted something to focus on rather then his own thoughts. "I have been with Tsunade for quite awhile. It all started when..."

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"The invasion had ended Tsunade-hime." Jiraiya said as he poured himself some sake. "The Sand and Sound forces were retreating, and frankly people had already begun rejoicing. Yet, when I saw sensei... well he wasn't rejoicing, he wasn't actually acknowledging anyone. I thought that perhaps he was tired after his battle with Orochimaru? Or perhaps he was just worried of the safety of the village... yet when he ran." Jiraiya paused as if he was recollecting this directly from memory.

He ran a hand through his hair with a weak smile, "He had run straight back to his office. So naturally, I went to go see if everything was alright. Yet what I saw..." he scowled slightly. "He had stripped himself of his shirt, and was rummaging around all of the shelves in his office for sealing knowledge. He hadn't even noticed me walk in."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at that, but urged her teammate to continue.

"I will skip most of the details about what he was doing. However he eventually took notice to my presence after he scrawled something on a piece of paper several times. He was able to tell me, just barely, and while in significant pain... that he had received a binding seal. Do you know how those work?" Jiraiya asked his teammate with a raised eyebrow.

Tsunade nodded her head momentarily, but then appeared thoroughly confused by the implications. Yet before she was able to ask her question, Jiraiya answered it for her. "Binding seals are unique. When applied the get forged onto the nervous system. If they for example connected the seal to a person's heart... in theory you could still achieve the same end result. The person would die if the terms you chose were spoken of. The problem with tying a seal to a person's heart is the nature of the binding seal. The more the terms are thought about, and more importantly, thought of how to break them or circumvent them. The seal will cause pain to the body. If the seal is connected to a person's heart, sooner or later it is going to wear and tear, and eventually the person just may die."

Jiraiya took a sip of his drink before saying, "So they connect it to the nervous system. The seal is then wired to make the mind think it is experiencing pain the more the terms are thought about being broken. The key difference between tying a seal to a person's heart or a person's nervous system is the application time. A heart could take merely minutes, perhaps even a single minute. All it is... is an organ after all. Yet an entire system of the human body? I imagine you realize how complicated that could possibly be. So naturally before the seal goes into full affect, which usually takes a half hour or so, the person isn't going to instantly die when talking about the agreed upon terms."

Jiraiya took a deep pause at this moment, thoroughly annoying Tsunade whom was curious as to what happened to her sensei. She kicked him in the shin under the table, which in turn caused him to slam his knee into the table with a hiss of pain.

"Well lets just say his life got complicated..."

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"Ever since I met the woman whom would be my sensei during the month of the exams." Naruto said slowly with a frown on his face. The woman next to him apparently could just get him talking about things he wanted to get off of his chest. It was like a flood gate. The moment the woman was able to develop a crack? It wasn't going to take much for everything else to come spilling out.

"What was the woman like?" Shizune asked curiously. She had no idea if the boy beside her even got far. Since Tsunade avoided Konoha like the plague, they genuinely knew more information countries other than Konoha.

"The Mizukage..." Naruto said with a frown as he thought to himself 'A false lover...' He squeezed his eyes shut as memories of her came flooding back. Up until yesterday, the past month had been the best time of his life. Then all of the revelations ruined it.

Shizune raised an eyebrow at the boy's distressed form and rubbed his back gently with her hand, a gesture that apparently made him tense up before slowly relaxing. "Well you seem to have quite a deal more to say about her. If you want to... I'm all ears."

Naruto turned to the young woman at his side and took a breath before closing his eyes and relenting. "Is it pathetic if the most important person that has ever come into my life... was only in it to use me for her own needs?" Naruto asked slowly staring at his reflection in the water.

Shizune's gaze was filled with surprise for a few moments before she tried to search for what to say, "Well..." she began before taking a pause. "I don't know Naruto, did you care about this person? Did they make you happy?"

Naruto looked down not knowing how to answer that. He flicked a couple rocks into the stream as he thought of how to answer that. "I don't know, I was happy until I found out that she was just using me... now... now I'm just angry with her. Hell I'm angry with everyone..." he said as he clenched his fists almost enough to make them bleed.

Shizune brushed a few strands of hair as she sighed. "Well Naruto, I can tell you what Tsunade-sama told me. However I don't know if it will help you." she said slowly. Upon the boy not saying anything she chose to continue.

"She told me a former friend of hers told her this..." Shizune took a deep breath a frown gracing her features. Apparently she didn't completely agree with whatever Tsunade's former friend said. "The world is full of... Darkness... When everything that you know and love... Is taken from you so harshly... All you can think about... Is anger, hatred, and even revenge... And that no one can save you." Shizune pursed her lips as she got done with the rather negative quote that she had heard from her sensei. "However I believe... Sometimes in wars... In life... We fight to protect what's precious to us... Even... if we don't know the outcome. Even if we hurt others along the way..."

What Shizune was saying was clenching painfully at Naruto's heart. At this point in his life, ever since the other day... it described him perfectly. "But..." He began trying not to choke on his words. "Its so hard when you lose someone..." Naruto did his best to hold back his tears as he thought over the events over the past day, over his entire life up to this point. It was a pathetic existence. He was even toying with the thought of 'Would anyone give a damn if I was gone?'

Naruto sat down on the drier rocks near the stream, and pulled his legs close to his body and rested his head on his knees.

Despite Shizune putting a comforting hand on his back, the more he thought about it, the more he thought about the people back home in Konoha... he came to realize something. He wouldn't be missed. Everything in his "Friends" lives would just go on... business as usual. Who would really miss him?

"Shizune can you leave me alone?" He asked, not lifting his head from his legs. "I'll go back to the apartment..." He paused suddenly self conscious of the wording of his sentence ever since his conversation with Kyuubi. "Sooner or later." he said looking up to give a fake smile. It had worked on hundreds of people before, the look of false happiness.

Shizune smiled and rested a hand on the boy's shoulder, "Alright, be careful okay? I will go back and tell Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama you wanted some time to yourself."

Naruto resisted the urge to scowl at Jiraiya's name, but nodded none the less. "Thanks... I'll just be here training." He said as stood up and dusted himself off as Shizune nodded and jumped into the trees.

Yet as soon as three minutes later, when Naruto was sure Shizune had left. He began a walk across the stream, and continuing through the forest. There was truly no reason for him to stick around.

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"Alright so I get that sensei had barely enough time to deliver you a message and tell you about his circumstance. You have explained to me three times about how long it takes the seal to meld to a person's nervous system. So tell me, what is your problem with the boy?" Tsunade said in frustration.

Jiraiya laughed a bit, their second bottle of sake now gone. "Well I think it should be quite easy to realize that Naruto is Minato and Kushina's legacy." Jiraiya said slowly. However the slightly surprised look on Tsunade's face gave him pause. Did she really not know? All it would have taken was knowing the boy's last name. Hell the kid looked exactly like his father with his blonde hair and blue eyes.

Jiraiya decided to spare her the embarrassment and continued along anyways, "Well originally I was supposed to teach the boy for the exams. Some teacher was going to bring the boy around... the hot springs..." he finished slowly, moving his chair back just out of kicking distance.

Tsunade closed her eyes and fumed in annoyance at her teammate, but waved her hand for her teammate to carry on. "The thing is... the teacher that Kakashi had lined up never brought the boy around. I imagined that perhaps the jounin was a bit biased, or the boy had taken a liking to the person teaching the boy. So they were training a bit together before the teacher handed the boy over to me. So... a bit foolishly I didn't mind sitting around and... researching." He said as he crossed one leg over the other.

"Then half way through the second week I was getting suspicious and began to look around the town for the boy, but could never actually find him. It was by the middle of the third week that I decided to just stake out his house, because I felt the boy was just slipping by me every time I was looking for him. Almost as if someone was specifically having him avoid me. The boy was leaving his house almost as six am, and not even coming back till midnight at times. It was ridiculous frankly. I eventually followed him to a training ground, but by the time I got there the damage had already been done. Some women whom I didn't know, but was obviously quite powerful... and... beautiful." He got a perverted look on his face as he thought back to it, "To be honest Tsunade-hime, she reminded me of you." he giggled a bit at that until he realized what he said. He backed up suddenly expecting to be hit, but to his surprise the comment only served to sink a hook into Tsunade, and grab her attention even more.

'Is that jealousy?' Jiraiya thought to himself in amusement, but opted to save his genitals and not comment on it.

"I couldn't justly approach the boy and just snatch him up after he had been training with her for presumably three weeks. So I just dug around to try and find out just who she was. Yet any local information on her was slim to none. So I was forced to wait until the woman revealed herself as the Godaime Mizukage at the chunin exams." This statement made Tsunade go slightly wide eyed at that comment.

"So naturally when this was revealed, and then I had already told Sarutobi-sensei that I hadn't been training the boy... well he was needless to say furious with me. I thought he was actually going to kill me honestly. Anyways he told me that he would figure something out since the only possible reason she would be in Konoha would be to more likely than not steal something or poach the jinchuriki, Naruto. She was just blessed with coming at exactly the right time where Konoha couldn't really do much action against her. In my opinion she had quite a deal of luck on her side, but I am not going to be one to judge because I know miss lady luck has blessed me quite a bit as well," he said with a smile before adding, "Unlike some of us," with a snicker.

Tsunade scowled at Jiraiya making fun of her terrible luck with gambling. She would win a jack pot some day, and buy out his entire book series, and force them all to be burned. Then she would see who would be laughing then.

"Sarutobi-sensei gave Naruto a scroll when he came out on top with the exams. Standard procedure really. Yet inside that scroll he hid another scroll that consisted some information about Kushina, even some of her hand written things. I think the reason why the boy may hate me is... I'm his godfather." Jiraiya said slowly before sighing.

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It had since turned dark and Naruto had stopped walking around aimlessly and held up in a cave near by the stream. At first he thought he was going to have to wrestle a bear, but luckily, there was nothing living in the cave.

The cave was large and dark with a large aging pillar in the center of a large round dome of a room. He had since moved to the back of a cave and made a fire that had heated up the cave quite nicely. It took awhile to really get situated though, with his new attire, he wasn't all for sleeping with rocks digging into his skin. So he took the time to brush off the cave, and roll some hot rocks to surround where he would be sleeping.

Yet his problems began not when he fell asleep. But when he once again woke up to someone over him. The fire was completely put out as if someone stomped it out, or threw dirt over it. The only thing he could see and feel was simple.

The extremely hot heat of the body above him, and wispy golden mist flowing out of the person's eyes before it diffused into the air.

He knew exactly whom this was.

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A very short chapter by the standards of the last previous chapters. That being said I felt like cutting it here. I didn't want to fit Rin into this chapter, because I had a feeling it would bring it to being a bit longer than I desire.

Also have been rather busy, so sorry about the slower updates. They probably will be getting slower and slower as well. Just busy in RL as of late.

Also finally would like to say, I am really having trouble writing this arc, so you may expect shorter chapters from me(around this length I imagine). It is just I know what I want to have happen, but I don't want to smash it all together into one chapter and really give a lack of character development. For example, I could probably slide by in this arc by just showcasing a few interactions, and casting Tsunade/Shizune/Jiraiya off to the side.

So I am really looking forward going back to Konoha. Tsunade/Jiraiya are both a pain to write, particularly because I feel their characters are both rather pathetically low. Tsunade being related to Naruto, and Jiraiya being Naruto's god father. Yet not a damn birthday card? Or the fact that Jiraiya forces Naruto to walk around in his sexy no jutsu henge when they first meet? Like the man shouldn't already want to make up for lost time already?

Out of all characters in the series, these were formerly some of my favorites, and now I just can't help but getting a bad taste in my mouth when seeing them or writing them. So sorry if their dialog is clunky.