Chapter Twenty-Four

End of Trouble and Home Sweet Home

Naruto spluttered as he fell backwards in a crumpled heap. Kabuto smirked until that faded, realizing what he had just done. He freaked and jumped over to Orochimaru's side who wanted to summon Manda and Jiraiya had already called Gamabunta. Tsunade looked at the downed boy in tears, Shizune had gone over to his side instantly, after seeing what had happened.

"This is my fault." Tsunade whispered as she finally got onto her feet and moved over to the boy and shoved Shizune out of the way. She tore his short and vest open, showing a perfect chest. Only problem was that the veins connected to his heart had been cut, there was no blood getting to his heart and his heart had stopped already. So with everything she had, she pushed healing chakra into his body, connecting the vessels and other ligaments back, trying to get his heart started was the real problem though.

It wouldn't start. It was as if he had already left when the fox started pushing his own chakra through it as well, trying to make it move as well. The heart would not start and Tsunade's mind went to the problems of Nawaki and Dan. The blood and the tears she had shed over them, trying to keep one alive and only seeing the bloody corpse of the other. Both had been wearing the necklace she now had.

The green crystal shined in the sun as she cried over Naruto's body. His head band was still tied around his neck and his face blank as she tried to bring back to life. Finally, after she thought she had lost the boy, his hand lifted up and patted her on the cheek. He cracked his right eye open and looked at her, smiling. "Can't get rid of me that easily." And then he closed his eye and his hand fell slowly to the ground.

Tsunade let out a grateful gasp, and a sigh of relief, then she stood. She went over to where Jiraiya and Orochimaru were fighting, leaving Shizune with orders to protect Naruto, and summoned her Slug, Katsuya. Then the fight really began.(It's the same as the fight on the TV show and I'm not really good at fighting scenes.)

34

Tsunade was walking with Jiraiya and Shizune, they were on their way back to Konoha. Naruto was still a little frightened after they're fight with Orochimaru, so he was clinging to Jiraiya's leg like a life line. It amused Tsunade most indefinitely.

But now they were outside Konoha's gates and Tsunade saw Naruto's hands tighten and Jiraiya's grimace. So with a motherly love she had within her when she'd taken Shizune in, she grabbed one of Naruto's hands in one of hers. The boy looked up at her in confusion and she only smirked in return. It was so adorable to see his face like that, so confused and not getting something.

Well that smirk faded once she saw the two elders standing in front of the gates, waiting for them to come to them. Tsunade had this horrible feeling that Jiraiya had forgotten to mention something to her, and thanks to that, she was now doomed.

34

Koharu and Homaru both sat waiting for Tsunade to stop fidgeting. They were at the Hokage tower, and everyone was eager to start, or in Tsunade's instance, run for the hills.

"Now we must talk, Tsunade, we have asked Jiraiya to find you, so we may offer the position of Hokage to you." The old women Koharu said instantly. Tsunade's eyes widened enormously. "On no no no no no no no no….. NO! I refuse to take that stupid job in the first place. I only came here because of Naruto. I want to help him but I don't want to become the Hokage at all!" Tsunade said at once, trying to get out of the job. The elders weren't being very corporative.

Homaru glared at her and began to speak. "But you must, you are the first's granddaughter and the niece of the second. You have the most greatest medical skills, where you could restart the medical teachings again, not to mention that wild strength you have. You could be a great Hokage Tsunade-Hime." The old man said. Tsunade was still shaking her head, but was stopped by Jiraiya who sat on the window sill of the room.

"Tsunade, you could protect Naruto. He needs you more then anyone else since you have the power to help him with his problem. Not to mention, you could keep him from being executed by these old fools." Jiraiya argued, ignoring the glares he was receiving from the old farts.

Tsunade had frozen at that. Jiraiya was right, Naruto was the only reason why she was even here now. They had left him in the care of his team for now, but he couldn't always stay with them. Not to mention she would bet her necklace that the old geezers had a plan to get rid of Naruto once and for all. So Tsunade did the only reasonable thing she could think of doing at the time.

She slammed her hand onto the desk between her and the elders, almost breaking it, and yelled at the elders. "I accept the title of Hokage." Jiraiya smirked and patted himself on the back for a job well done.

34

Naruto laid against a tree with his team. Sakura laid against his right and Sasuke next to him on his left, Kakashi was in the tree they were laying against. Naruto sighed happily as he held Sakura by her waist and breathed silently. He never noticed Sasuke grin as his movement, even Kakashi grinned.

"So, tomorrows the tenth of October, what cha going to be doing tomorrow Naruto?" Sakura suddenly asked and Naruto paled instantly. He had forgotten that the Kyuubi festival would be happening the next day and his birthday as well.

"Naruto, try not to miss your own party." Kakashi said as he continued reading his book. "I won't Kakashi sensei." Naruto said as his fingers dug slightly into Sakura's side, she winced and Naruto noticing, loosened his grip. "Sorry Sakura-chan, I'm a little on edge." Naruto said and Sakura only nodded, her ponytail bouncing slightly in the motion. "Why so tense anyways Naruto?" Sasuke asked suddenly and Naruto glanced at him. "It's the same day I left with Itachi, Sasuke. The same day your family died and the same day I first killed." Naruto explained lightly.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, he couldn't believe Naruto would kill someone on the tenth, six years ago, or almost seven now. "Who did you kill Naruto?" Sasuke asked and Sakura let Naruto go, crawled onto her knees, and stared at Naruto as well, wanting to know. Kakashi had even put his book down and was staring at Naruto critically. "Who did you kill Naruto?" Sasuke asked again after a few minutes of silence.

Naruto was looking at the ground, his face shadowed by his bangs that were now a dull red and above the red, orange started, and then the bright yellow. "Answer the question Naruto!" Sasuke yelled with his eyes as slits. Naruto finally looked up, his sapphire eyes were now a navy blue and glazed over, startling the three with him. "I killed over fifty villagers and half of them were ninja at least Jounin level. I had no other choice, either it was kill or be killed at Six years of age." Naruto finally whispered as he looked away slightly.

Sasuke looked over to a calm faced Sakura, who had now moved enough to lower Naruto's head onto her shoulder easily. She held him there in a hug for a while, until both heard snoring sounds. It surprised them that he had fallen asleep so quickly, but he had just returned from a trip just hours ago, so sleeping was probably at the top of his list.

Kakashi chuckled at the scene. Sakura leaned against the tree as Naruto had his head cradled on her shoulder, and Sasuke laying next to them, head on Sakura's legs, the raven asleep as well. It was indeed an amusing site, especially when Sakura herself fell asleep as well. Kakashi could only chuckle and kept a watch over his students as they slept on.

34

Tsunade was already tired of everything. She had just escaped the hell known as the office and was now searching for the brat. He had taken a little spot in her heart and there was no way in hell she'd be able to get rid of him now. He had just gotten in so close.

That didn't matter. She had found a way to protect him from the council and the villagers. She'd become the Godaime Hokage and keep him safe. She'd also evaluate his true skills and power. He was hiding more then she did in her life and now she wanted to know what it was he was hiding.

She was walking around Konoha with Shizune and Tonton with her. She spotted Jiraiya leaping on the rooftops, heading towards the forest, so she followed him by jumping on the buildings as well. Shizune grabbed Tonton from the ground and followed easily as well.

It took about fifteen minutes before Tsunade fell upon the cutest site ever. She saw Naruto laying against a girl, his head on her shoulder, asleep and a raven nearby, all three asleep. She spotted Kakashi in a tree above the tree and Jiraiya was talking to the jounin from the ground, happily chattering like a hummingbird.

But Tsunade didn't really care about the two pervs, she was looking at her favorite blonde/red/orange haired ninja. He looked so peaceful right now and the others, his teammates, were just about as cute. All three had tank tops on and two had vests while the other had arm warmers. Naruto's vest being black and the girls being a white.

It was the cutest thing ever and she was glad Shizune had taken a picture of it with the camera she always carried for special occasions, such as these. Perfect for blackmail material, especially since the trees were a nice orange and yellow, red and green colors. It was autumn, so it would naturally change the trees. It was a perfect scene for the picture.

Now she wanted to wake the blonde up and she smirked at the way she was about to do it. It would make him use some kind of retaliation and she would enjoy it as she got to beat him instantly.

She gave her green jacket to Shizune and cracked her knuckles. Jiraiya heard the cracking and smirked as he jumped out of the way. Kakashi's eyes widened as he saw her smirking evilly and cracking her knuckles in malicious glee. He ended up jumping away as well, especially when she hit the ground with her fist and made the ground rise into the air, flipping the three Genin, who were now wide awake, into the air.

They instantly landed on their feet as soon as they realized what was happening and Naruto giving them the hand sign to scattered and hide, did as they normally would. They hid perfectly and Tsunade was surprised the three brats worked so well together, after only eight months of working together. She was really surprised when a fire ball came at her, then it was amplified with wind, and then a purple mist settled into the area.

Tsunade held her breath as she jumped out of the area, getting clear of the mist. Whatever it was wasn't good because Shizune was a little late in holding her breath and was now stumbling around in a dizzy fetish. It was funny but Tsunade didn't want to be the one down there.

She didn't have a choice as she felt a foot connect with her head and sent her flailing into the ground with the mist. Her vision went blurry and she felt really hot. She knew she had a fever by the way she felt and she didn't really want this at all. The three worked too well together. They could be promoted to Chuunin by now and be perfect team.

Fortunately the mist cleared and there were Kunais pressed to her neck all around her. The girl with pink hair in front of her, the raven to her right, and then to the back must've been Naruto.

The girl's eyes widened as soon as she realized who it was she was holding her kunai to and she gasped immediately. "Naruto, this is Lady Tsunade, the famous Medic nin." The girl said and she could see Naruto shrug his shoulders as the kunai from the back disappeared and the other two followed. "She attacked us and we did what we normally would do when attacked. Her fault, not ours." Naruto said calmly.

Sasuke grunted in agreement and watched as Sakura pulled out a vile full of a green liquid. She put her chakra into it and let a new mist settle. Tsunade's fever disappeared, as did Shizune's, and they both stood back up. Tsunade turned around to face Naruto who looked calm enough, but the slight shine to his face showed how nervous he was. He could take a Sannin with his team but not alone.

"Well, that was impressive, great teamwork and great plan. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it before." Tsunade said as she looked at Naruto in the eye. She was still surrounded by the three Genin. Kakashi and Jiraiya stood at the edge of the clearing, and Shizune had come to her master's side, handing her coat back. Tsunade shrugged the thing back on as she continued to stare at Naruto. His eyes were a now bright Navy color and slited, his fangs still showed and his headband was tied around his neck. His whisker marks were darker then before and showed more. His bangs were just like the Yondaime's, except the ends were a light red, then orange, and then the sunny yellow.

"I really do expect the three of you to be on that Chuunin list when I look it over. You all three have that potential and it would be a great addition to the ninja in Konoha if you were." Tsunade said and she saw the Girl's eyes widen in disbelief before she replied. "Actually only those two will show because I decided I didn't want to compete in the finals. I won't be on that list Lady Tsunade." She said quickly.

Tsunade looked the girl over and saw a great medic standing in front of her. This girl could surpass her easily. She had made a chemical that could cause a horrible fever and then she had cured it with another chemical. She was brilliant.

"I don't care if you didn't make it to the finals, from what I saw today, you'd make one hell of a medic and a Chuunin. I might as well take you under my wing to improve those skills of yours." Tsunade said, making Sakura's eyes widen even more. Naruto snaked around Tsunade and over to Sakura and wrapped his arms around her waist easily and put his chin on her shoulder. "Better not kill her Tsunade, I just might slip a drug in your drink if you do." Naruto threatened with a growl and his eyes closed.

Tsunade gulped at that, she didn't even want to think something like that right now. She was going to be paranoid for the next couple of months because of that now. "Okay, but you better be at my office at six in the morning on the fifteenth or I will punch you through a wall." Tsunade said and Sakura nodded her head.

"Well, now that's settled, I better tell you I'm now your Hokage as well, so you better show me some respect brat." Naruto chuckled evilly as he opened his eyes and he stared at her, Sakura still in his arms. "No chance old hag, you might be my higher up, but there is now way I'll ever show respect to a drunken old women." Naruto said and saw Tsunade's face go red, so he let Sakura go and ran for it. Tsunade on his tail.

The six people in the clearing looked at each other quietly and then Naruto reappeared, grinning madly. "You used a shadow clone, didn't you Naruto?" Sasuke asked as he put his hands in his pockets and grinned at the blonde. "Yes I did." Naruto said as he started to chuckle.