I don't Own Naruto or Assassin's Creed

Bold is supernatural speech

Italics are thoughts and flashbacks

-Chapter Twelve: Mourning and moving ahead-

Naruto had been discharged from the hospital after two days, Naruto with three broken ribs, his ulna cracked about five centimeters from the point of his elbow, and fifteen stitches in his side from the claw of the Shukaku, out of commission for no less than two weeks. Sasuke was much worse off, two broken ribs, right clavicle broken, forty five stitches total, and a broken nose. He was out of commission for two weeks minimum, seven weeks maximum. Sakura and Kakashi managed only minor injuries, a few small lacerations, and some bruises, but neither had such a hard battle to fight. Sasuke was still confined to the hospital, but he would probably escape soon.

Naruto stood up, straining because of the brace they placed around his torso to prevent him from expanding his rib cage too far and breaking the soft tissue that was still forming into what would be his healed bone. He hated breaking bones, healing always took so long. The Medical jutsu that ninja used made it go by much faster, so he would wait much shorter periods of time to get back to his duties. Since he was not going to be doing anything for the next two weeks, except for attending the Hokage's funeral in ten days, he wore didn't bother with all his gear, only his knife and arm blade, the two weapons that required the least amount of movement to use. He decided to go see Sakura and Kakashi, they were training at their team's training ground. Naruto walked to the grounds, he didn't see them which meant they were playing Kakashi's twisted version of hide and seek. He sat and waited, he figured if he did so for long enough they would sense him and show up. About three minutes later, they both showed up, greeting him.

"So how's our new village hero?" Sakura asked. Naruto was slightly confused. "You mean you haven't heard? Everyone's talking about you Naruto! They're saying how you single handedly took on the sand village's demon!"

"That's not entirely true, though I'm sure most people didn't see it, we were a distance out, but Kyuubi helped, and Sasuke." Naruto said.

"It'd be best not to let the council know about that Naruto, they're a bit sore on that topic, the whole summoning of the nine tails." Kakashi was referring to when nearly one thousand of their best soldiers were killed by the demon.

"I see, though I imagine that more than a few people would have seen him, I think that it's best to just go and tell them."

"They're going to go ballistic when they hear you're summoning him."

"Summons are not permanent, they can be called off, had he done any harm, I would have done so."

"Good point. Still, make sure that they know that, or you may end up imprisoned, they're not exactly the most honest people, and will twist the facts on you."

"Then I will do that, who is going to be the next Hokage? From what I've been told, the Third died fighting Orochimaru."

"Yes, Yes he did… The council is still deciding, they're speaking with Jiraiya, he is a very intelligent person, but he says he isn't cut out for the job. They also approached me about the job, but I turned them down, I'm also no good for it."

"Then who?"

"Maybe he can convince his old teammate to do it, though I heard she's quite a bitch some of the time." Kakashi shrugged.

"Tsunade… I've never met her, but surely she can't be that bad, Jiraiya's a pervert, and women hate perverts, so I can see why he would call her a bitch."

"I heard that she has huge drinking and gambling problems." Sakura added.

"Let's go visit Sasuke, he's probably bored out of his skull." Naruto suggested, Kakashi shrugged.

"Yeah, I hate the hospital too." Naruto sighed, he really didn't want to return, but this was his best friend and comrade he was visiting.

Team Seven arrived at the Hospital, and found Sasuke's room, Went up and saw he was sitting there, reading a book.

"What's that?"

"It's called the Iliad, A story about an ancient Greek warrior named Achilles. It's a good book, but the descriptions of everything are ridiculously long."

"Where'd you find it?" Naruto asked, curious.

"Shikamaru brought it, he said if I wanted something to kill time, this book was a way to do it, I've already read the prequel, the Aeneid, also about this Achilles fellow." Sasuke replied, tossing the book to Naruto.

"Homer is the author, apparently even though they were a warrior race, the Greeks had an insane amount of free time."

"Or a lot of civilians." Sakura added.

"Or both, I met a sailor once when I was an ANBU, he told me Greece was beautiful, and had a lot of ports." Kakashi retold the story of how he was assigned to assassinate a man who was on the run from some Lord and was spotted boarding a ship, Kakashi found the man hiding on the ship of a Greek sailor, and when he boarded the ship to capture the man, the captain had apprehended him and began ranting in Greek, then some man who could speak the tongue translated for him, and they spoke for a while longer. The team listened intently to Kakashi and his story.

"So Sasuke, if it's any consolation, the doctor said you only have to stay for another thirteen days, and you'll be out." Sakura informed.

"Good. I can't stand this place, reading has kept me barely sane." Sasuke remarked.

"Then we can whip you back into shape and get back to the ass kicking." Naruto smiled. He missed having a house mate.

"And I can get back to an actual bed, not this pathetic excuse for one." Sasuke hated everything about the hospital, even the way voices echoed in here, even the way the walls felt. "I've concluded they make hospitals so damned annoying in order to encourage people to stay the hell out of them." Everyone laughed, Sasuke wasn't really one to crack a joke, not since Naruto showed up, companionship had worked wonders on the two.

"And you can cook up some of that great tasting salmon chef Uchiha." Naruto added

"So are we just here to make Sasuke miss the outside world more?" Kakashi asked.

"You've done well so far." Sasuke really wished he could get outside.

"You could escape. A few more days of pain meds and bad food and your bones should be healed enough to cope with the stress of getting the hell out of here." Naruto suggested. "And I'll get some good Sashimi for your coming home gift."

"Three days ought to be good." Kakashi said "Whenever I was injured, I never stayed more than five days, when they gave me my last meal and medicine of the day, I ate it and left."

"So is it just a general team agreement that we all hate the hospital?" Sakura asked. Everyone nodded. "Okay, thought so."

"Well Sasuke, sorry about this but we need to go." Kakashi shrugged and they all said their goodbyes and Sasuke continued his reading.

Naruto arrived at his home, and noticed something was out of the ordinary. He drew his knife in his right hand, and readied his arm blade, knowing full well his limitations at the time. He went to the front door, and stood to the side as he opened it. No traps. He continued going, made several clones, and had each one search the house from room to room. He went to the master bedroom, and saw Jiraiya sitting on his bed.

"Hey kid."

"Jiraiya, what are you doing here?"

"Coming to find you. You're coming to find the new Hokage with me."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then the sound village is probably going to attack us again if we can't regroup quickly."

"So it's a matter of our village's security then. Let me get my gear." Naruto went to his closet, but Jiraiya stopped him.

"We don't need to leave for three days, my spy network has a lead on where she's going to be, and we won't need to be there for six days, that's how long it will take for our target to get there."

"She?"

"My former teammate Tsunade, she's the one the council wants for the position."

"Kakashi guessed right. We were talking about this earlier."

"Kakashi always was a smart kid. They wanted him, but he told them no before they could even ask."

"He says he's not cut out for the job, but he's a great leader."

"There's a great deal you don't know about him. Some you may learn in time, other things will forever be hidden from you." Jiraiya spoke as much of himself as he did of Kakashi.

"It seems to be something very common among you shinobi."

"As well as among assassins. It is a human trait, though the people who specialize in taking lives do it much more."

"Indeed. So tell me about Tsunade, I wish to know who I'm going to be taking orders from next."

"I could tell you just the good, or just the bad, but I'll tell you both. Tsunade is a strange character, she can be soft as butter one second and then BAM! She'll explode like dynamite and is hard as stone. She drinks and gambles, has a bit of a temper, but is also very nice and forgiving, she put up with me for twenty years, that shows some serious patience."

"I see…"

"You and the whole village will grow to love her if she accepts. That's the problem though, is getting her to accept. She's rather hard headed, and left Konoha on some rather bad terms."

"And that is why you wish to bring me."

"That and you're good company." Jiraiya laughed.

"That makes sense, no use in bringing an idiot along with you when you go to look for a village's future." Naruto shrugged, a task which his broken ribs made a little painful.

"Well great, we leave in three days, I have a friend on the way who can heal up those ribs nice and new." Jiraiya said, and then disappeared.

-Chapter Twelve: End-

Author's Note: Sorry this took long and is basically a filler chapter, but I just finished all my finals, so I've been busy, and home life has been stressful. But here it is! I promise a much better and longer chapter Thirteen, We'll meet Jiraiya's friend, Itachi's new partner and just how is Naruto going to convince Tsunade to come with them? Please R&R!

Nameless.