Weight of the World
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Chapter 9
The Medic and the Brats
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When I woke up, it was to an absolute vision of beauty. Not. Jiraiya's oddly serious mug was hovering above my own, grave black eyes hardly blinking.
"Guh?" I attempted to sit up, but Sasuke's arms wrapped tighter around me, a grunt leaving the sleeping boy's mouth when his broken arm protested at the motion.
"Naruto. Are you okay?"
Blinking, I shifted about in Sasuke's grip as best as I could, wincing at the crick in my neck, the stickiness around my lips from where I'd been drooling. Digging out a clump of sleep from the corner of my eye, I looked back up at the Sannin, absentmindedly pulling the hem of my shirt down from where it'd rode up.
"I'm- well not fine, but I will be given time. That's how it works, right?"
The man frowning, dragging one large hand down the side of his face but nevertheless took a step back.
"Just make sure you talk to someone if you need it kiddo." Then he turned and began packing up. That's how I knew he was worried.
During our month long training montage, Jiraiya hadn't hesitated on teasing me about anything, from my skinny frame, to my male friends. There had even been a crack about the fox, nothing had been off limits. I hadn't cared, knowing the man didn't mean anything he said. The fact he'd not joked around about how I'd managed to seduce a Uchiha into bed with me or something like that, just proved how worried he had to be.
Yawning, and then cringing at the scent of my morning breath, I wiggled about until I was no longer sat on Sasuke but just to the side of him, having successfully removed his bad arm from where it'd been wrapped around me.
"Sasuke, wake up." Gentle tapping his cheek with one hand in a familiar motion to what Shisui usually woke everyone up with, I watched him slowly rouse, fatigue in every move he made. The back of his hair, which usually stuck up slightly, had ended up exploding outwards like a starburst from where he'd been resting his head against the wall, and coupled with his sleepy expression, he looked nothing like the Sasuke most of Konoha knew.
Pushing down the urge to tease, because in all honesty, now was not the time for that, not after last night, I slowly removed Sasuke's good arm from around my back. Shuffling about until I was sat in front of the Uchiha, I swallowed around the lump in my throat, running a finer over my swollen lip. Kurama had done a good job of healing up the puncture I'd made of it with my teeth, but it was still a bit sore. I still had a headache too, but that was better than being in a coma.
"How're the ribs Sasuke?"
Dark eyes flickered up to look at me from under thick lashes, Sasuke never raising his head to look at me. To my surprise, a slow smirk began to lazily grow across his lips, eyes brightening.
"I landed a hit." He said it like it explained why everything was right in the world. It took me a moment before I could understand what he was talking about, but when I did, a small, almost bittersweet smile began to cross my face.
"You did. But next time, don't just go throwing yourself in there without a plan. If the shark dude had gotten involved instead of just toying with us, we'd both be bloody smears on the wall."
Sasuke snorted, straightening up and wincing as the movement pulled at his ribs. He sent both his torso and the broken arm a betrayed glare. A dry chuckle from behind me let me know Jiraiya had returned, one giant hand clamping down on my shoulder.
"You're lucky we're going to look for a medic, brat. Doesn't matter about your arm right now, I don't want you using any chakra once I've adjusted that seal. Not until I can get Tsunade to check over your system and make sure it doesn't have any negative effects."
"And once that's done?" Sasuke asked, tilting his head to a side and shifting about on his seat upon the mattress.
"Once that's done, then you can get back to snuggling with my half naked goddaughter. Or training. Whatever floats your boat."
Elbowing at the thigh behind me, I got to my feet, self-consciously pulling down the tee-shirt. It was common knowledge that at some point in your life, your entire team would probably end up seeing you naked. Either by accident, or on purpose, seeing as there were some wounds that needed another person to check over, and out in the field, you couldn't get picky. Still, my cheeks pinked slightly, Sasuke's ears burning bright red as his face swiftly turned away from me.
"I think Jiraiya-sensei's just jealous, seeing as Tsunade was the medic on his team, she'd have been the one to see him undressed and not the other way around."
"Damn right brat, you'll understand when you see her." At that Jiraiya let out a wistful sigh, looking up to the ceiling as if Tsunade was an angel about to fall from the sky at his feet.
Scrunching up my nose, I picked up my pack, rooting around for a clean set of my usual ninja gear. If Tsunade was an angel, she was most likely to be an angel of vengeance, certainly not the kind that Jiraiya was imagining. Retreating into the bathroom, I flicked the shower on. Might as well enjoy the hot water while I still could.
.
I left the bathroom in time to witness Jiraiya completing the first stage of his alteration to the curse seal. Sealing off Orochimaru's chakra and the twisted intent, along with suppressing the part of the seal that was drawing in natural energy. The white haired man had left his notebook on the side of the coffee table and I calmly flipped through it, scanning the rapid squiggles and ignoring the buxom women that decorated the pages in various poses.
It appeared that Jiraiya wanted all three Tiers sealed off until we'd gotten it checked out with Tsunade, though apparently he'd summoned up a frog while I'd been unconscious at they'd agreed the seal was pulling in natural energy.
Looking at this notes, I knew I still had a while to go before I was at Jiraiya's level, no wonder I hadn't been able to get the Flying Thunder God working yet. Tracing my fingers over the pencil marks and frowning guiltily when they smudged slightly, I continued reading.
Jiraiya didn't plan on unsealing the Tier with natural energy until Sasuke had successfully signed the snake contract, and even then he would be limiting the amount of natural energy it was pulling in at any one time. Understandable.
"Jiraiya-sensei, those two yesterday, they were in a uniform of sorts, weren't they?" Both males had changed into their day clothes while I'd been in the bathroom, Sasuke still scowling down at his arm.
"Your right Naruto. I don't have much information. They are part of a group that go by the name of Akatsuki, an organisation consisting of S-ranked missing nins."
I blanched. When reading the manga, that hadn't had much of an impact on me. But now, having lived this life, it had a weight dropping into my stomach that stayed there, heavy and solid as stone.
"Their objective, I'm pretty certain, is to collect all nine Bijū."
My jaw clenched.
"So they'll be after Gaara too. We'll have to warn him soon then."
Sasuke's scowl deepened, pocketing the scroll that he'd no doubt stored his pack in.
"That just means I'll have to get strong enough to protect myself then."
The girl really had no idea of the effect she had on people.
Walking behind the two Genin, Jiraiya of the Sannin let his gaze linger on his goddaughter, fighting down the smile that threatened to break out across his face. When Minato had asked him to be the godfather, he'd been understandably hesitant. His spy network would not allow him to spend too much time with the kid, but the both of them had accepted that. When Naruto had been born, when he'd raced back in the aftermath of the Kyūbi attack to find his favourite student dead, to find the hot blooded Uzumaki bombshell he'd married dead, their child an orphan, Jiraiya hadn't been able to hold himself together. Hadn't been able to look at Naruto without seeing Minato in every glance, Kushina in every action.
He'd left the baby with Sarutobi-sensei and hadn't been back since. He'd sent all his reports by toad, avoiding Konoha like the plague. It wasn't until near seven years had passed since that date that he'd gotten the first letter back on Naruto. She'd graduated early, had ended up apprenticed under Hatake Kakashi. Despite not having seen the girl, not since that last night that he'd cradled her infant body to his chest and cried for Minato and Kushina, pride had surged through him. He'd gotten a report every three months, each one detailing her progress. Sarutobi-sensei had even gone out of his way to send him a copy of her Fūinjutsu work.
Before he met her, he knew the girl had talent. She thought differently about seals, about the world around her, that much was clear.
That little titbit about natural energy with the seal, he'd never had thought of it, of dreamed of putting that kind of energy into a seal. But now he knew that it was possible, it gave him a whole new world of idea to explore, that much was obvious. All from a simple observation that girl had made.
Naruto was a cheeky brat sometimes, and sometimes her eyes would take on the sheen of a ninja who'd seen too much, done too much. He'd read about her little breakdown after the Iwa incident. Her mind was a bit more fragile than most ninja, but it seemed that she could at least bounce back quickly, that it didn't interfere with her work. That was good, as long as she didn't freeze up on the battle field, then she could take all the time she wanted to work it through on her days off.
In all honesty though, that wasn't what interested him the most.
Naruto didn't seem to see it, but she had Minato's charisma. If he were truthful, Jiraiya would admit he'd expected a little female clone of Minato, just with Kushina's personality. He'd been wrong, it seemed she was Minato's daughter in everything she did. She smiled the same way, hey eyes held the same startlingly sharp intelligence, the same gleam whenever she was thinking. She even cared the same way.
He saw her eyes continuously flicker over to the Uchiha, saw the way the skin around her eyes would pinch with worry, never mind that the tightness dissolved before the Uchiha could even begin to notice. She'd taken that genjutsu for the boy; he didn't need to know what she'd seen, only that it was rather horrific from the way she'd been screaming when he arrived. Naruto was really something else. She had no idea, the effect she had on people.
The Uchiha, for one, was quite attached, seemed to view her as an equal in places, a better in others. From what Jiraiya remembered, the boy had all the female chasing after him, so to get one that wasn't had to be a nice change of pace. Tch, some guys had all the luck.
He'd seen it in the Hyūga boy as well, when he'd approached her just before the Chũnin exams, with her teammates, Kakashi, hell even the kids from Sand and Mist that she'd ended up becoming friends with.
It wasn't so much that Naruto pushed her way into their affections, it was that she slid effortlessly into your heart. The easy going, completely acceptance she had for anyone that bothered to talk to her, that was the reason why anyone who spent more than an hour in her company ended up liking the girl. She didn't blather on like a kid trying to get attention, when she spoke it was concise and to the point. It didn't matter if she was teasing or explaining a jutsu. She was calm, but it was a warm kind of calm. A peace that you just wanted to remain nearby.
Which made it difficult to see the levels of stress that did battle beneath the surface of her skin. Naruto worried, worried for her teammates, for the future. She was pushing herself to learn as much as possible, to get stronger as quickly as she could.
The news of the Akatsuki seemed to have only strengthened her resolve, and he could see that it'd done the same for the Uchiha.
The kid, despite having a broken arm, had found a way to train on their journey anyway, either with how long he could keep his Sharingan active, how long he could use that fancy chakra glide Naruto and her Hyūga friend had made. Hell, both he and Naruto had been sparring with just their feet when Jiraiya had confirmed the boy's ribs were only bruised. He was back to fighting order a week into their journey, if you discounted the arm.
The three of them had been going over jutsu and chakra theory in the hotel rooms, the two kids scheming on how to improve their jutsus, how to tweak the chakra needed or how to create sub-jutsus from one's they already knew. Not quite a new jutsu, but an expansion on ones they'd already learnt.
They just didn't stop.
The only time Jiraiya had gotten them to relax was when they'd stopped by a mixed bathhouse, considering he dared not leave Naruto alone in a separate one, his brain throwing scenario after scenario at him that all ended with Naruto being spirited away.
The girl had shown she cared little for her modesty, striding out in a wrap towel, though she'd at least had the decency to not draw attention to herself once she'd taken the towel off, hidden in the steam.
The Uchiha had gone bright red, remained that way throughout the entire experience and Jiraiya had been forced to keep himself from cackling the entire time. The kid hadn't known where to put his eyes, not daring to look his teammate in the fact, but every time he looked away his eyes would end up landing on a female form that rested beside him one way or another.
Ah puberty. He was going to enjoy the awkwardness the Uchiha would stumble through, it was always funniest with the stoic ones. Kakashi had been the same. And he would get the pleasure of viewing it.
He'd been contemplating what to do with his spy network for a while. As much as he hated to admit it, he'd flown past the life expectancy of the average ninja. He wouldn't be around forever, but his work was paramount to the village. He'd considered handing it off to Naruto, but it'd only taken one meeting in person to know that wasn't going to work. Her own natural charisma would work against her, she shone as bright as the sun. And while that made her easy to talk to, easy to approach, it wasn't the kind of person that could run a spy network.
But the Uchiha on the other hand. He was shrewd, intelligent and sharp in ways that Naruto was not. Sure the girl was a bright kind of brilliant, but the Uchiha knew what to look for, he was paranoid. Given the fact his own brother had turned on him, the boy knew exactly what to watch out for now, because he'd spent all his time since the massacre looking for it in the people that approached him.
Naruto would be the one to inherit the toads and the Fūinjutsu from him, but it'd be the Uchiha his spy network went to. His fire techniques.
They made a good team, the play-by he'd gotten of their fight with the Akatsuki had started off well; the fact they had a running protocol when it came to facing those stronger than them was a very good thing indeed. They worked well as a team.
Jiraiya had been hesitant at first about bringing the kid, knowing full well that with him hell bent of revenge he was a flight risk. But after that first day, he'd forgotten all his worries.
The kid was attached, whether he liked it or not. To Naruto, to the other Uchiha, to the rest of his team. It was obvious, even if he tried to deny it. He'd seen the boy orbiting the lot of them while they were staying in Naruto's house, saw it in the way the kid had held tight to her in his sleep.
There was very little chance of him going to Orochimaru now, not when the influence of the seal was gone, along with the promise learning to use natural energy.
He'd been considering taking Naruto out of the village for a while on a training trip, once he'd okayed it with the new Hokage that was. It looked like he'd be taking the Uchiha with him as well. No big deal. It brought back memories, painful ones, but happy at the same time. Speaking of the Hokage though...
Jiraiya's eyes glided over to look at Naruto's back, watching her say something to the Uchiha that had the boy slugging her in the arm with his good fist, the skin still a bit pink from the burns but otherwise fine.
Yeah, Naruto was his best bet at convincing Tsunade to come home. He could feel it in his bones. She'd only need a few hours, a day at most, before all that sunshine rubbed off on Tsunade and persuaded her to return home and take up the hat. Because there was no way in hell Jiraiya could run the village and his spy network, and while Tsunade could pick up the first job, there was no one for the second one. Not yet anyway.
He needed Tsunade to take up the hat, because chances were if she didn't, then Danzō would make his play for it.
And that wouldn't end well for anybody.
Stood on the outskirts of Tanzaku Town, I planted both hands on my hips, leaning backwards until my spine gave a satisfying crack.
Next to me, Sasuke cringed at the motion, striding forwards after Jiraiya with a determined tenseness to his shoulders. The Sannin had of course told Sasuke that we were looking for a medic nin, so he was very eager to go and get his arm sorted out in order to get back to training. I could sort of understand, while I'd never had to wait so long for an injury to heal, there had been the few times the medics had insisted I not stress my body too much after a great amount of Kyūbi healing or chakra influx. Being forced to wait around while you'd rather be training was awful.
"Wait, wasn't Tanzaku suppose to be famous for a castle of some kind?"
"Yeah, what about it kid?"
"Well, where is it?"
The Sannin blinked, eyes scanning the town that was stretched out before us. But there was no castle in sight, none at all.
Sasuke's grimaced matched my own, and I didn't need to look at Jiraiya to know he was wearing a similar expression. A villager went racing past in the opposite direction to where the castle should have been, and Jiraiya was quick to flag him down, manipulating the man until he had his explanation. A demon snake. One guess who that was.
Looking over at Sasuke, I froze.
Sasuke. The Uchiha that Orochimaru wanted. Orochimaru was right here, he could steal Sasuke away at any moment if he knew how close he was. Stepping closer to the boy and trying to not show the panic that was determined to make my limbs shake, I balled my hands into fists.
"Tch, he can't undone the work on the seal, can he?" Sasuke asked, tilting his head in my direction, eyes dark as we followed after Jiraiya's giant form.
"Not right away, he'd need to study it to find out what we'd changed. And I don't think Jiraiya-sensei would give him even a second to do that."
Nodding, we took off in a sprint, following Jiraiya as he flipped effortlessly over the high walls that surrounded the now ruined castle walls. Just beyond that, there was another wall that'd been impacted inwards, a few dots of blood speckling the floor.
Slowly kneeling down beside the blood drops, I looked pressed one finger into the liquid, rolling it between forefinger and thumb.
"It's still warm, not enough for a big wound, perhaps a small cut."
"Just a bit too late," Jiraiya grumbled, crouched down and inspecting the rubble that remained of what had surely been a once impressive wall.
"Let's go get some food," Jiraiya straightened, adjusted the giant scroll on his back and taking a sharp look at our surroundings.
Cleaning the blood from my hand with a burst of chakra, I shared a concerned look with Sasuke as we followed after him.
.
"Isn't this place a pub?" Sasuke grunted under his breath, nose scrunched up in disgust. I could understand why. It wasn't the most beautiful of places, hastily made repair jobs leaving the room look like a twelve year old civilian had been the one to put it together, and then have their younger sibling complete the repairs. The scent of food that was wafting through the air wasn't too bad, it didn't smell particularly healthy, but sometimes it was nice to have a good greasy bar meal. Though I doubted Sasuke would understand that.
"Information is always found at places like this," Jiraiya mused, pushing against the leathery flap covering the top half of the entrance so it would end up smacking him in the face. Then he stopped, eyes popping open and we automatically followed his gaze.
Two young women stared back at him, eyes round. The honey blonde hair and purple diamond made it hard to not guess who it was and I let a relieved sigh escape my lips. It was pure luck, but we'd managed to find her in the end.
"Tsunade!" Jiraiya strode forwards, Sasuke and I scampering after him as those long adult legs covered far more ground than we'd be able to manage with just three steps.
"Jiraiya, why are you at a place like this?"
The white haired Sannin ignored her, seating himself at the table and then shuffling up for the two of us to slide in. The dark haired woman that had to be Shizune took one look at Sasuke and gave Jiraiya a glare, but nevertheless went about healing my teammates arm.
"What happened to you?" Tsunade snapped, sharp hazel eyes focused on Sasuke. The skin of her cheeks was flushed her shirt exposing far more than I'd have personally dared to wear myself even when I was in an adult body.
"We got in a little scrap on the way here," I answered for Sasuke, who was carefully removing his tender arm from the sling so that Shizune could have a look at it. My fellow blonde's gaze cut over to look at me, eyes narrowing as she took in my features, face scrunching up at the orange jacket covering my torso. Then, she looked away, focusing on Jiraiya.
"You too, why'd you come to see me?"
"To tell you the truth, Konoha has issued a request for you to be the fifth Hokage." Both women's eyes popped open, Shizune's healing chakra stuttering to a stop in her surprise, much to Sasuke's irritation. Thankfully, the woman picked up the pace again when Sasuke scowled, an amused tilt to her lips letting me know she found Sasuke's behaviour to be quite cute. Shizune seemed pretty mature, having to chase after Tsunade as she had been doing I figured she'd be a little more short tempered than what was displayed in the manga, but true to form she was a well of patience.
"Jiraiya, who are these brats?"
Leaning back, I folded my arms across my chest, frowning as I did so. Tsunade was not what I was expecting. Not really. I'd been so used to her being this big character in the manga, and the with Tenten singing her praises all throughout the time I'd known my fellow Genin...
Well, she'd fallen short of all the expectations I'd had.
"This is Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto."
"More apprentices?" Her voice was dry, eyes lazily sliding over us again as she took another sip from the seemingly never ending supply of alcohol.
"Forget it Tsunade, I need your answer. Are you willing to accept?"
"I decline."
"Well we're done here." Standing up, I brushed the crumbs from the seat of my pants, ignoring the way everyone's attention snapped to me.
"Brat, what are you doing?"
Looking over at my newest sensei, I gave a careless shrug of my shoulders.
"It's obvious isn't it? She barely needed a second to think it over, she's got no conviction at all, that's not the kind of person we want in charge of the Leaf. Ask Kakashi-sensei instead, you'll have more luck."
"She's right," Sasuke joined me in standing, offering Shizune a grateful nod as he twisted his newly healed arm back and forth, flexing the fingers to make sure he had full movement, "we don't need a Hokage who won't give it their all."
"Tch, they all die. Life if different from money, it can't be gambled that easily, whoever puts it at risk so easily, is a fool. My grandfather and the second both focused too much on bringing peace to our home, more than anything else. But as a result, they died in the middle of their dreams, like losers. It's the same with Sarutobi-sensei and the Fourth, they died because of that position."
Snarling, I twisted on heel, grabbing at Tsunade's shirt and pulling her up until my forehead was all but pressed against hers. I could feel Kurama's chakra erupting into action under my skin, my sharpened fingernails digging in and through the thick material of Tsunade's shirt. Wide eyes stared back at me, the skin around them still flushed and pupils blown full. Still drunk.
"If you don't want the Hokage hat, then say it. But don't dare disregard all the sacrifices that've been made. The First and Second made the village so children could be protected from the bloodied clan wars they lived through, and they died making sure they could live. Just like the man who treated me like a granddaughter. Even Tou-san died so that the village would remain a safe place for children to live a peaceful life. You know, my friend looks up to you, you were her inspiration in the academy," snorting, I let go of Tsunade's shirt, sending a mental request for Kurama to cut the chakra off, no matter how angry I was.
Stepping down from the table I'd stood up on, I rolled my shoulders, noting Sasuke was flanking my side and looking about as impressed with Tsunade as I was.
"She looked up to you, and I was kinda looking forwards to meeting you. You were the woman that pushed for a medic on every team, the one that improved the hospital program so that it ended up saving hundreds of lives with new medical jutsu. That's the woman we wanted as Hokage. But it'd clear she's dead."
Turning back to Jiraiya, I tried to force the snarl from my face. I was not successful.
"I guess this is what the bottom of the barrel looks like then. If she's too scared to put her life on the line for others, I don't want to be working under her and putting my own at risk. Not for someone like her. Konohamaru would be a better option for Hokage. At least he'd care about the village, he'd risk his life without a second thought."
"You brat, you don't know anything."
Spinning back around to look at Tsunade, I squeezed Sasuke's fingers when he threaded his them through mine.
"So you lost some people, boohoo. Sasuke's lost all his family, I never got to meet my parents and the man that treated me like granddaughter is dead. I almost lost Sasuke and Kiba to Orochimaru. If he wanted to kill them, he would have and I could have done nothing to stop it. But I'm not going to roll over and crawl into the bottle. Because if I do, other people will die that I could have saved. The Third cared about the village, and because he fought for it, so will I."
Calling to Jiraiya that I was going to book a hotel room for the three of us, I walked out the establishment with a silent Sasuke at my side. I'd just been expecting so much more. Ninja lost people all the time, but I couldn't understand how she'd just roll over and let their sacrifice go to waste. It was part of the lifestyle, hell, it was part of life. People were going to die. Maybe it was because I'd already died once, but when it came down to it, I'd rather appreciate the time I'd gotten with my precious people than to mope around after their death.
.
"Wait up brats!"
Turning to get a look at Jiraiya, I stopped, ignoring the two women and the pig following after him.
"You know that the Uchiha hit Kakashi with the same genjutsu he put you under?"
Damn it, I'd forgotten about that. Sasuke had suffered under it as a child, and he'd managed to wake up, but who knew how long that'd been, I'd never thought to find out this information. And I didn't know if the effects differed from person to person, if Itachi had used a stronger version against Kakashi. I didn't know.
"I'll consider going to heal Hatake," Tsunade began, stepping forwards with one hand resting upon her hip, "but I want to put the kid in her place first."
"Done." I knew I had no chance against the woman, but if she'd consider going to heal Kakashi-sensei, I'd take every single punch she could throw until my brain bled from my ears.
"Naruto-"
"No. If it means Kakashi-sensei get's healed, then I'll do anything." Rolling my shoulders, I pulled the storage scroll I'd been keeping all of my stuff in and threw it over to Sasuke, who caught it with his now healed arm, a frown on his face. But he didn't say anything. Just like I'd not mentioned anything about how blindingly stupid it'd been for him to run at Itachi without backup, past my little comment about us ending up bloodied smears, that was all Sasuke would offer me was a disapproving frown.
"I'll only need one finger for this," Tsunade mused, pointing the digit in question at me. I said nothing. Let her underestimate me, it'd only play to my advantage.
Squaring my stance, I pulled out a handful of shuriken, fixing them in my grip before calculating my next move. Tsunade was clearly waiting for me to make the first move, still stood in her perfectly relaxed position. At Jiraiya's sigh, I leapt into the air with a chakra powered jump, twisting around and firing the collection of shuriken towards Tsunade, body still spinning so that with my back to her, I could perform the handseals. Tsunade, as expected, expertly caught the shuriken that'd have hit her, but had otherwise not moved.
She was unprepared for when I switched places with the metal in her hands in a chakra heavy replacement technique. Normally, the replacement jutsu could only be used with an item that was of a similar mass to the user. But flooding it with enough chakra allowed you to switch with smaller objects, something I'd practiced until my fingers wouldn't stop shaking. So now instead, of gripping a shuriken, Tsunade had a hold of my jacket, giving me the opportunity to swing my fist at her.
On instinct she caught it with her other hand, and that was her mistake. Not dodging. She wasn't the only one that could hit hard now.
The older blonde was blown back by the impact, the bones in her hand shattered. She'd made the same mistake Itachi had with Sasuke. Just because she couldn't sense the chakra build up, she hadn't been prepared in the split second it'd taken for me to activate the seal and for all that chakra to pour out at once.
Stood to a side, I heard Shizune's sharp intake of breath as her mentor was thrown back, even if all it took was a quick flip and then Tsunade recovered. The drunken flush was gone, instead sharp eyes stared back at me, assessing as her good hand began healing up the bad one.
"So you're not a complete incompetent." And then she shot forwards.
I'm not proud of what I did next. Not at all. But Kakashi's health was on the line.
My blood sprayed the ground as I drew the kunai across my wrist, leaving a scarlet trail across my clothes even as the wound instantly sizzled shut. I was a low blow, probably the lowest I could have dealt in all honesty. It made me sick, using Tsunade's haemophobia against her.
Yet, to make Kakashi-sensei's suffering as short as possible, I'd use every dirty trick in the book.
Sheathing the bloodied kunai, I turned away from the trembling Sannin, walking back over to Jiraiya and Sasuke.
"I'm done here."
The older male was frowning, clearly as impressed with my own tactics as I was. Sasuke... Well, Sasuke understood the idea of using any means necessary far better than Jiraiya did. He knew that when it came down to it, ruthlessness was necessary. So did Jiraiya, but the man was probably not expecting me to use such a method against Tsunade.
"Let me know if she's going to come help Kakashi-sensei or not, because I'll have to start looking for another medic if not."
.
Sat in our rented hotel room, I stared at my toes, wiggling them about every few seconds of so, my arms wrapped around my shins with my legs pulled flushed against my torso. Sasuke, following Jiraiya's orders for us to never leave one another's side, was scribbling away at one of the notebooks Jiraiya had given us to keep all out jutsu notes in. What idea had suddenly hit him, I didn't know. He'd eventually share it, so I wouldn't badger. I didn't much feel like talking anyway.
Shizune, Tsunade's assistant, had followed us on Jiraiya's orders too, and she kept sending me furious looks every half a minute. Half an hour in, and I could no longer sit and accept the looks.
"If you've got something to say to me, then just say it."
Two dark heads of hair snapped around to look at me, Sasuke slowly setting the pencil he'd been scribbling with down, while Shizune grimaced but nevertheless got to her feet and folded her arms in an attempt to look stern. It was working remarkably well.
"You should not have done that to Tsunade-sama. It's not honourable."
"Just like it's not honourable to disgrace an orphan's father before her face, right?"
Shizune cringed at the same time the tension left my shoulders.
"You're right though. I shouldn't have fallen to her level, I know what traumas like. I just had someone with me at the time who was willing to put in the effort to really help me through it. I'd be dead without Kakashi-sensei, he was the only one who reached out to me when no one else would. That's why I'll do whatever it takes, use every dirty trick in the book if I have to, to make sure he's okay. Because like Sasuke and Jiraiya-sensei, Kakashi-nii is also one of my most precious people."
Shizune's face softened above me, her coal eyes looking away and over at Sasuke, who'd gone back to writing but really, his pencil hadn't moved across the page since I'd started talking.
"Naruto-chan, do you want to be Hokage?"
"Huh?" Looking up at Shizune, I blinked slowly, trying to absorb the words that she'd just said. They scrambled about in my brain before finally settling.
"Hokage?" Did I want to be Hokage? No, that was Naruto's dream. I wasn't like him, I wasn't out looking for the entire village to acknowledge me. I had that already from my most precious people, from the people I considered family. I might have been an orphan at the start of this life, but I had made my own family, forged my own bonds. I didn't need an entire village to look at me nicely, I just needed the family I'd made to love me. To love me like I loved them.
"No, it's never been my goal. What I want is to be strong enough to protect all my precious people. And they love that village, so I love it too, even if the people there can be mean to me. Konoha stands for an ideal, to look after everyone you care about and to do what is right. Even if Kakashi-sensei had died..." I trailed off, tears springing to my eyes at the very thought, "if Kakashi-niisan died I would mourn, I'd be very lost. But I wouldn't give up. Because Nii-san lives to protect that village and I wouldn't disgrace him by abandoning it. That's why I don't understand Tsunade. Her loved one's died protecting the village, and she's pretty much spitting on their memory by abandoning Konoha when it needs her."
Dragging one palm down the side of my face, I took to once again chewing on my lip, looking up at Shizune and wondering if my words had made any sense at all.
"I think I'm going to go to sleep now. Sasuke and I are training in morning."
.
A week passed, a week that I didn't see Tsunade in at all. Sasuke and I trained, we bettered our combination jutsu under Jiraiya or Shizune's watchful eye, we worked on our taijutsu together.
At some point while I was out and about with just Shizune, Tsunade stopped by to check on the curse seal. She okayed the changes, apparently they'd done no damage at all to the pathways, and with that, Jiraiya went on ahead with his second adjustment, twisting the Second Tier around until it was drawing in natural energy and then expelling it, kind of like a loop. It'd remain that way until Sasuke began his Sage training, which would be when Jiraiya would undo the loop and link the seal up to Sasuke's chakra network, allowing him an easier time at absorbing natural energy and, theoretically, even taking in small quantities while not remaining absolutely still.
Jiraiya was already working on a seal of his own to ease his Sage Mode for himself.
Last night, Tsunade and Jiraiya had gone out for another drink, leaving myself and Sasuke to Shizune's tender care.
Pulling on my cropped shirt, I threw my arms through the required holes of my jacket right after, stepping outside of the bathroom to see Shizune was finally awake. Her bright dark eyes shot from both Sasuke to myself before she hastily made her way to the window.
"Stay in the hotel," she snapped, flicking the window open and sticking her head out, retreating not a second later as the sound of kunai driving into wood resounded through our ears.
I was on my feet instantly, clutching at a set of kunai while Sasuke had a kunai in his right, left ready to begin sparking up a Chidori. It was only at Jiraiya's voice that I relaxed slightly. And only slightly because it didn't sound right. It sounded almost slurred. Sasuke was already climbing out of the window and I followed without hesitation.
Looks like things were coming to head now.
.
Racing alongside Sasuke, Shizune at the front and Jiraiya trailing behind us in his sluggish state, I ran mentally through all the gear I had on us.
"No light seal for a first move," Sasuke began next to me, eyes spinning Sharingan red, face perhaps as determined as my own. Leaping from tree to tree, we bounced off of the trunks with a practiced ease, though at the speed the two Jonin were pushing us, neither Sasuke or I had much breath to talk. But we still had to plan.
"Combo two and three then?"
"What about six?"
"Only if our allies are prepared to dodge it all." Six was a bit destructive after all.
Sasuke snorted, skidding a stop as Shizune and Jiraiya did.
The castle had changed since we'd last saw it, and certainly not for the best. It was pretty damn clear that Tsunade had declined the deal, judging by the heel indent that was the epicentre for the biggest crater present.
We shot off again, following the trail of destruction that led from the castle out into the open ground around Tanzaku town. I was well trained in body language, every ninja was. So while Sasuke may be look to be ready for this fight, I could still see the tension his shoulders, no doubt the same stress was evident on my face. But we had to aid Tsunade, that's all there was to it.
"Body flicker time!" Jiraiya announced, snatching up Sasuke's arm at the same time that Shizune caught mine.
And with that, we arrived at the battlefield in a puff of smoke, landing perfectly between Kabuto and Tsunade. Sasuke to my left, Shizune to my right and Jiraiya to my far left. Kabuto had flinched back at our abrupt arrival, but didn't appear shocked by who'd shown up. Evidentially he'd witnessed us making our way around town before we'd arrived here.
As the Sannin had their own greetings, my eyes flashed to look at Kabuto, my lips pulling back in a snarl. I'd known already, but he really was a filthy traitor.
"Sasuke-kun, Naruto-chan."
"So, you're a traitor too." Sasuke crouched low defensively. Oh yeah, after Itachi, my teammate would have little tolerance for traitors and spies. Good.
"Move!" Tsunade shoved passed Jiraiya, throwing the unbalanced man to the floor and dashing forwards to Kabuto. Only for the boy to use the same trick that I had a week ago, slashing at his own wrist in order to spray Tsunade with blood. By this point, I'd summoned my own shadow clone, it instantly replacing itself with Tsunade.
"Now Sasuke!"
"Fire Style; Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"
"Wind Style; Great Breakthrough!"
The fire blazing towards Kabuto flared twice as strong when my wind jutsu amplified it, Sasuke and I leaping back towards Tsunade and Shizune, the latter of who had thrown the woman's jacket over her shoulders and was now carefully wiping away Kabuto's blood. My clone had tried valiantly to hold Kabuto in place, but he still managed to dispel it, dodging the vast majority of the flames, but one caught his leg, the fire eating through as much skin as possible as he retreated back to Orochimaru's side. Orochimaru, who was looking at my teammate with obvious interest.
"Naruto, Sasuke, Shizune. You're in charge of the guy with glasses. I'll take care of Orochimaru."
Nodding both Sasuke and I closed ranks closer to Tsunade and Shizune, each of us with a kunai in hand.
"Take you back to Wave yet?"
The Uchiha snorted, rolling his crimson eyes.
"No chance. I've gotten stronger since then. This time, I won't be going down so easily."
I snorted, snatching up Tsunade's arm with Shizune and pulling her out of the way of the giant snake that made an attempt on our lives, Sasuke leaping to safety beside us.
Shizune left Tsunade with us, going to meet Kabuto in battle, but she was taken down when Kabuto preformed some sort of medical ninjutsu on her legs.
Summoning up two clones to stand guard over Tsunade, I glanced at Sasuke's back, enough time to notice the four fingers he was holding there, pointing downwards. I raced forwards, meeting Kabuto in Taijutsu, ducking the first glowing hand and catching the wrist of the second. With my limb too close, he was able to cut through the muscles on my left forearm, but it also gave me a chance to attached my hand to him with chakra, much like how tree-climbing had worked.
This was the taijutsu Sasuke and I had been attempting this past week, incorporating a different type of chakra into our blows. Instead of pushing it outwards or building it up to create more damage, we'd used it to stick to each other's limbs, pulling one another off balance. I wouldn't have been able to keep hold of Kabuto's limb were it not for the week of practicing a chakra hold.
So when I jerked his arm towards me, he had no choice but to follow.
Just in time to be granted Sasuke's fist landing smack into his stomach and sending the white haired ninja rocketing backwards.
I'd only just managed to release my hold, shaking my arm back and forth and hissing in pain, even if I knew the injury would be healed in a minute, what with Kyūbi's chakra protectively coursing through my network. Not enough to show on my features, but enough to kick start the healing.
"Good plan."
Sasuke nodded his head, the both of us retreating to Tsunade's side, as Kabuto slowly stumbled to his feet again, one hand clutching at his ribs and looking pretty damn upset.
That punching seal was pure genius, that much was obvious. Of course, it wouldn't remain a surprise for long, given the fact we were using it so often. As time goes on, we'd have to start making those blows count. But for now, that was the third time it'd worked like a charm.
Kabuto was approaching us now and I flicked three fingers at Sasuke, the Uchiha grappling with Kabuto the second he got close enough. The Uchiha's signature taijutsu was fluid motions, and now with the sticky chakra technique, it was impossible to tell when Sasuke would be pushing and when he'd be pulling.
Meanwhile, the familiar whirl of chakra was forming in my cupped right hand and I shot forwards, sliding into the opening that Sasuke had created with his taijutsu, slamming the Rasengan into the older ninja's stomach. He went rocketing back, further than what Sasuke's punch had sent him.
"Tch, the left arm again?" For the second time in a month, Sasuke was protectively curling his torso around his left arm, which was rapidly purpling. Broken.
But we'd still gotten the hit in, even if I'd had to undo Kurama's patch job on my arm to effectively use the Rasengan.
Coughing, I startled upon noticing that blood was leaking from between my lips. Kabuto had managed to get a sneak attack in. I spluttered when a bubble of red exploded from between my teeth, staining the grass beneath our feet as I dropped to my knees.
"Naruto?!"
.
"Naruto!"
Startling at the far too loud voice, I blinked, finding myself face to face with a huge red eye sat between golden bars.
"Stupid brat, taking so much damage! All the effort I have to put in to keep fixing you up!"
"You said my name."
"You won't have a body to be addressed by if it were not for me! Do not forget that!"
Staring up at the fox, a smile broke out across my face, I could already feel my consciousness fighting to wake back up.
"Thanks Kurama."
Sasuke could only stare as the woman that he'd had so little respect for shielded both Naruto and himself from deadly blow after blow, again and again. Orochimaru, the snake Sannin, was determined to kill Naruto for her potential as a troublemaker to his future plans.
He wouldn't let that happen. Together, he and Naruto had taken down Kabuto, even if they'd both suffered injuries doing so. He'd improved greatly during this past month, travelling with both his teammate and her godfather. Constantly training, constantly thinking of new ways to better themselves. Orochimaru was strong. Itachi was strong.
But they'd grown strong before they left the Leaf. So Sasuke would grow strong there too.
"Because now, I am the Fifth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf!"
"-suke?" Naruto's quiet whisper pulled all his attention back to her, and Sasuke quickly pulled her up into a somewhat steady position, one of her thin, lithe arms thrown over his shoulder in case they needed to abandon their current position.
The two of them looked up in time to witness three explosions of white smoke around them, giving way to three of the biggest summonings he'd ever seen.
Looking down at the body of the giant slug that they were sat on, Sasuke's eyes flickered back over to the female member of the Sanin, even as another slug formed from the large one, carrying both himself and a half conscious Naruto away from the battlefield. They landed next to the Sannin's assistant, who was quick to address the smaller slug.
"Shizune-sama, please take care of the kids. This will be a gruesome battle, it is Tsunade-sama's wish for you to hide somewhere safe."
Tch, hiding again.
Snatching a glance over his shoulder at the battle that was about to take place, Sasuke grimaced. He'd retreat for now, because these guys were so very much out of his league. That much was obvious. But some day, he'd be able to fight on that kind of level, someday in the not too distant future.
The ground shook as the three giants did battle, the Toad Sannin throwing out a massive flame attack with his toad. The heat was scorching hot even from their position and Sasuke had to throw his arms up in an attempt to defend his face from the heat, Sharingan eyes still tracking every motion. He could barely believe it when the busty woman of such petite stature hefted the giant sword like it was nothing, slamming it down into the snake summons mouth.
He was treated to the sight of the woman that would become Hokage socking Orochimaru in the jaw, easily breaking it. Sasuke made a mental note to never upset the woman he was going to be reporting to from now on. Naruto's punching seal might be good, but it clearly wasn't up to the this woman's level of strength.
"Who's winning?" Naruto's croak drew his attention back to her, the blonde alternating between squinting her eyes and staring wide eyed at the landscape.
"There's black spots in my vision."
The assistant of Tsunade made a harassed noise in the back of her throat, reaching out to take a delicate hold of Naruto's head to assess the damage as the battle going on before them came to a halt, Orochimaru fleeing, the remaining two Sannin slowly making their way over.
"Orochimaru's gone, they drove him off," Sasuke replied bluntly, watching as Naruto's lips twitched upwards.
"Good, he's not allowed you. You're my teammate."
A smile tugged at his lips without his permission before his eyes darted over to look at the two Sannin. They'd gotten strong as a team, they'd been the Sannin before they'd become known as individuals. Itachi had told him to cling to his hatred, and he would. He would let that power him towards his vengeance.
But he didn't need to hate everything.
"Yeah, your teammate." Shoving Naruto to a side before she could really process what he'd said, Sasuke held out his broken arm for the medic to patch up for the second time this week.
"Here brat."
"Huh?"
At Naruto's grunt of surprise, Sasuke twisted to get a better look at his teammate, noting the necklace she was now clasping delicately in one hand. It was the same one that Tsunade had been wearing to draw attention to her oversized bust.
"For winning that little spar earlier."
"But I didn't win, I cheated." Naruto looked up with guarded blue eyes, holding the dark cord of the necklace carefully between her fingers. Sasuke could understand why. From what Jiraiya had told him, that necklace had belonged to the First Hokage and was worth a ridiculous amount of money. But he already knew Naruto wouldn't sell it. It wasn't in her nature to do such a thing, she didn't really have much of a need for money in all honesty.
"It was a ninja win. Don't be ungrateful."
Naruto gave a sheepish smile, fastening the necklace around her own neck, the little gem coming to rest just below her collar bones.
Tsunade paused, turning to look at him and grimacing slightly.
"I don't have anything to give you right now-"
"Just teach me to heal my arm the next time I break it." He had no intention of becoming a medic nin, but he'd be damned if he had to go through another week with a broken arm ever again.
The new Hokage gave him a wry smile but conceded with a nod of her head, paying no attention as Naruto was scooped up by her godfather as if she weighed nothing more than the scroll on his back. Which taking into account the size of the scroll, was a very real possibility.
"We'll rest in the village for the night, but after that, we head home."
Sasuke didn't get a chance to say anything, because the Toad Sannin had snatched him up too, throwing him over the shoulder not currently occupied by Naruto.
"Rest up brats, you did good."
I was only half aware of what was going on after I woke up from my short chat with Kurama. I understood enough to know Jiraiya had carried both myself and a protesting Sasuke back to the hotel, where I'd proceeded to get a goodnight sleep.
Now, morning had broken across the sky, the six of us waking up and trudging downstairs for breakfast. Pushing the white of the egg around on my plate, I glance up to meet Sasuke's eyes, rolling my own at the look he gave me. Nevertheless, I gave in and shuffled the white of my egg over onto his plate along with the tomato.
It was the rules whenever we out for breakfast as team that we almost always ate at my restaurant in Konoha, that the three of us would always get a full breakfast; Sasuke would get the tomatoes off both mine and Kiba, and then Kiba would usually get the white of my egg. But without him here, off training with his mother on some clan technique or another, Sasuke was more than happy to take advantage of his absence.
It was only once we'd finished out meal, stood around while Jiraiya grumblingly went off to pay the bill, that we started talking.
"So brat," Tsunade began, looking over at me and my hand not holding the chopsticks slowly rose to curl around the necklaces resting just below my collarbones. I'd woken up with it on, though I had no idea why Tsunade had actually given me it.
"Still don't think you can work under my rule?"
Blushing slightly, I looked away from the new Hokage, puffing up my cheeks and then slowly exhaling all the air that was stored there.
"I can't work under a drunk washout. But Tsunade of the Sannin? I think I can work under her."
The blonde's lips twisted up at the corners, before suddenly they were pressed against my forehead, the Konoha headband having been pulled down over my eyes so she could do so.
"Tsunade-sama, why did you gift me your necklace? The real reason?"
Looking up at the busty woman once I'd readjusted my headband, I watched as her smile softened slightly, one arm coming to rest on her hip.
"Because you inherited their will to protect."
Cheeks pink, I looked away, instead trying to turn my mind onto something else.
Thankfully, Sasuke was more than happy to provide.
"Naruto. Are you well enough to train on the way back?"
"Ha! That should be my question to you!"
Scraped Writting; Chaste
"If you want to leave I'm not going to stop you." Naruto's words barely carried in the wind, but despite all of that, Sasuke could still hear them. Could still see the sad determination that sat in those blue eyes. Behind him, Kabuto let out an impatient sigh, which Sasuke promptly ignored. He would not be rushed.
"Just remember that Orochimaru, Itachi, they both got strong in the Leaf before they left." She was right, but he pushed it away.
He wasn't progressing fast enough, he couldn't stay. But-
Darting forwards, Sasuke caught Naruto's chin in a gentle grip, staring down into her face. Perhaps it was just a passing interest, but best not leave thoughts to fester. Lips clashed for but a second, nothing like the stupid girls squealed about as they chased after him. Both their lips were dry, chapped and Naruto's lower edge still healing over from a cut. But it was nice enough.
"Goodbye Naruto."
As you can probably guess, the above isn't going to happen now. It was suppose to, then this story took off with a mind of it's own and Sasuke decided he wanted to stay in the village, regardless of my original intentions. But I figured I put up here what would have happened.
I don't know how anyone else feels about it, but I always thought if Sasuke ever saw Orochimaru so heavily reliant on Kabuto as he was in this battle, how he got beat he would probably have never left. Just my thoughts. And no, he's not going to become a medic.
For anyone that noticed, I changed to cover to how Naruto will look in Shippuden, seeing as we're closing in on that time. Someday I might post up the designs I have for her look on my profile, but today is sadly not that day.
I highlight doubt I'll have the next chapter done before I have to go back to Uni, but my next deadline is on 5th of May, so after that I should be able to pick up where I left off.
Question; Should Sasuke also become a Chunin? And Sakura? Sasuke got to show a level head and plan in his fight with Lee and then Iruka and Kakashi would have handed in their reports on how he preformed in the invasion (I like to think that they could have been assessed under real life situations like that) and Sakura tried her best via genjutsu, but was smart enough to retreat when she realized she couldn't win. So, thoughts?
Poll; there's also another poll up on pairings now that every potential one has had some screen time.
Tsume
xxx