10/30/2007

Hey, hope people are still reading. Sorry for the long update. I was looking for work (still am) and didn't have much time. Anyways, thanks for all the review. Hope you like this chapter and Happy Halloween.

Chapter 10:Information

For a week Naruto and his team didn't do much except for border control.

Naruto was at home thinking about what kind of training to do next with his team when he heard a knock on his door, "Oh hey Sakumo, what's up?"

"Nothing much. I was just wondering if you wanted to join us tonight at the bar/club. A couple of us get together once in a while so we can catch up with each other. You know, to see how what's everyone doing and keep in touch."

"Sure, what time?"

"Around 9. So, how did your date go?" Sakumo was grinning when he asked this. "I did warn you that you would lose."

Naruto laughed, "It went okay I guess. Thanks for your warning."

"So… when are we going to spar?"

"Not anytime soon, that's for sure."

Sakumo gave a slight shrug, "I can wait. Guess I'll see you later."

The day passed quickly because of training. Naruto finally showed the team the second step. He gave them the exact exercise that Jiraiya had given him and by afternoon they were all complaining that it was impossible.

It was 8:00 when he dismissed his team. Because he didn't want to go to the bar in his shinobi uniform he decided that he would change into something more comfortable. He put on a black shirt and a regular light blue pants. Finally, after grabbing his cool orange jacket he decided to head out.

As he walked into the bar he noticed that most of people there were not shinobis. Looking around he saw a small dance floor at the far end for people who wanted to dance. The age ranged from 21-30, with mostly the older people just sitting down with drinks while most of the younger people were dancing on the dance floor.

"Hey, glad you can make it," Sakumo said and he led Naruto back to where he was sitting. There were 6 people already sitting at the table before Naruto joined, 2 guys and 4 girls. Jiraiya was also sitting there with his red head friend accompanied with 3 girls that Naruto never seen. On the other side sat a girl with long white hair that reached her lower back. He could tell that she was a shinobi by the way she sat and her athletic body shape. Naruto thought she was very pretty.

"Hey guys and girls, this is Naruto," Sakumo said to the group.

He pointed at the pretty girl with white hair, "This is my fiancé, Reiri."

"So this is the Naruto you've been talking about. He's a lot younger than I imagined and also pretty handsome," Reiri said as she shook his hands. Naruto blushed.

"Hey I'm handsome also," Sakumo said jokingly to his wife.

"Of course you are dear," she replied and gave him a peck on the cheek.

Sakumo turned his attention back to the group, "You already know Jiraiya. These are Jiraiya's friends: Tsuzumi, Fumaki, Etsumi, and Hideo." They all waved at him.

Naruto took a seat by Sakumo and saw one of Jiraiya's girlfriend whispered into Jiraiya's ear. She had medium length purple hair and was wearing a very short black dress. By Sakumo's introduction Naruto knew this to be Fumaki.

"Yes, this is the guy," Jiraiya said out loud not caring to lower his voice.

"She just wanted to know if you were the one who beat me," Jiraiya said to Naruto.

Well, he's taking it pretty lightly now, Naruto thought.

Again he saw her whisper into Jiraiya's ear.

"Jeez, why don't you ask him yourself? It's not like you're shy," Jiraiya said out loud again.

"Naruto, she wants to know if you have a girlfriend or not," Jiraiya said. Everybody laughed and the girl giggled embarrassingly.

Naruto turned to her and answered politely, "Not right now."

With that she bounced up a little bit.

Jiraiya turned to his girlfriend, "Look I'm not going to be the messenger anymore. If you're interested you should ask the question. As you can see he's not going to bite your head off."

Jiraiya decided to change the subject, "Well Naruto, I know you're strong, but lets see if you can drink. We've already started drinking so you have to catch up."

Naruto gulped. From his experience, he would bet his life savings that Jiraiya was a heavy drinker.

"He doesn't have to drink if he doesn't want to," Reiri interrupted.

"Oh, but he does. It's an unwritten rule of being a man. Isn't that right Sakumo?" Jiraiya said turning to Sakumo.

Sakumo laughed, "Sort of."

That answer made Reiri punch him Sakumo on the shoulders, "You're just as stupid as the next guy."

"A stupid guy that you're getting married to," Jiraiya said jokingly to her. He looked back at Naruto. "We've already had 3 shots Naruto. We're not into the game much yet, but I figured you should catch up. Since this is your first time with us, so we'll pay for your drinks today."

"No, it's okay," Naruto said.

"No, it's not okay. This is your first time out. We'll get this one. Pay one dime and we'll have to fight again."

"But you said he could beat you," Fumaki interrupted.

"That's not the point. I know he doesn't want to fight again even if he can beat me," Jiraiya said and he turned to Sakumo, "So, are you going to help me with the tab?"

"Sure, it's only right," Sakumo answered.

Jiraiya was about to go to the bartender when his red head friend stood up.

"I'll get this one," Hideo told him.

After about a minute Hideo came back with 11 small shot cups and passed 1 to each person and 4 to Naruto.

"Bottoms up," he said and they all downed their drinks.

The alcohol burned Naruto's throat as he drank it.

"Only 3 more for you Naruto," Jiraiya said.

Reiri shook her head in disagreement, "Well, I'm off to the dance floor. You guys want to come?"

All the girls agreed and so did Hideo.

"I think I'll stay here," Sakumo answered.

"Same here," Jiraiya said.

"Naruto?" Reiri asked.

Jiraiya laughed, "He can't go, he has to finish his drinks first."

"Naruto, you know you don't have to do what they say. They're just pressuring you. You can come with us if you want," Reiri objected.

"It's alright, I'll come down later," Naruto answered.

She shook her head showing him that she didn't like his decision.

"Okay it's your decision, don't go so hard on him," she glared at Jiraiya and Sakumo.

"We won't," Sakumo answered and with that she, Tsuzumi, Fumaki, Etsumi, and Hideo left to the dance floor.

"I saw you with Tsunade last week. So, how did it go?" Jiraiya asked.

"It was okay."

Jiraiya threw his arms behind his seat, "I've tried asking her for a date long ago and almost got killed for doing that. I can't believe you made it out alive. You are one brave man."

The 3 of them laughed.

"So you've got an interest in my teammate," Jiraiya said grinning at Naruto.

"The only reason…" Naruto started to say, but he was interrupted.

"She's quite a looker, don't you think? Come on everyone knows she's the best looking kunoichi in konoha," Jiraiya still had his grin.

"Ummm…" but Naruto was interrupted again.

"Knew you would agree with me. She's quite rough sometimes. I thought you two wouldn't get along because of your differences, but I guess opposite attract," Jiraiya said.

"Well…"

"Just one thing, try and be nice to her. Yes, I know it's hard cause of the way she is, but she's had a rough life. Don't tell her I said that though. It'll ruin my image," Jiraiya said.

Sakumo nodded at the entrance, "Speaking of Tsunade."

"Weird, I have never seen her come here before. Nyoko I see once in a while, but Tsunade…" Sakumo said.

"Same here," Jiraiya commented.

Nyoko and Tsunade immediately walked over to the bartender and ordered some drinks. After that they walked over to the group.

"Is it alright if we sit here?" Nyoko asked.

"No, go right ahead," Sakumo answered.

"What brings you girls here?" Jiraiya asked.

"What? Is it illegal for a girl to go out without permission now?" Tsunade asked him rudely.

"Damn Tsunade it was just a question. I was just wondering what made you decide to come," Jiraiya said.

"Just bored," she replied.

Just as Naruto was drinking his last shot to catch up Tsunade sat down he spilled the rest of his shot, which still contained about ¾ of a shot.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that Naruto. I'll replace that one for you," she told him.

"Hey I got a camera, let's take a picture," Nyoko said.

She tapped the person behind her, "Hey can you take our picture?"

He nodded and they got into position.

"1, 2, 3..." The person gave Nyoko her camera back.

"Maybe if we get you drunk enough you'll spill some of your past to us," Tsunade was smirking.

"No, I don't think my tongue will slip."

"Really?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Alright guess I'll be buying us a lot of drinks today then," Tsunade told the group.

"We were going to do the same thing," Jiraiya said.

"Alright we can split the bill then," Tsunade told him.

After 30 minutes of drinking Tsunade and Nyoko went to the bathroom. Reiri and the others had also rejoined the group. They sat down and to Naruto's surprise Fumaki sat right next to him.

"Hi Nyoko, hi Tsunade," Reiri said as Tsunade and Nyoko returned.

"Hi Reiri," they both answered.

"What's wrong, back so early?" Sakumo asked his fiancé.

"It's boring without you guys."

"So Naruto, Jiraiya has told me some things about you and you seem like an interesting person," Fumaki said in a sweet voice. Naruto's first impression of the girl was incorrect. He thought that she was a shy girl, but it turned out he was wrong. She was sitting very close to him, way too close.

"Can I ask you some questions?"

"Sure." He quickly felt a wave of chakra coming from Nyoko's position as he answered Fumaki.

"The reason why I want to know is because Jiraiya just said that a strong and young person showed up. So, you said that you're single, am I correct? I'm just wondering what type of girls are you into?"

"All kinds," Naruto answered.

"That's kind of vague. Can you go elaborate?"

Nyoko interrupted their conversation. "He's into kunoichis," she said in a throwaway voice knowing that the girl wasn't a shinobi.

Fumaki looked at Naruto, "Is that true?"

"No, not really."

"Then why don't you have a girlfriend? I would think that a person like you wouldn't be single."

Naruto noticed that she sat even closer to him after saying this.

Naruto gave a weak laugh, "Just haven't found the right one that's all."

During the next 3 hours Fumaki plastered Naruto with uncomfortable, but also dull questions; questions about how strong he was, does he like girls with purple hair, what kind of clothes he liked on a girl. It was a relief to him when the group finally decided that it was time to go.

Fumaki gave Naruto a kiss on the cheek before heading off with Jiraiya. Just as the group left Naruto heard his name and turned around.

"Could you walk us home just in case?" Nyoko asked him. "We could get rob or something. You know… cause we're girls."

Naruto knew what was going on, but it would be a big hassle to try and talk out of it so he agreed. Plus, he was a bit dizzy from the booze himself and a walk could be good.

"So what did you think of Fumaki?" Nyoko asked him.

"Well, she's okay," Naruto replied.

"You know what I meant," Nyoko said.

"She's nice, but I don't really think I'm into her."

Nyoko laughed, "Yeah, I agree, she's a dolt isn't she."

To Nyoko's surprise Tsunade spoke up, "She's not a dolt."

"Sorry Tsunade, but she was asking Naruto really stupid questions," Nyoko interjected.

"Well at least he answered most of them unlike when I asked. How many of my questions did you answer, Naruto? I can probably count it on one hand."

"Well, she was asking me easier questions you see… And I did answer quite a few of your questions remember," Naruto reminded her. He didn't like the where the conversation going.

"So you're not interested in her then?" Nyoko asked again.

"You never know what can happen," Naruto replied.

After 15 minutes of walking Tsunade held out her hand to stop them.

"What is it?" Naruto asked her.

"Did you guys see that?" Tsunade asked them.

Naruto and Nyoko shook their heads.

"It was a shinobi," Tsunade told the two.

"Well, this is the hidden village Tsunade. It could be just one of our shinobis," Nyoko replied.

"No, they were moving too quietly to be one of ours," Tsunade answered her.

"Nyoko, you go to Jiraiya's and Sakumo's house. Go and see if they're alright," Tsunade told her.

Nyoko gave Tsunade a surprised look, "Why? I'm sure they're okay."

"Just do it," Tsunade said in a commanding tone.

"Alright, alright, jeez don't get all mad," and with that Nyoko took off.

"I'm going to follow the shinobi. Naruto you should go home," Tsunade told him.

"Hey, I'm not going home. I'll go with you," Naruto replied.

"No, you can't. This doesn't concern you."

"It concerns me if it might have something to do with my friends."

She really didn't want him to go, but she might lose track of the shinobi if they continued arguing about it, "Fine, follow me then. Let's just follow the shinobi from a distance."

"Should we wait for Nyoko?"

"No, by the time she is able to join us the shinobi would be too far."

"She's only checking…"

But before he could finish Naruto was interrupted by Tsunade, "Trust me alright. I know what I'm talking about."

Naruto nodded his head.

With that Tsunade and Naruto began jumping between the houses until they reached the forest.

Tsunade pointed up to the branches, "Looks like they're in a hurry and didn't cover their tracks. Come on."

After a complete 30 minutes of silence of just traveling through the forest Naruto spoke up, "Care to explain what's happening?"

Tsunade looked back, "So you know something's up then."

"Well, it's pretty obvious."

"Alright, Sarutobi sensei was suspecting a traitor in the hidden village of leaf."

"How so?"

"In the beginning of last year a lot of it a lot of information was known by the enemy. Too much information: information about our attacks, our supplies, and especially our shinobis' abilities, stuff like that. This lead to only one conclusion, someone from the inside was giving out this information. Sensei gave me this as a mission a long time ago. I'm to find out who the traitor was and exterminate them."

"Do you have a clue to who it was?"

"It's not concrete evidence, but I'm pretty sure who it is," Tsunade said.

"Mind telling me?" Naruto asked after a few minutes.

"You'll see when we get there," Tsunade answered him.

After that they traveled in silence again for what seemed to be like hours and hours. The sun was changing from a dark black sky to an orange one. Then all of the sudden he saw that Tsunade had stopped and so he did too.

"Before we go Naruto I must do something," she turned around and swung at his stomach.

Naruto barely managed to jump out of the way, "What are you doing Tsunade!? It's not me I swear it."

"I know it's not you. Like I said the traitor was already giving out information before you appeared."

"Then what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to protect you."

"You're trying to protect me by killing me!?"

She answered in a calm voice, "You're slower than usual. I also hit you with that attack. You would have dodged that easily before."

"What do you mean?"

"You've been poisoned."

"Poisoned? I don't feel any different."

"It's not a poison that kills. It's a poison that completely shuts down your chakra output without affecting anything else. This makes it hard for the poisoned person to know that they were poisoned. Most people don't feel it until they start to use some chakra."

"How do you know I was poisoned?"

"It was in one of your shots. It looks like you didn't get the full dosage though. When I came to the bar I managed to spill most of your drink. Still, it might still affect your fighting and I think it's better if you were to stay."

Naruto thought back to when he was taking shots, "It's Hideo then."

Tsunade nodded her head. "Most of information on shinobis' abilities that the enemy knew was on Jiraiya. That's where Sarutobi wanted me to start first, but then I think Hideo somehow found out that I was on to him so he stopped giving out information for a while. But, I always knew that he would try again."

"But Jiraiya and Sakumo also drank it."

"Yes, that's why I said that Nyoko wouldn't be joining us. She's probably getting the poison out right now. It's nothing lethal, but it's better if she gets it out of their system quickly."

clap, clap, clap

Naruto and Tsunade turned around and saw Hideo and Seiji standing on one of the branches.

"Very good Tsunade. I thought you stopped your mission after the other villages stopped receiving information, but it seemed that I was wrong. You really do live up to the name of sannin unlike that other fool. My plan today wasn't completely successful, but it worked better than expected considering you came to the bar also," Hideo said. His voice was calm and cold, unlike what Tsunade was used to.

Tsunade glared at the two.

Hideo then looked at Naruto, "You really threw a wrench in the plans, you know that. Before you came it seemed that Konoha was ready to fall, but the Raikage had to reformulate his plan after hearing how strong you were. But, it seems like you'll meet your death today. I'll kill you in your weakened stated. Tsunade will also die here tonight."

He handed a piece of paper to Seiji and Seiji left.

"Don't talk like you can take on me Hideo," Tsunade said abruptly.

"Oh of course not. My abilities are not up to yours but, if you're like any Konoha shinobi you will protect those in need," as he said that he attached a claw to his hand.

Tsunade's eyes widen and she knew exactly what he was going to do. Hideo immediately went to slash Naruto, but Naruto managed to jump out of the way.

"Well, you really are something. Still able to move that fast while having that poison in your system," Hideo said to Naruto.

Tsunade tried to punch Hideo, but missed. After missing her punch she jumped between him and Naruto, placing herself about 10 feet in front of Naruto.

"You won't get me if you're trying to protect him also. I know that you're putting yourself between him and I. How are you going to attack then?" Hideo asked.

All of the sudden his claws detached and went straight for Naruto. This time Naruto wasn't fast enough, but luckily Tsunade threw a few kunais to stop the claws from hitting him. The claws retracted back to Hideo.

"You see Tsunade. You can't win like this. I will enjoy this. After taking you and him down, Konoha's power will go down quite a lot," Hideo said.

Tsunade did a few hand seals, "Sui Tsuba (Acid Spit)." Hundred of little green spit came from Tsunade's mouth.

"You're never going to hit me straight on Tsunade. You have to get in position to hit me with anything and with him helpless you won't be able to get into position," Hideo said to her.

Deep down Tsunade knew that Hideo was right. Even though she was stronger, it would be next to impossible to defeat Hideo straight on.

"Just go," Naruto said to Tsunade.

"What do you mean?" Tsunade asked back.

"Leave me," Naruto responded.

"I can't do that! He's going to attack you if I leave. You can't dodge most of his attacks," Tsunade said.

"It doesn't matter. If you stay and protect me we'll both die. It's better if one of us survives."

"Don't say stupid things like that," Tsunade said.

"You should listen to him Tsunade. What he's saying is true. It's either you protect him and you both die or come after me and he dies," Hideo said.

Before Hideo could finish his words Tsunade punched the ground which sent up a cloud of dust. Then she grabbed Naruto's wrist and started to run before the dust could settle.

I can't beat him with Naruto in this condition. It doesn't matter if Hideo gets away since we've concrete evidence on the traitor. We can kill him later. Right now the priority is to save Naruto and myself, Tsunade thought to herself as she pulled Naruto's wrist.

"I'm slowing you down Tsunade. We can't escape. Just leave me please," there was a sense of urgency in Naruto's voice as he told her.

"Didn't I tell you not to say stupid things like that," Tsunade retorted.

It was barely 5 minutes before a kunai flew pass them.

"Leaving so soon?" Hideo asked and he jumped in front of them.

"I can't believe it. Do you not have any shame Tsunade? Running away from me," Hideo said mockingly.

Hideo sent his claws at Naruto again, but this time Tsunade caught one of the wires that was connected to the claws and pulled it. Hideo came flying forward towards her, but just as she was about to punch his face he disconnected himself from his claws and dodged her attack by ducking under. He was able to get past her and Tsunade saw him pulling out a sword ready to strike Naruto. No, she thought to herself. As she recovered she immediately used all her force to try and get to where Naruto was before Hideo could get there. But, he already had a head start and was already making a slashing movement. Tsunade could see Naruto trying to dodge the attack, but knew that if she didn't do something he would get hit. With no other choice she threw herself in front of Naruto to shield him. The sword slash across her chest, but she was able to punched Hideo in the stomach, which blew out his intestines and he coughed out some blood.

"Thank you Tsunade," Hideo's voice had changed. It was warm and friendly now. "Seiji's… he's been controlling me all this time for over a year. It was terrible, I would see myself giving information on my friends, but somehow couldn't stop it."

"Stop talking Hideo, you don't have much time. I'll try to heal you," Tsunade responded.

Hideo coughed again, "No, you have to save yourself. My claws… it's coated with poison…. not my poison…. something different."

Just as he said this Tsunade felt her muscles weakening.

Hideo's voiced changed back to the cold tone, "At least I was able to defeated a sannin so there's a blow to Konoha." Hideo's body dropped to the floor.

Tsunade also dropped to the floor at the same time, unable to move her muscles.

Naruto shook her, "Tsunade, don't go to sleep."

But as he said this he could tell that she was fading away fast. Her eyes were already rolling back into her sockets.

"No... no... this can't be happening," he said out loud.

Blood touched the side of his face as he put his face near her chest. Listening hard he could hear a very fast, but irregular heartbeat. Without the equipment and monitors he didn't know how the poison worked.

"I will have to risk it," Naruto said to himself. The only other option was to go back to Konoha, but Naruto knew that it was too far.

He carried Tsunade in a straddle position and began moving towards the mountains just in case more shinobis came. He moved as fast as he could without disrupting Tsunade too much because he knew that if he did, the poison would spread faster.

After 30 minutes he found a small seclude cave. It was about the size of a small room with a small opening, just big enough to crawl through. He crossed his finger, "Kage Bunshin," and 3 clones pop out. Damn, only 3.

"You 2, go and find the ingredients. You should be able to travel some distance with the amount of chakra I gave you," and two of the clones immediately left.

He then pointed to the last clone, "Make a glass bowl. You'll be mixing the antidote."

Then he bit his thumb and did a few hand seals, "Summoning no jutsu," Gamakichi and Gamatatsu pop out.

"I'm counting on you Gamakichi," as he said this, his voice shook uncontrollably. "You know that you have the hardest ingredient by far."

"No problem Naruto. I'll go as fast as I can"

"Gamatatsu, I didn't cover our tracks. Can you go and cover them for us?"

"Do I get a treat?"

"Yes, I'll give you a treat," Naruto answered calmly.

"Yay!" and Gamatatsu began hopping outside.

Just as Gamakichi was about to leave to search for his ingredients, he turned back to look at Naruto. He saw that Naruto was searching furiously through Tsunade's pocket and after a few moments of searching Naruto pulled out a syringe.

"What are you doing?" Gamakichi asked knowing the answer already.

"Why are you still here Gamakichi?" Naruto asked, shocked that Gamakichi hasn't left yet.

"I said what are you doing?" Gamakichi asked again.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going to inject the poison into myself," Naruto answered.

It was just as Gamakichi feared, "What if the antidote doesn't work? You know it only works on roughly 70 percent of the poisons out there. That's not the real problem. You know that the ingredients are very rare."

"You won't find the ingredients if you're still here Gamakichi," Naruto said loudly in an angry voice.

"Sorry, but I can't let you do this," Gamakichi responded.

"Gamakichi, this isn't the time alright. You know that it's the only way. I would risk my life even if there was a 1 percent chance."

He nodded and left the cave.

Naruto knew what he had to do. While Sakura could carefully take out most of the poison, he knew that this wasn't an option for him. His chakra control wasn't on par with teammate. If he tried to do that, he might accidently kill her. He also knew that the antidote will take 3 days and if he didn't stop the poison from spreading as soon as he could, she could be dead by then. So his only option was to stop the poison from spreading throughout Tsunade's body and without knowing how the poison responded in the body, he had to inject it into himself.

He put the syringe in Tsunade's arm and took some of her blood. Ready Naruto. You only get one chance at this. You've also got to distinguish this poison from the other one that disrupts your chakra. He slowly took a breath, closed his eyes and plunge the needle into his upper arm. Slowly, he squeezed the syringe and immediately felt the poison flow through him. He concentrated on his body, searching for the places where it felt different. Gotcha, he said to himself and he focused his chakra near his shoulders. Now, I have to let my blood flow, but keep the poison stationary. Naruto focused his chakra to even a smaller degree. Finally he opened his eyes, still sending a constant amount of chakra on his shoulders so that the poison won't be able to spread.

Looking down at Tsunade he knew this was going to be a lot harder. She was struck with a huge dose of poison and it already had time to spread. He took out a kunai and sliced his hand open. Closing his eyes in concentration again he placed his hands on her bloody chest. Letting his and her blood mix he sent some chakra into her. Concentrate Naruto, concentrate, he told himself. Suddenly he felt a wave of energy coming to him, almost like Tsunade's body was talking to him. He heard the faint beating of her heart, the slow breath she was taking, he even heard the blood rushing through her veins. Instead of just trapping the poison like he did with his body, he searched for the spot where the poison was most concentrated. He knew it was most important to stop the spread from that location first. This poison attacks the CNS. No wonder why she fell down immediately. Still closing his eyes he gather some chakra and focused it on the poison. He molded his chakra into little bubbles to surround the poison and hold it in place. This was hard for Naruto because he had to send a constant amount of chakra. Too much chakra and Tsunade's natural immune system will attack his chakra, which will free the poison. Too little and the poison could escape. The chakra bubbles also had to be small enough to allow blood to constantly flow throughout the body while keeping the poison stationary. If it was too big and he stopped the blood circulation, the person could die.

After making chakra bubbles in Tsunade's CNS system to trap the poison, he worked on the poison in the veins so that it couldn't spread. Finally, after getting all the poison in the veins he concentrated on her most important muscles, the heart, lungs, then finally the muscular system. After making all the poison stationary he concentrated on keeping the chakra constant which took a lot of work since he was never that good at chakra control.

"How are you doing back there?" he asked his clone.

"Almost finish," the clone answered. He was blowing fire to a sand-made bowl.

Just then a clone came through the opening of the cave. "Here's the first ingredient," the clone said and he dropped a clear see-through rose on Naruto's lap.

It was another 45 minutes before the other clone showed up and gave him a single white sharp tooth.

"Thanks, you guys can go now," and they disappeared. He still wasn't relieved yet because he knew that the hardest ingredient was still missing. It was all up to Gamakichi now.

He went back to concentrating his chakra.

It took another hour before Gamakichi hopped into the cave.

As soon as Gamakichi came in Naruto asked, "Did you find it?"

"Yes, I've a few right here. I hope they aren't dead yet," Gamakichi said looking up at him. Gamakichi looked up at Naruto. He and his younger brother had always had a better relationship with Naruto than all of their former contract signers. Unlike Jiraiya or their former contract signers, Naruto had used him and Gamatatsu quite a lot. They and Naruto had a sort of bond that could never be broken. He knew that sometimes Naruto could use other frogs for a mission instead, but for some strange reason Naruto had always called upon them when in the most need.

Naruto nodded to the only remaining clone to check what Gamakichi had. The clone held out his hand and Gamakichi spat out a few tiny slugs. The clone quickly gave a look to see which one was still alive. He grabbed the single live one and put it into the glass-made bowl with the other ingredients and the solution immediately turned blue.

"3 days and don't stop even for a second," Naruto said out loud and the clone nodded.

Gamatatsu had also returned.

"I've cleaned up the body and your trial Naruto. Can I have my treat now?"

"Not yet Gamatatsu, but I'll get you a treat as soon as I can, okay."

"Okay. I can wait. I can see that this is important. Hey brother, is that the slug-woman?" Gamatatsu asked Gamakichi.

"Yes, it is."

"She's a lot younger than I remember."

"What do you mean from what you remember? You haven't even seen her in real life until now. Jiraiya never summoned us while she was around," Gamakichi said.

"Whenever I look through Naruto's past I see an older woman that looks just like her," Gamatatsu said.

"We aren't suppose to know Naruto during this time-period and he has technically never summoned us yet. The only reason we have knowledge of him and his past is because he brought the scroll with him. Didn't you get the knowledge the moment he came here?" Gamakichi asked in disbelief.

"Really? I thought I always knew him."

"You know him because he signed the contract from the future you dope," Gamakichi said.

"So, technically this is his first time summoning us? I felt like I've always known him," Gamatatsu asked his older brother very confused, hopping up and down in one place as he asked the question.

Gamakichi opened his mouth to answer, but no words came out. Then he started to scratch his head. It was kind of weird. It felt like he always knew Naruto, but this was the technically the first time that Naruto has summoned him, "Yeah I guess so. But who cares. We've got to help him all that we can."

"Okay," Gamatatsu replied.

"Thanks guys," Naruto said to them.

Naruto placed his jacket on Tsunade to keep her warm, but still kept his hand on her chest so that he could keep sending chakra into her. As the time past, he was able to keep the chakra constant a little easier because the poison that he drank at the bar was wearing off. Plus, he could use all of his chakra now which made things a little easier. His clone was kept busy by swirling the mixture. Gamakichi and Gamatatsu remained to kept Naruto company, but stayed silent cause they knew that he needed to concentrate.

By the end of the 2nd day though he was becoming exhausted. He refused Gamakichi's suggestion of finding him some food and drink.

"It doesn't matter if you find me some food. This is the only thing I can keep my focus on. I won't risk losing my focus by eating something," Naruto told him.

By the 3rd day the only thing that kept him going was the thought of what would happen to Tsunade if he stopped. Another probably was keeping a constant flow of chakra. His chakra reserve was still quite high, but unlike his teammate Sakura who can do this for weeks, it was hard work for him to keep sending a constant amount of chakra.

"There's only 6 more hours left Naruto," Gamakichi said encouragingly near the end of the 3rd day and Naruto nodded his head. He looked at Naruto and could see that Naruto's eyes were barely opened and he was taking very slow breaths.

Just then Gamakichi saw a small trial of blood was dripping from Naruto's left nostril, "Naruto, your nose. It's bleeding!"

"It's alright Gamakichi. I'm alright."

"Are you sure Naruto?" Gamatatsu asked very concerned.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," but as he said that he cough into his free hand and felt some blood. He tried to cover it quickly so that Gamakichi and Gamatatsu wouldn't see it, but he was too slow.

"You haven't eaten, sleep, or drink anything in 3 days Naruto. I know it's taken a lot out of you. While you still might have a lot of chakra left, those things are essential," Gamakichi said.

"I know, but there is no other way is there. This is nothing, don't worry about it," and Naruto cough up some blood again.

"Don't die Naruto," Gamatatsu said worried.

This made Naruto chuckle, "Don't worry Gamatatsu, this won't do me in."

A little more blood dripped from his nose.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity the clone spoke up, "It's finish."

"Alright, get a syringe from her jacket and give her a shot," he was still keeping his chakra flow constant. The clone did what he was told.

"Alright, now give me a shot," Naruto said and the clone did. Finally he let go of his chakra flow and dropped to all fours over Tsunade. There was nothing more to do. If the antidote didn't work, both he and she will die.

He looked at her face, but there wasn't any reaction. She looked lifeless, still breathing, but lifeless. Then her breathing became even slower and Naruto closed his eyes. The antidote didn't work. The poison is now circulating again since I've let go of my chakra.

Just as he was about to fall over he heard a very soft voice, "Naruto?"

Naruto looked at Tsunade and smiled, "Sorry about touching you there." Then without any notice he dropped on top of her.

Jutsu descriptions:

Sui Tsuba: Acid Spit – (B-rank) A ninjutsu where the user spits out hundreds of spit from the mouth that is made of acid. It can burn through steel.