"So, wait, you want me to do what?" Jiraiya sighed, knowing that this would not turn out well.
"I want you to come with me to find Senju Tsunade, my other teammate who is supposed to become the Godaime Hokage." Naruto stared at him incredulously.
"Tsunade, the Legendary Sucker, known worldwide for her compulsive gambling and shirking of debts, is supposed to become our Fifth Hokage? And you want me to help you find this woman? No, thank you though. My time will be much better spent training." The Gama Sannin sighed again, knowing that the boy was right. Tsunade was not cut out about to be Hokage.
"I don't particularly want her to be the Hokage either, but it was her or you, and I think we both would rather have her." Naruto's eyes snapped up to his, the Kyuubi's chakra leaking out as he snarled out a horribly mangled word. "What?" Jiraiya had a bit of a smirk on his face as he told his godson just what happened during the meeting with the Daimyo.
~Break~
There was one particular affliction that was affecting four people at once, this being a painfully throbbing migraine. This was caused by a large amount of shouting across a small room in the Hokage tower. The death of the former Fire Shadow, Sarutobi, during the death of the invasion had left a power vacuum in the council of the village, and there had been a lot of political debate ever since.
The thirds body had not even had time to cool before his longtime rival and former friend, Shimura Danzo, had stepped in to fill his shoes by being a replacement Kage, organizing the recovery effort at the same time as he kept the war in the shadows from being taken to Konoha's back yard. After a week Danzo had stepped down, focusing on the shadows, resurfacing only now another week later to attend the meeting to elect a new Hokage. He was one of the ones suffering from the migraine.
Two others were Jiraiya and Kakashi, both possibilities for the position as the Kage. Kakashi had refused because of his genin team and the fact that he was needed to ensure the village would remain strong, as he would be taking a large amount of solo high ranked missions to take up the slack of the dead ninja. Jiraiya's excuse was rather flimsy in comparison, being that he was not cut out for the job. The only reason he wasn't being screamed at was because of his reputation as a super pervert.
The last person with a throbbing migraine was the Daimyo himself, and it was quite likely that his was the worst. The man had had a terrible two weeks, starting off with the Chunin exams. It had been going so well at first, and he had been looking forward to the blond fight again, but the invasion stopped it. He was never sent to sleep, having received enough training to dispel genjutsu to ensure he was never influenced by them, and was awake to watch as the same blond took out nearly a full division of attacking ninja, stopping the likely death of many a noble.
The man had been incredibly impressed, and had been even more so when he finally found out just why the boy was so familiar. Uzumaki Naruto, the Kyuubi Jinchurriki, and apparently in full control of the Kyuubi from where the beast rose to the defense of the village.
That little memory was enough to give the Daimyo an idea, and called for quiet amidst the chaos.
"Alright, if neither Jiraiya nor Kakashi wish to become the Hokage we must choose another powerful ninja to be Sarutobi's successor. Now, Danzo, you do not wish to become the Kage. Explain." The aged shinobi bowed lightly, strolling out in front of the Daimyo while looking all around him.
"As you can probably tell, I am far past my crime. In fact I am as old as Sarutobi was, and I am in much worse shape." He pointed to his bandaged eye and ruined arm. "I have lost both one eye and one arm in the service of Konoha, and while I am still quite skilled, thanks to what I was forced to do during the Kyuubi attack I will not be able to fight with my perfected style ever again."
Many people remembered that. To this day Danzo remained the only man to ever survive stopping a full-powered Imari from the Kyuubi, despite using a powerful suicide jutsu that brought down the untamable fury of a hurricane to do so. Unfortunately, the clashing chakra had permanently ruined the man's chakra control and tenketsu, along with finishing the loss of his arm.
"So while I am still a skilled shinobi, there are those out there who can beat me. As I am unaware how many years I have left, it would be better if I remained as an advisor to the next Hokage, to ensure that they can handle running the village." The Daimyo nodded, that would work with his idea.
"And you have previously shot down Senju Tsunade, despite the outcry in her favor. Why?" Danzo sighed, hating the fact that the last Senju was wasting away.
"Tsunade is without doubt one of the greatest medical ninja in existence, and she is also still one of the strongest ninja under Konoha's banners. However, she is a compulsive drinker and gambler, and if it wasn't for the fact that she locked away the Senju fortune before she left she would have easily blown all of that money. She has allowed herself to grow rusty, and I can name at least one person at jonin level that could easily defeat her. She is lazy and ill-tempered, and if she takes the reigns of the village she will drive us into failure, drinking all the way."
That shut up most of the support for Tsunade, and the Fire Daimyo nodded in conformation to himself. Now to find out more about his choice.
"Alright Danzo, you have made your point. Now I wish to know everything about Uzumaki Naruto, the Kyuubi Jinchurriki. He saved the village from the unleashed Ichibi, and apparently can control the Kyuubi. I've also heard that you have taken him as your apprentice Jiraiya." Both Jiraiya and Kakashi started sweating, as did Danzo internally, although he remained calm and collected on the surface.
"Why do you wish to know about him?" Jiraiya asked, knowing the Daimyo would answer. The man loved to wax on about his reasoning for the littlest things. Danzo on the other hand already had a very good guess as to what the Daimyo wanted, and was finding himself agreeing with him. If Naruto became the Hokage Danzo would be able to educate the boy on how to take care of the village, and the boy would be able to reinstate Root. Yes, it would be good for the village and for Danzo if Naruto became Hokage.
"He saved the village, and is apparently very powerful. After all he took out an entire division of soldiers with one jutsu." Jiraiya was still confused, both at the lack of a proper reason and the fact that the Daimyo didn't take the time to properly explain anything. The toad sage was cut off from asking anything else by Danzo speaking up.
"Uzumaki Naruto is a talented young ninja with a great deal of potential. He has access to jutsu from all five elements and has mastered three of them. During the second task of the chunin exam he fought on par with Orochimaru of the Sannin, and forced him to retreat. Following that he spent one month under the tutelage of Jiraiya, gaining a great deal of experience in fighting powerful opponents.
During the invasion he fought the Ichibi Jinchurriki, along with the Bloody Duo of Iwa." There were some mutters and gasps at that, as the pair was well known. "I can honestly say that he is stronger than Kakashi, and that was before the month of intense training. I do not know his current level, but Jiraiya does." Said Sannin glared at Danzo for a moment, before giving into the Daimyo's prompting.
"Naruto can usually match me when I am going all out and fight me to a draw on his own power. I can catch him off guard in a ninjutsu fight, but that is only because it is my specialty. When he draws upon the full might of the Kyuubi I have yet to win against him." That caused the entire group to fall silent, the pure shock of that causing most of the people's minds to shut down for a moment.
Defeat Jiraiya? The strongest of the three Sannin and well known to be on a level above even most S-rank Shinobi, was consistently defeated by a child? The Daimyo smiled smugly to himself, and made his play. "Well, if he can beat you, our strongest shinobi, then he is our strongest. By that argument, he should become the Godaime Hokage. After all, with Danzo and Jiraiya to tutor him until he can manage on his own the village will be in good hands."
The man leaned back in his chair, satisfied with his decision. The shock from that lasted a very short time however, and soon the civilians were screaming in outrage. One of particular notice was a pink haired merchant woman, the head of the civilian council, and the mother of Sakura.
"The Haruno merchant clan will leave Konoha if that Demon becomes Hokage!" She screamed, spittle flying from her mouth and causing everyone in the room to wince. Despite that, every other civilian council member soon stood behind her, adding their votes to hers. The message was clear. Every civilian would leave Konoha for the other shinobi villages if Naruto became Kage.
The pure hatred here concerned the Daimyo. The attack happened twelve years ago didn't it? Shouldn't they have gotten over themselves by now?
After a long period of argument between those who wanted what was best for the village and those who hated Naruto a compromise was reached.
This compromise was Tsunade. She would return to be Hokage, or Naruto would become the Kage and be given full dictator power over Konoha to keep the civilians from leaving. Even when she returned she would begin training her successor, which would be Naruto, and he would be taught to manage the village. The Daimyo dared each and every civilian to go against his edict.
~Break~
Jiraiya waited for the explosion which was to come, and he was not disappointed.
"So let me get this straight. Because of the fact that I followed my orders and stopped a Biju I have been forced into consideration for Hokage, despite the fact that I would quite eagerly let this place burn to the ground and then dance in the ashes." Jiraiya winced at the confirmation of his fears, even as he was afraid that the pure acid dripping from Naruto's words would have no affect in real life.
"Yes." He said, wincing even as he did so. The Kyuubi enhanced glare and killing intent had him fearing for his life. He hadn't been lying in the council chambers. Naruto could kill him.
"You have no idea just how tempting it just became to unleash the Kyuubi, or join some other village." Jiraiya started to speak again, but was stopped by Naruto's raised palm.
"Have I been specifically ordered on this mission?" Jiraiya nodded. "Then be sure to remind me to let Tsunade know just what I think of her so I can provoke her into a fight." Jiraiya tilted his head curiosity in his eyes. The answer Naruto gave to his unasked question chilled him to the bone.
"So I can kill her and be labeled a Missing Nin." Jiraiya's eyes widened in horror, but he kept calm and asked Naruto "Is that really what you want?" His voice was sad, having hoped that Naruto was recovering. The crimson eyes flecked with gold met his.
"Every bit as much as I want the heads of those who hurt me." In other words he wanted it a great deal, but was willing to wait to get them.
"Do you truly hate Konoha so much? It was the people who did that to you; you could easily place on a mask and vanish from the public's view. You don't have to deal with them ever again." Naruto looked at his hand, turning it palm up and showing off a small flame.
"Did you know that I have had my entire skin removed three times?" Jiraiya nearly vomited at that picture, though he just managed to keep his composure.
"The first time was when a certain member of the torture and interrogation division decided it would be fun to skin me alive. Other than immense pain all that I remember is the smell of dango and sake before chakra engulfed me, and when I regained consciousness I was alone in the woods, my skin on my body as if it had never been carved off." The detachment in his voice was one of the things that really got to Jiraiya; Naruto was talking as if this terrible thing had happened to someone else, someone that didn't matter.
"The second time was when a group of ANBU carved it all off with elemental blades, along with removing my right hand. Once again, chakra engulfed me and I woke up far away and whole again. Now I know that it was the Kyuubi's chakra called to preserve the life of its vessel, but then I was horrified. It took seven tails of the Kyuubi's chakra to restore me that time." Somehow Jiraiya found that this was worse than the first time. He waited in suspenseful horror as the boy continued.
"Do you know how long the human body can survive without skin?" Mute with horror and sadness Jiraiya shook his head.
"I found out the hard way. I lasted a month after a group of ANBU carved off every single piece of my skin, both hands, and both feet." This time Jiraiya did vomit. Naruto waited for him to recover before finishing his gruesome tale.
"This time it took all nine tails of the Kyuubi's chakra to heal me, in fact even that wasn't enough. The fourth, my father, sealed away half of the Kyuubi's chakra when he sealed it, taking the other half with him into the stomach of the Shinigami. I now have all the force of the Kyuubi inside my seal." Jiraiya couldn't help it; he vomited again, from lingering horror and a new surge of a different kind.
"Would you like to know what the ANBU members did with my skinless body, after a full month of being immersed in salt thrice daily?" Jiraiya didn't; he really didn't, but he said yes anyways, voice weak with fear and from his previous vomiting.
"They raped me, in every manner possible, before slicing off the last limb of my body which they had now finished using and tossed me into a bears den." Naruto looked up at Jiraiya's eyes for the first time since his explanation began, seeing the horror and disgust in them. A mirthless chuckle filled the air, swiftly becoming insane as Naruto's eyes morphed into those of a broken man.
"It took everything the Kyuubi had to fix me, and it knocked the beast out until a few days after I became a genin. Even then neither of us knows if I will ever be able to have children." Crimson chakra bubbled up around Naruto, the pure force behind the rage of both tenant and host causing the earth itself to crack.
"So when you ask me if I hate Konoha my answer is this. Yes, with all my being." As quickly as it appeared the chakra vanished, Naruto's eyes becoming their usual icy cerulean.
"So long as I am a Konoha ninja I will not actively seek to destroy Konoha, but I cannot say that I will do anything to protect it either. However, if I am banished from Konoha, or if those in power betray me…" A bitter and vengeful smile spread across his face, fire flying from his fingertips as he spread them as a pair of crimson wings extended behind him.
"I will kill them all."
~Break~
Jiraiya walked along with his godson, the previous day's revelations never far from his mind. Naruto's guard was up and ready, but Jiraiya could tell no difference from his usual demeanor in the village, saddening Jiraiya yet again. He hoped his former sensei burned in hell for what he had done, and because Orochimaru had been the one to kill him, Jiraiya decided to let the man escape the next time they fought.
Naruto's eyes were closed, and when Jiraiya had asked what he was doing Naruto had replied with "hawk training." It confused the older man a great deal, and he found himself wondering just what it was for. Naruto had done the same thing several times over the course of the month, and had been able to avoid whatever Jiraiya sent at him while doing so. However Naruto had always cursed angrily after he had finished doing whatever he seemed to be doing, saying that he couldn't master it.
They were approaching a new town, and Naruto opened his eyes, looking towards Jiraiya to find out what they were going to do. Jiraiya saw his informant acting like she was interested in him, one of the few informants that didn't follow his usual spy network style, and pulled on a perverted grin.
"Naruto, go wait in the hotel, train if you want to. I have something I need to do." Naruto looked where he did, snorted lightly, and nodded, checking into the agreed upon hotel.
Within three minutes in her presence Jiraiya knew she was in a genjutsu, but that didn't stop him from enjoying the blowjob she was giving him. It would probably be considered wrong of him, but he didn't care. He hadn't gotten off in years; the last time had been before his love had fallen. His mind replaced the woman with his beloved, and he settled in to enjoy it. He would stop at that, but he needed this before he got to Tsunade. He would find the one who set up this little venture later. Jiraiya knew that they would target Naruto, and he wanted the boy a chance to work off his anger.
~Break~
Knock Knock- Naruto looked at the door, wondering just who in the world would knock on his door less then five minutes after he got in the room. He had only just set the tea on for Kami's sake! Sometimes he cursed the only quirk that Danzo had successfully passed onto him, the love of tea. He had like tea before, but since he took it to a quirk level he had found that he tended to be ticked off if someone interrupted him while he was preparing or drinking it.
He opened the door, spotting two faces that made up the nightmares of many a ninja. 'Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame, two members of Akatsuki. I thought that their plan was nowhere near ready for completion. This is not good. I doubt I can handle both of them at once.' He decided to play ignorance, as it would get one of them to underestimate him. Itachi was to smart for that.
"Hello, can I help you?" He asked. The fish like Kisame grinned at him before sarcastically stating "Yes, you can. We need something from you boy," the grin turned feral, "and we're not leaving till we get it." Naruto raised an eyebrow, but decided to continue his little ignorance play.
"Well, do come in, I have just made a pot of tea. We can discuss what you want from me while we do so." 'Just don't blame me if your tea is poisoned.' Kisame gaped at him for a moment, but Itachi stopped him from talking with a look. "Certainly." The Uchiha stated in an emotionless tone. The two walked in, and Naruto turned his back on them to bring about the attack he knew was coming.
Kisame's massive blade slashed through Naruto, cutting his legs away from his torso. He bent down and grabbed Naruto's torso, using a swift jutsu to stop all bleeding. With Kisame's massive amount of chakra that jutsu would last five days.
"Well, come on Itachi, let's go, we've done what we need to do." He turned to his partner, who was uncharacteristically face palming before walking out. Kisame looked puzzled for a moment before following Itachi.
Outside of Kisame's little world Naruto and Itachi were matched, blade for blade in the middle of the room. Itachi sighed as he watched his partner walk out, before activating his Sharingan and staring at the golden eyes of Naruto, attempting to place the boy in his own genjutsu.
He swung his blade at the boy, Naruto dodging it and striking Itachi in the gut in a brief moment. Itachi grimaced as he stumbled backwards, his Sharingan working overtime as he dodged and blocked a flurry of strikes from Naruto. As if that wasn't enough something sliced at him from behind, only to see his teammate!
"You will not get the boy Jiraiya. Itachi is already leaving with him, and soon I will kill you." Itachi looked at his teammate like he was a retard, taking a moment to reevaluate the Kyuubi Jinchurikki as well. If he could cast that convincing of a genjutsu then Itachi's own genjutsu would be useless. The raven haired Uchiha had no chance to rid his partner of the genjutsu before two things happened.
The first was Naruto's blade piercing through Kisame's gut; the second was Uchiha Sasuke roaring Itachi's name in an idiotic rage, charging up a chidori and running straight towards the far older Uchiha. Kisame slumped to the ground, clutching his stomach as Itachi stopped his brother's chidori just by grabbing Sasuke's wrist. Itachi was about to tramatize his little brother, again, but Naruto had taken the opportunity with Kisame out of it and Itachi distracted.
Itachi gasped in pain as his blood splattered the floor, Sasuke glaring at the blade sticking out of his brother's chest. It withdrew, but Naruto could not finish the kill as a blade nearly took his head. Itachi dropped Sasuke, knocking him out with a light tap to the temple as Kisame took his place beside his partner, both bleeding from their injuries. The two advanced on the blond, but stopped, feeling Jiraiya's chakra coming towards them.
Kisame snarled at Naruto. "We'll get you next time." Was all he said before they shunshinned away.