The Forsaken and the Angelic
by Quick-n-Popular
Disclaimer: "Naruto" and "Final Fantasy VII" and their characters do not belong to me. I claim only this story idea and the original characters that I've created for it.
Chapter Twenty-One: Musings of Schemers and Dreamers
Hinata Hyuuga panted as she shakily rose from the ground as the mother of the boy she loved waited patiently. The two of them have been sparring for nearly two hours now, just after the arduous exercises and instructions had been gone over in learning Tifa Strife's art of fighting.
"Shall we take a break, Hinata?" Tifa asked as she handed the teenager a water bottle.
The girl nodded as she wiped away droplets of blood from her busted lip and hastily opened the bottle.
Her pregnant teacher sat down on one of the broken training posts and cradled her stomach as she closed her eyes.
"It's been a few days but you are doing well, Hinata." She then chuckled, "Boy, do we attract strong people. You are no different, dear."
Hinata blushed from the praise and took a place next to the her temporary teacher.
"But your family is even stronger, Tifa-san. The way you all fight..."
Hinata was surprised when she felt a little flick against her forehead and turned to see an amused Tifa looking up at the sky.
"It hasn't always been the case, we've all had our own struggles."
"But-"
Tifa shook her head, "No one is born strong. We're shaped by our experiences and by what surrounds us. Most importantly, our goals matter as well." She then sighed, "Of course, there are those who seem beyond strong. However, they are not without obstacles."
Hinata thought about that, seeing the logic in her words. A thought came across her, though.
"Can you, yourself, be an obstacle?"
The Midgar woman nodded.
"Then, how do you fight your battles?"
Tifa smiled, "The best way you can: not doing it alone." She then slowly sat up and then extended a hand to the teenage girl, "I want you to remember something, Hinata. There is a difference between fighting yourself and fighting your enemy."
After the dramatic exit of Akatsuki's members, Jiraiya of the Sannin, tiredly listened to one Maito Gai make many of his boisterous proclamations upon his arrival to retrieve Sasuke Uchiha.
Sasuke Uchiha, however, was out cold and Jiraiya was wishing he was as well.
"Enough, Gai. Naruto and I need to complete our mission and Sasuke needs some medical attention."
The taijutsu expert nodded and hoisted the boy up onto his shoulder, saluted, and was then soon gone.
Jiraiya then turned to the boy who was with him on this journey who was sharpening the unique halberd he carried.
"Are you ready to go? I have received a tip that a woman resembling Tsunade was spotted in a bar in the next town over."
The blond nodded and sheathed his weapon to his back as the two left the hotel. On their travel, Naruto considered what had happened just an hour prior with Itachi and Kisame's attack. Jiraiya informed him of the group that seemed to taken an interest in Bijuu Hosts and had some agenda concerning them.
Naruto was muddled in his thoughts about the whole situation. He used to contain a Bijuu but now contained something possibly worst. However, he knew, should he had not been discovered by his adopted family, these people would still be after him. Jiraiya advised him against revealing to anyone that he no longer had the Kyuubi, for village security and political reasons. While he agreed, it didn't make it any easier now that these people were after him.
His thinking then turned to Gaara. While having an understanding with him and sharing some similarities in their predicaments, they didn't have much in common. Naruto was raised by people who loved him while Gaara seem to have been feared and isolated.
However, he was making strides to become a better person and Naruto knew that if he were in trouble or targeted by Akatsuki, he'd make sure to help him out.
Jiraiya and Naruto soon entered their new destination, once again they parted as Jiraiya was going to check the local casino to see if Tsunade was there while Naruto was to check the local taverns.
However, Naruto's attention was diverted when he saw some kids chasing a pig that seemed to be wearing a vest.
"Get it!"
"That thing bit me! Let's make bacon out of it!"
The poor animal ran under the passerby's' legs until it came upon Naruto and, to the Strife's surprise, jumped into his arms.
The kids, holding their sticks, came to a halt in front of Konoha ninja.
"Give that pig to us!"
Naruto looked down at the shivering animal to the kids and sighed.
"Sorry, but, not happening. I'm sure the owner of this animal would be upset if I let you guys hurt it."
One of the boys stepped forward and made to argue but another one whispered into his ear, pointing at the unconcealed weapon on Naruto's back. The boys grumbled and soon they dispersed back into the crowd.
Naruto, after seeing them leave, looked down at the pig and, to his surprise, it was looking up at him.
"I don't suppose you can get back to your master on your own?"
The pig blinked and then rubbed it's head against his hand, making Naruto sigh in resignation.
"Fine. Shouldn't be hard, considering how many people own pigs for pets, these days."
Venturing out into the crowd, while also taking notice of how many taverns were in the area; by the time he got to the third tavern the pig struggled in his arms and then ran into the tavern itself. At first, Naruto considered to just leave as it was obvious that the animal had found it's owner and he still had to look before he met back up with the Legendary Pervert of Konoha. However, while he was here, he might as well check.
Stepping into the business, he was quick to notice that the place had very few people in it. Or, rather, they seemed to be spread out leaving the tables in the middle of the room empty, except two people occupying them. It looked as though they were given that area, as everyone looked at them with nervous eyes, all the while trying to be nonchalant.
The two people were a young woman and an older one. The young one being a short-haired brunette and the older one a blond with pigtails. The brunette seemed to be petting the pig that had came in. However, Naruto was looking at the blond as she was drinking out of a sake bottle and had a purple diamond on her forehead.
Remembering what Jiraiya said about Tsunade, he had a feeling this was probably her. Naruto's first instinct was to get Jiraiya but decided against it as this woman had been slippery enough and there was no telling when she might leave again.
The blond teenager walked to their table and immediately got the attention of the younger of the two.
"Hello there." The pig in her arms made a squeal which then had the girl look at Naruto with surprise, "Tonton, here, says you rescued him?"
Naruto scratched the back of his head as he nodded it.
"What do you want?"
Naruto and the girl turned to the woman next to her who set down her bottle and looked at their guest with half-lidded eyes.
Naruto pulled out the chair in front of the two and sat down. "I'm here with someone who wants you to come back to Konoha, Tsunade-sama."
The young woman next to the woman in question looked surprise but that soon morphed into nervousness as she looked to her companion, who opened a new bottle and began to drink from it, pausing to only snort.
"Did they tell you that I would say, "yes", brat?"
Naruto shrugged, "Not really."
"Looks like you beat me here."
Naruto and the others looked to the entrance to see Jiraiya walk in and sit down next to the blond boy.
"How've you been, Hime?"
Tsunade glared at him but sighed and set down her bottle, "Today's been one familiar face after the other..."
Jiraiya's brow furrowed as he leaned forward, "Do you mean to say our other teammate has come by?"
Tsunade didn't answer as she resumed her drinking. The woman next to her sighed and looked at the toad Sannin.
"It's nice to see you again, Jiraiya-sama."
Jiraiya smiled, "Backatcha, Shizune."
The girl smiled but jumped as Tsunade stood up.
"Shizune, we're out of here. Jiraiya, tell sensei I am within my rights to refuse and not come back."
Jiraiya sighed, "Hard to do that, Hime, he's no longer with us."
Tsunade was quiet and then grabbed the last bottle on the table before looking back at her former teammate. "I see, so why are you here, exactly?"
"To ask you to become the next Hokage."
There was an eerie silence that followed followed by chuckle by the famous female of the Sannin.
"I wonder who was dumb enough to think of me or of anybody who would want that job. No one lives long in it." She then took a drink and then looked at the blond male at the table, "I hope you are not this pervert's student. They don't last long, either."
Jiraiya's eyes narrowed, "I know you're drunk but watch what you say, Hime."
Tsunade shrugged and finished the bottle before grabbing the shoulder of her traveling companion. "Let's go, Shizune. We're done here."
However, the two females attention was diverted when a chuckle came from the young male, who had been quiet.
"What's so funny, Gaki?" Jiraiya asked.
Naruto turned to him, "Nothing, just that an old has-been, like this, isn't suited to be Hokage."
Shizune flinched and she could feel her master taking in a deep breath before turning back and leaned across the table.
"Want to repeat that again?"
Naruto smirked, "So, not only are you old; you're losing your hearing as well." He then leaned forward, "They say things better with age. You? Not so much."
Jiraiya was sweating, now, as he could feel his teammate's killing-intent spike and she slammed her fist against the table, shattering it in an instant.
"Okay, you little shit, you come with me outside. Now."
Naruto shrugged and sat up, following the seething legend outside while Shizune and Jiraiya followed cautiously in their wake.
Deep within his dark chamber, Danzo Shimura was considering the things that have transpired. The boy that had been sent away came back, Sarutobi Hiruzen was no more, and the council had set their sights on making a grieving drunk their new Hokage.
Some of these things were of his own making. An agent of Danzo's was to collect the boy in Grass Country but had seemingly been absent. Danzo had supplied information to Orochimaru on the current lack of security in the village in exchange for some Intel on Akatsuki, which he had been a part of.
However, he was not in agreement with choosing Sarutobi's old student as his successor. Which led to him being here now considering his options for the future in silence.
A thought occurred to him about the boy. More particularly, the people that adopted him. At first, he had been against them being in the village for the usual reasons of having unknowns in the village. He, of course, had been denied and they were permitted. In discussions with the advisers to the Hokage, he gleamed a little information about them. Apparently, they were not even a part of this world but had managed to come back here through their means of technology.
Danzo knew for a fact that the possibilities that an army from that world could very likely be at their doorstep, if precautions are not made in advance.
If he were the sitting Hokage, this would be a rather easy issue. Or, if it were the choosing of his own, then that person could be controlled to do as he saw fit. Tsunade, however, would struggle for all she's worth.
Drinking his tea, his thoughts went another direction, that to the son of the Yondaime. The abilities he exhibited at the Chuunin Exams were interesting. If it were possible to incorporate those abilities into Konoha's forces, then surely they'd be a step above others in the Elemental Nations. However, to acquire it, they'd either have to have the boy's adopted family teach it or find someone in their world who would.
The latter seemed more likely than the former.
Thinking about the Exams led him to thinking about the last loyal Uchiha boy. While his Sharingan was improving, his performance in the exam was not what it should have been. Now, without an arm, he's become a liability to Konoha's forces.
Danzo frowned as he considered something. If the Uchiha boy had the capabilities of the Yondaime's son, that would compensate for his handicap. Another thing would be for him to get the medical attention possible in their world, not this one. Danzo understood that an arrangement had been made between Hiruzen and the people of that world to let the Yondaime's son and the Hyuuga Heiress go there for training and Intel gathering. Should the Uchiha boy and a carefully picked agent were to go with them, more could be reaped.
Setting his tea down, the War Hawk got up and made his way out of his chamber.
When the two blonds had come out to a vacant area, not much had been said, by them at least. Shizune had been begging her master to reconsider and Jiraiya had been trying to get his student out of a fight with his teammate.
To no avail. Tsunade was determined to wipe the smirk off the little boy.
"One finger, brat. I'll beat you, using only one finger. If I win, the two of you will leave and that will be that."
The teen shrugged, "If I win, though?"
Tsunade smirked, "Should that happen...I'll come and give you a little prize. You in?"
Naruto looked over to Jiraiya who was frantically shaking his head and making a "stop" gesture. The blond rolled his eyes before turning back to the legendary healer and nodded.
Tsunade nodded back and put her feet apart before cracking the joints in her hands. She watched her opponent take out his ridiculously-sized weapon and give a few expert swings.
"Fair warning, kid, I don't hold back. If you want to have your little toy snapped like a toothpick, then go ahead and try to use it."
The boy smiled, "Thanks for the warning, but it's not needed."
Tsunade, despite being confident, had her instincts shouting in her head to move as the boy lept into the air. Just as she moved, he starting throwing out orange glowing spheres that, when they landed where she just was, erupted as they hit the ground, showering the area with debris and causing deep craters. She had to move once more as she saw him coming at her with an incredible speed, ready to pierce her through.
'I did warn him.' She thought smugly as she brought her fist back to break his weapon. However, he then disappeared in a flash and appeared behind her , causing her to pivot on the spot. He swung his weapon with such a force, Tsunade skidded a few feet back and temporarily lost her balance. The boy took advantage of the situation and pierced the ground, spinning up the handle and kicking her in the stomach.
Tsunade reached out with her finger to make her promise true but was, yet, surprised and frustrated again when the teen batted her wrist up and away from him.
However, she then stepped on his foot and reached out with the other hand, causing him to squat down, barely missing it. He then took her by surprise by lifting the bottom of her kimono and then chuckled.
"Look at how shriveled your legs are...you old hag."
Tsunade saw red, brought back her fist, and punched the boy in the chest causing him to rocket backwards and slam into a building.
After the the debris and dust settled there was still no movement. Tsunade breathed heavily as she tried to calm herself down. She thought maybe the brat was unlucky and she actually killed him but then heard a weakened voice croak, "Cura!" The alleyway then bathed in green light before it went away and she heard the slow walk of the boy coming out of the wall and walk to his blade that he left nearby.
"Think you should be moving? I put enough, in that punch, to probably fracture some of your bones."
The boy rotated his shoulder socket before stretching his arms and popping the joints in his neck.
"I think we should call this a draw. After all, you never hit me with your finger."
Tsunade scowled but closed her eyes and sighed, tiredly. "Alright. I promise not to go anywhere until we've reached a conclusion with this bet. Shizune, I'll meet you in the hotel."
Her student, looking disturbed by what she had watched, nodded dumbly. Jiraiya, in the meantime, was wiping his brow in relief.
While Tifa and Hinata continued their sparring, Cloud was at the Hokage's Tower finishing up the final touches of the deal he had made with the late Sandaime. Most of the terms were made with an explanation by Cloud on what their world actually produced. Most of which he said, they seem disinterested in. However, when mentioning the science and medical science of their world, the Council seemed to have their attention drawn to it the most.
In terms of what Midgar would want, it was a little vague. Their world was more advanced but some of the things that Cloud and the others had on them when they came back to Midgar seemed to interest some of the people.
Rufus Shinra, of course, was one of them. After Reno and Rude returned and made their reports to him, the shady corporate magnet approached Cloud with the invitation of helping the process of making a safe device for him and Tifa to use to get back to this world to find his son.
Cloud took the offer with caution, knowing who it was he was dealing with.
Since the Sandaime's death, Cloud had worried that this deal would be dragged through one meeting after another. Surprisingly, it went rather well. No one made any objections to the terms and there seemed to be optimism.
However, as easy as it was going, there was a person in the room that had Cloud on guard. He was a man who was bandaged, limping on a cane and only had one eye exposed. He was quite through the entire exchange and only spoke when the meeting came to an end.
"I'd like to make a condition to the contract."
The other Konoha members looked at him in surprise but no one had objected.
'Must be someone important.' Cloud observed.
The man took out two folders and placed them on the table.
"I'd like two to accompany the two Genin going on the mission to the designated place."
This had some murmurs come out of the members before the leader of this meeting took the folders and looked at both of them.
"Danzo-sama, why these two?"
The bandaged man spoke softly but with authority. "From this meeting we've learned that this world, Midgar, has capabilities that we don't have. Namely, in their medical science. Sasuke Uchiha, our last member of the Uchiha Clan, could benefit from this and this will be seen as a notion of goodwill between our worlds."
The room was alive with whispers but positive and motivated ones. Cloud, however, was processing what he heard and was trying to dissect this to see what the mysterious official's aim was. From what he saw at the Chuunin Exams and what his adopted son told him, Cloud knew that this Uchiha boy grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth and an arrogance to match. To this village a name was important and the boy was promising, despite his character and injury.
"Who is the other one?" Cloud asked.
"A student of mine who will be there to make sure that the Uchiha heir is protected till he is whole, again. His name is Sai."
The leader of the meeting nodded, "I don't foresee any problems with this addition. Do you have any disagreements, Strife-san?"
Cloud closed his eyes and thought about what might happen. Other than attitude, he didn't see any problems with the Uchiha boy. Naruto could set him in line should he could get out of control. The medical attention wasn't a problem... maybe. He would need to ask Barret if he could get in touch with Shalua Rui to make this happen.
This, "Sai", was a different matter. Cloud had a feeling that there was another objective but he did not know what.
Sighing, he nodded, "It should be fine."
Two of the most powerful ninja of Konoha sat at the late hours of the hotel's bar quietly drinking sake, together. Before, Jiraiya had arrived but said nothing as he had sat down next to former teammate.
After ten minutes of silence, Tsunade was the one to break it.
"Is that kid really your student? I thought, after Minato died, you'd be against having another."
Jiraiya sighed, "Truth be told, I'm not sure what to teach Naruto. I hope to be his sensei but he's impressive as it is. I can't remember anyone holding strong that long against you, Hime."
The woman didn't reply but changed topics. "To answer your earlier question, Orochimaru did come to see me."
"And?"
Tsunade took a drink before she spoke, "He wants me to help him."
Jiraiya sighed, "Your answer to him?"
"I'm still thinking." She honestly replied.
Jiraiya finished his bottle of sake and stood up and began to leave but before he did, spoke over his shoulder, "I have an idea on what he offered you in return. Tsunade, my advice to you is not to do anything stupid. If you take a path that could hurt the village, I will destroy you."
Tsunade nodded as his figure retreated.
It was the next morning when Jiraiya knew something was wrong. He woke up feeling incredibly sluggish and ill. Remembering his drink with his teammate last night, he came to the conclusion that she had slipped him something in his sake.
His muddled-thinking was interrupted by a frantic knocking on his door.
"Jiraiya-sama! Jiraiya-sama! Please, wake up! Tsunade-sama is in trouble!"
The Toad Sannin almost lost his equilibrium as he made his way to open the door. Opening it showed Shizune shaking in worry but then it was doubled as she saw his state.
"What happened, Jiraiya-sama?" However, she soon came to the obvious realization, "Tsunade-sama did this, didn't she?"
Jiraiya nodded as he waded through his cobwebbed mind before finally asking her, "Have you seen Naruto?"
The boy in question just ran up the steps before he stopped and looked at him, sighing.
"Are you hungover or did she pull a fast one on ya?"
Jiraiya gripped the side of the door as felt he was losing his strength, "The second one."
Shizune reached to her side and brought out a vial that she instructed Jiraiya to drink, which seemed to lessen the impact of his poisoning. Afterwards, Shizune revealed the location where Tsunade was to meet Orochimaru.
Tsunade had some time to think as she made her journey to the outskirts of the town. She supposed it was a cheap stunt to poison her former teammate's sake but she didn't need him pestering her as she met with their other teammate.
Orochimaru had offered her something that resonated with her soul: Bringing Dan, her lover, and Nawaki, her brother, back to her.
However, it would mean fixing the damage her late sensei had done to him in order to protect the village she had discarded. Would she be able to do this and still live with that on in mind? What would Dan and Nawaki think, should her teammate actually make good on his promise?
Then there was her grandfather and granduncle, the First and Second Hokage's of the village. Should she be allowed to enter Heaven's Door, would she be met with pride or with scorn?
Her thoughts were interrupted by seeing Orochimaru and, what appeared to be, some teen boy with him.
She put on a mask of indifference as she came up to them to stop.
"Well, well, Tsunade. I'm glad you came." The Snake Sannin smiled.
"Indeed." The be-speckled teen agreed, "Tsunade-sama is a woman of her word."
Tsunade didn't say anything but their meeting was intruded when three figures came running up to Tsunade.
"Tsunade-sama! Wait! Please don't do this!" Shizune shouted as she came to a stop behind her master.
Jiraiya, still looking pale, stood next to her but kept his attention on Orochimaru, "You sure are cruel, Hime."
The last person stood on the other side of the Legendary Medic and looked between the two people he had fought not too long ago.
"Orochimaru, what a sight for sore eyes you are." Naruto then looked to the teen who was looking back at him with a smirk, "And Kabuto. Have you always played on "Team Snake"?"
The silver-haired teen nodded, "Surely you didn't believe otherwise, Naruto-kun? You are observant enough, after all."
Naruto nodded.
Orochimaru, looking at the blond teen warily, remembering their fight and that entity that emerged from the boy; turned to Tsunade.
"I have patience but not an infinite one. What is your answer, Tsunade?"
All eyes turned to the woman as she had her closed before the opened. "I miss those who were taken from me. So much, it hurts. However..." She then slammed her fist into her hand as she took a step towards the Snake Sannin, "They would never forgive me if I had made a deal with a duplicitous bastard, such as you!"
The Snake Sannin shook his head in resignation, "I see. What a pity..."
Tsunade then launched herself at him, swinging her fist only for him to dodge in an instant. Jiraiya went through a series of hand signs before cupping his hands over his mouth and breathing out a stream of fire at him. Orochimaru stepped to the side causing it to miss and then he received a kick to the stomach from Tsunade. The two against one battle drifted on away from the three other members.
Naruto had his halberd out and Shizune had senbon ready and waiting. Kabuto, in the meantime, was smiling maliciously.
"I've been meaning to ask, Naruto-kun, how your relationship with Hinata-chan is going."
Naruto steeled himself as he studied his opponent's body language.
"What does it matter to you?"
The silver-haired teen then took out a scroll from his pouch and then unsealed it. It revealed a jar case filled with pale eyes surrounded in liquid.
"I just wondered how you'd feel if I added her to my collection?"
Naruto froze, his mind becoming blank and then, slowly it became infused with unbridled rage.
"YOU WILL NOT TOUCH HER!"
Kabuto watched with satisfaction as the boy came charging at him at an incredible speed. Most interestingly, though, was that the blond's eyes had changed from their sapphire color to a slit turquoise green. Remembering Orochimaru's information about his fight with the boy and what came out of him at a point, Kabuto knew it was only a little more pushing before it would happen.
"Naruto-san! Stop!" Shizune shouted as she too joined the fray.
Kabuto side-stepped the enraged boy and dodged the senbon thrown by the girl. In one quick and fluid motion he sealed his collection back up, brought out a kunai to block Naruto's slice, and kick the girl in the head causing her to fall back.
Meanwhile, Naruto's mind, body, and soul could feel him losing control of his emotions and that Sephiroth's slumbering form was about to wake and take hold of him. However, the eyes that Kabuto showed him, had him picturing Hinata's eyes in there and the image burned on his psyche.
"Tell me, Naruto-kun, what should I do... with the rest of her body?"
After those words from Kabuto came out, Naruto fell off the edge of the metaphorical knife. Kabuto's hands glowed and he slashed at the blond's chest before he erupted with black smoke.
Seeing his desired result, the silver-haired teen delivered one last hit against Shizune before he disappeared and came to his master as the three Sannin had stopped their battle, watching the transformation happening to the blond teen.
'Shit', thought Jiraiya, watching as the black smoke start to take the shape of a tall person.
Orochimaru heard Kabuto appear behind him. "We're leaving, Kabuto."
The teen nodded and then both of them sank into the earth.
Tsunade's eyes watched in morbid-fascination as that boy had now turned to a tall man with long silvery hair and pale skin, with an extremely long nodachi resting in his hands. The air, now, felt extremely cold and when she saw the eyes, her heart froze. She then realized someone important to her was now in danger.
"Shizune! Get out of there!"
The girl, about to act, was petrified when she came within sight of the man who's mouth curled into a playful smile.
"Here at last. But where are the other two?" He then made a slow pace to the, now quivering, girl. "Who am I to thank for opening the door?"
Tsunade appeared in a sunshin and brought her fist down to the ground causing a crater along that of a fissure that came towards the man, causing him to jump a step back.
Tsunade watched him use his sword and swing it hard against the ground causing chunks of the earth to come hurtling towards her and her student. Quickly, she punched through the masses and in their wake the harbinger of fear came at her with his sword poised to impale her. He was stopped by Jiraiya's intervention as the Toad Sannin used a spinning blue orb against the man's side.
"Rasengan!"
Sephiroth was pushed aside and then swung his blade which was stopped by Jiraiya's hair which became a shield of spikes around him. However, using his strength, he launched the Sannin into his teammate, who fell back.
"No need to be impatient. Everyone gets their turn." He then closed his eyes and breathed in, deeply. "This world is fascinating. Such rich life, ready to meet it's end."
He then disappeared and came behind Tsunade and swung down on her shoulder, only for her to try and block it hit her open palm. Masumune cut into her flesh causing a trickle of blood to come down.
Tsunade froze on the spot, feeling her hemophobia kick in.
Jiraiya was panicking, thinking of what could possibly put this man down and bring Naruto back. His mind went to the seal and what usually worked on a Jinjuuriki. It would be a gamble, but he decided to try it.
"Tsunade! Don't let him go!"
Tsunade's mind came out of it's fear-induced stupor and she reached out and grasped Sephiroth's arm, which caused him to frown.
Jiraiya's fingers glowed purple and he slammed the fingers into the murder's stomach, right where the seal would be.
Sephiroth's face went into a grimace and Naruto's face shimmered on the surface.
"See you again, soon. Jiraiya, Tsunade, and little Shizune..." Smoke then enveloped around the body again before it fell once more and showed the blond teen once more who was out like a light.
Both Sannin were breathing heavily and Shizune went to see if the Strife boy had any serious injuries to treat.
"Jiraiya...What or who...was that?"
Jiraiya steadied breathing before he then gave her a condensed version of the events that have transpired around the boy. When he was finished Tsunade was quiet before she sighed and came to the slumbering boy.
"As insane as that sounds I have to believe it, don't I?"
Jiraiya sighed, "I wish it were simpler."
Shizune, having finished her diagnostic on the boy, looked to her master.
"Tsunade-sama, are you still-"
"No, I'm going to forfeit the bet." She then dusted herself off and looked to Jiraiya, "Konoha looks like is in need of better leadership if Orochimaru's going to be stopped. I'll take that gamble and be its Hokage."
Hinata walked from her latest appointment with the counselor to the hotel to meet up with Marlene and Denzil for dinner as Cloud and Tifa were meeting with Kakashi-sensei to discuss something with him. She idly wondered if Naruto was doing well on his mission. As soon as he came back, he was to whisk her away into another world.
She started thinking of Tifa's words to her during their sparring match. The difference between fighting an enemy and fighting yourself. She knew she was at constant odds with herself, thus her timidness. However, after meeting Naruto and becoming a part of his world, she has changed.
Together they wee sure to battle their enemies and to reconcile with themselves.
Midgar...what will it bring?
To be continued
A/N: A long overdue apology for my readers of this story and of the others for my long absence. I won't make excuses but I do want to reassure everyone that I am not dead and these stories are not abandoned. I apologize if this story is lacking in bite but I'm satisfied as to how this concluded. Next will be the trip to Midgar. Stay tuned.
Q-n-P