Chunin Exams arc
Tsunade retrieval
"So.. Ero-sennin, who is this woman we are looking for? Not just some genius doctor, I take it?" Naruto asked when he and Jiriaya had left Konoha.
"Ahh.. How should I answer that one.." Jiriaya frowned. "She was my teammate, all the way back from when I was a genin."
"Just like that snake?"
"Yes, Orochimaru was our teammate. And Hokage-sama was our sensei," Jiraiya nodded. "Eventually the three of us grew out to become quite strong and our fame grew along. There were wars going on in that time.. That's when we got our nickname."
Jiraiya smiled when he thought back at those times. "As for Tsunade.. Her strength is comparable to my own. Besides that, she is known as the world's best medical-nin. Some say she cheats death," he laughed.
"She is that good?"
"No, unfortunately people will always die, Naruto," Jiraiya sighed. "But she can do far more than any other doctor in Konoha. She will be able to heal Hinata, if we can get her back."
"Why did she abandon Konoha?"
"Some people died.. She could not save them, and became frustrated. Traumatized," Jiraiya answered, carefully. "Though she did not actually abandon Konoha as a missing-nin, she did get permission to take an extended leave. For a period as long as she wanted, on several conditions. Which basically means that she is on retirement."
"So how do we convince her to go back? And how do we even find her?"
"Well, one of the conditions was that she should stay in the country of Fire. Though, I do not intend our search to cover the entire nation. It is not necessary, as I have a general idea of where she is. I am known for my information network, you know?"
"I thought that only covered your perverted activities, like those poorly written books of yours," Naruto frowned.
"There will be a day when you realize my genius writing skills," Jiraiya replied with some faked outrage. "And then I will not give you a signed copy."
Naruto laughed. "Just tell me where to go, o Almighty Pervert."
"A break already?" Naruto frowned. "We just left an hour ago."
"I arranged a third team member for this mission, and we will meet on this spot," Jiraiya replied. "So while we wait… how did you training go? Gamakichi said you struggled with the third step now."
Jiraiya sat down on a log. Apparently, a large storm had hit this area earlier that year, as many tries in that part of the forest were uprooted.
"Second phase was a bit odd, because I had to move the air inside the ball, instead of the water. But with some help from Hinata I managed to blow up that ball as well. Actually, the rotation was more difficult than applying to force needed to burst it," Naruto added.
"And the third step?"
"Well.. It is more difficult, because it constantly blows up. Or if I don't put in enough chakra, it dissolves," Naruto admitted. "Keeping a balance between power and stability seems to be the trick, but I did not have enough time to practice, with the chunin-exams coming up."
Jiraiya nodded thoughtfully, though he did not want to reveal how impressed he was with the genin's progress, he decided it was best to inform Naruto. "These exercises are the basic of a A-rank jutsu, developed by the fourth Hokage," Jiraiya said. "He named it the rasengan."
"The Yondaime?" Naruto frowned. "Why did you-"
"The Yondaime Hokage was my student," Jiraiya cut him off. "And he taught me that jutsu."
"Why the face?" Jiraiya added when he looked at Naruto.
"You thought that bastard fuinjutsu too?" Naruto scowled.
Jiraiya sighed. "You still blame him for what he did to you?"
"This," Naruto pointed at his stomach. "Is pretty hard to ignore, isn't it?"
"I told you, the fourth had no other option.." Jiraiya said softly. "He was about the most kind and gentle person I've known.. Not the kind who did something like that without reason. I've explained how you were the only person around who was capable of the task, right?"
Though reluctant, Naruto nodded. "Well then, just continue with the third step for now," Jiraiya changed subjects on a clear tone. "And how is your study in fuinjutsu going?"
"Basically, pretty good," Naruto said with some pride. "I've improved the infernal seal, and found new ways to attach seals to other people by using kage bunshin."
"I saw that," Jiraiya said with some enthusiasm. "You embedded those weight seals in the bunshin, and when Lee touched them, the seal got stuck to him."
"Yeah, that's the basics of it. The moment the bunshin is hit, it puts all of its remaining chakra into the area which is hit and applies the seal on whatever hits it. So it only works with taijutsu. And I can only do this with simple seals, because of the response time."
"Every jutsu has its limitations," Jiraiya said, "But still, it is a pretty impressive combination."
"There are a few harder ones.. I know I have wind and fire affinities, so I focus on the fuinjutsu requiring either those or pure chakra," Naruto frowned. "But this one is still virtually impossible for me: the flying thunder god, or hiraishin no jutsu as the notes called it. The description and theory from the book say that it is an awesome jutsu. But even though I have spent a lot of time on training it, I just can't get it right."
Silence.
"Ero-sennin?" Naruto asked in surprise, when he, after a moment of silence, noticed the perplexed look on Jiraiya's face.
"You tried to learn the hiraishin no jutsu? How?" Jiraiya managed to say.
"One of the scrolls had a book sealed inside it. I found it last year or so. Really complex seal, but even though I know for sure I created it the right way, it is still extremely inaccurate.."
"Was it hard for you to create that seal?"
Naruto thought deeply. "Yeah.. At first it was nearly impossible, how so?"
"Naruto.. The basics of that jutsu.. It requires raiton mastery. It requires a certain mastery over the lightning element."
"Lightning? But the book-"
"It was a notebook, not meant for teaching others, was it?" Jiraiya guessed. "Well.. A lot of the Uzumaki scrolls are a mess, so it isn't really surprising that you didn't notice the difference. Seems like you inherited that lack of systematic thinking from your clan.."
"A notebook? But wait.. Does that mean I messed up the seal because I put ordinary chakra in it, instead of lightning?"
"The jutsu works with regular chakra, but the creation of those seals can only be done with raiton. That is why you were inaccurate, Naruto. To be honest, you should not even have been able to do that."
"Ehh.." Naruto scratched the back of his head. "So I eh.. I was training my third element or something?" he guessed.
Jiraiya rummage in his pockets, and after some grumbling in his pack as well. "Here," he finally said, handing Naruto a handful of chakra papers. "Charge it with the same kind of chakra as you use for the hiraishin seals."
The first attempts only split or burned the papers, but the eleventh piece of paper wrinkled.
Jiraiya whistled, impressed. "You sure are one crazy kid."
"What?" Naruto failed to understand, and thought Jiraiya ridiculed him.
"Even most jonin have trouble enough with mastering two nature transformations.." Jiraiya said, his amazement now obvious to Naruto. "And you.. You unknowingly were training for a third!"
"I.. Eh.." Naruto was too embarrassed by the praise to know what to reply.
"I was thinking of helping you train the rasengan.. But I guess training your lightning nature would be easier to do while travelling. Just grab some leaves, and try to repeat what you just did with the piece of chakra paper. Can I have those back, by the way?" Jiraiya pointed at the remaining pieces of chakra paper. "Those things a rather expensive, and not to mention quite useful too."
'Impossible! To think he is starting to learn both of Minato's signature moves at this age. No wonder that Hyuga guardian of his has such respect of him. Stupid raw talent like this is a rare thing to see,' Jiraiya thought. 'Even without proper education Naruto would have been a remarkable shinobi. And the Hyuga only made him stronger. That Haruki was right: teaching him to control that power would be enough to make him a monster, literally, without even taking his jutsus into account.'
While waiting for their contact to appear, Naruto dispatched a dozen clones to gather leaves and start practicing. Meanwhile, he summoned Gamazu. The wrinkly silver-skinned toad was as absent-minded as always, and it took him a few seconds before he realized he was summoned.
"Naruto-chan?" the horse-sized toad asked. "Ah, and Jiraiya-chan too?"
"Good morning, Gamazu-san," Naruto bowed. Jiraiya nodded with a smile, keeping silent because he knew the overly serious toad did not particularly like him.
"Why was I summoned?" Gamazu asked curiously.
"Jiraiya-sensei figured out why my hiraishin seals were inaccurate!"
"Ah, right, those things should have worked according to theory.. So what was the problem?"
"Well, they required raiton-mastery."
"Lightning.. Hmm let's see.." the toad mused. "That would make sense now you think about it. Use lightning to connect two points, and set up a pathway to travel on.."
Naruto could not understand what the elder toad was mumbling about, as usual Gamazu was lost on his own train of thoughts.
"But wait," the toad suddenly opened his eyes. "That would mean you were using a third element already?"
"Jiraiya-sensei says so," Naruto shrugged.
"And he didn't even know," Jiraiya smirked.
"Very interesting.. Highly impressive for a youngster like yourself," Gamazu complimented Naruto. "That would also mean you could learn the raiton-based fuinjutsu.. Perhaps I should tell Fukasaku-sama and Shima-sama about your progress…" the toad looked at Jiraiya.
"That would be a good idea," Jiraiya agreed. "We are getting way ahead of schedule now, so perhaps we could start the plan a year earlier."
"I am sure they will be pleased to hear about Naruto-chan's progress," Gamazu nodded. "That would mean we would welcome you to Myobokuzan soon."
"Mount what?" Naruto asked Jiraiya after the toad cancelled his summoning.
"Mount Myoboku is the sacred place where the toads live," Jiraiya explained. "The land of the toads. In time, you will be training there, so you can learn senjutsu."
Naruto frowned. "That is what you talked about when Yugito-san spoke about ways to keep the Kyuubi under control, right?" Naruto remembered.
"Senjutsu is the reason why the Sannin are known throughout the world," Jiraiya admitted. "If you are capable of learning it, your power should expand quite a bit. But I warn you: it is extremely difficult to gather and control sage chakra. Not to mention that it is very dangerous. But that will be explained to you when the time is right. For now, we should welcome our companion. She is getting close now."
And indeed, after a minute or so, a cloaked figure appeared at the clearing where Naruto and Jiraiya were waiting.
"How did it go?" Jiraiya asked.
"I got delayed a bit," the cloaked figure answered. "Anko-san ordered me to take a detour in order to make sure I did not meet anyone else." Karin removed her cloak. "But after that, it was pretty easy to find the two of you. You both have quite a noticeable amount of chakra," she added.
"Karin!" Naruto exclaimed. Then he laughed. "Finding that Tsunade woman will be easy now!"
"Finding her is not the hard part of this mission, Naruto," Jiraiya remembered him. "The part where we convince her to go with us is.."
She was bored. So very, very bored. Her teammates were gone, training either with their sensei, or with their clan. And she, the one who failed the exam, was left behind. Alone, as even her parents were busy with their jobs.
"Typically for me to fail when I have to fight," Sakura grumbled, while she kicked a pebble away. She wandered through town, tired of her parents' patronizing. But even though her wounded body had healed, her pride had yet a long way to go.
"Hey, Billboard Brow!" someone called her.
Sakura looked behind her, and found that she had passed the Yamanaka flower shop without even looking. "What, Ino-pig?" Sakura replied, not completely unfriendly.
"Is everything alright?" Ino asked with a worried face.
Sakura sighed. "I'm fine, just bored.. Sasuke has left with Kakashi, and they didn't say a word. Shino does not talk much either, but he at least said that he would be training with his own clan. So.."
'So I'd almost long back to the times I still had Naruto around…'
"No training or mission, while pretty much everyone else is busy?" Ino deduced. "Yeah.. That must be boring. You know, I'll ask Asuma-sensei if you can join us. Choji helps training Shikamaru and me as well," she explained.
"Are you sure that.."
"I need a target to practice my jutsu anyways," Ino cut her off. "Him again?" she frowned.
"What?" Sakura looked at the boy who had walked towards the flower shop.
"For the last two weeks, he buys flowers every other day," Ino explained. "Hey, kid, buying flowers for your girlfriend again?" she asked loudly.
Konohamaru shrugged at the elder girl's words. "No, why should I?" he remarked. "This is my duty to niichan," he added with some pride.
"You buy flowers for you brother?" Sakura wondered.
"No," Konohamaru sighed, as if he was amazed the older girls were so stupid. "Niichan asked me to make sure she has fresh flowers," he held up a small frog shaped wallet.
"That is Naruto's wallet," Sakura recognized Gama-chan.
"You know niichan as well?" Konohamaru became more enthusiastic.
"We were his classmates at the academy," Ino explained, before Sakura would have to explain that she had been his teammate for a while.
Konohamaru nodded. "Why would Naruto ask you to buy flowers? And for who?" Sakura wondered.
"Hinata-sama is injured," Konohamaru said softly. "And fresh flowers keep that hospital stench from her room. Niichan said she loves flowers, so he asked me to take care of it, while he is out on his mission!"
Ino and Sakura watched as the boy bought a bouquet of flowers, even haggling off some of the price, something which seemed to amuse Ino's mother who helped him. The boy happily said goodbye, and sprinted off towards the hospital, though careful not to spoil the flowers.
"Konohamaru-chan sure is becoming as dependable as his grandfather," Ino's mother smiled.
"Who?" Ino asked bluntly.
"Konohamaru is the hokage's grandson," she explained.
Ino looked at the surprised Sakura. "Well, I have this morning off, why don't we visit Hinata as well?" Ino asked Sakura. "I'm sure she must be as bored then we are.."
"Wow, so many visitors for me?" Kiba smirked, when he saw the two kunoichi in the hallway. Akamaru spurted towards them, barking happily.
"What are you doing here?" Ino frowned. "Asuma-sensei told me you lost, but not that you were wounded like that.."
Kiba pointed the bandages covering his chest and left arm. "I had a little accident," he said, though he didn't seem to take it very seriously. "So I am not that lucky?"
"We brought these for Hinata," Sakura admitted, holding the flowers they brought along.
Kiba smiled. "She'll be happy with those. Did the nurse tell you how she is doing?"
"No, all she said was that we should keep it short and that we should not upset her," Ino said.
"Right, I'll go with you, but we should wait a little. Her mother and Kurenai-sensei are with her right now," Kiba said. "And the brat just left after delivering new flowers. I should have trained my sis to do such things," he laughed.
"Don't worry, we'll wait till they leave, Ko-san," Kiba said against the Hyuga guard who stood outside of Hinata's room.
"What's with the guard?" Sakura asked.
"Hinata is heir to the Hyuga clan, and her mother is it's leader's wife.. So security is to be expected, right?" Kiba shrugged.
After a few minutes, Kurenai and Hitomi left Hinata's room. "Don't worry, sensei, we will keep it short," Kiba promised, after bowing to Hitomi.
Sakura wondered how the older Hyuga woman managed to get such respect from Kiba, who normally barely paid any attention to formalities, just like the rest of his clan.
"Sakura! Ino!" Hinata said happily, though her voice was still weak.
"Hinata…" Sakura could not keep the surprise out of her voice. "How.. How are you doing?"
"I.. Em…"
"Hinata has improved a great deal, but she still needs time to heal," Kiba answered for her. "That rotten bastard caused quite some damage.."
"Please.." Hinata pleaded. "I'll be fine, Kurenai-sensei told me I was recovering faster than the doctor had expected."
"We brought some flowers for you," Ino tried to lighten the mood.
Hinata smiled weakly, and thanked Ino as the latter put the flowers in a vase, next to the new flowers Konohamaru had brought earlier.
"So.. Tell us how you got Naruto to give you flowers like that," Ino smirked.
The pale Hyuga blushed as much as she could under the current conditions. "I.. I.. I don't know," she squeaked weakly. "N-Naruto-kun had already left Konoha when I woke up, and Konohamaru-chan says he is just following orders, but never said who..."
"So he makes sure you get flowers but does not visit you? I knew he was shy, but that is a bit extreme," Ino said disappointed that she did not find a new scoop. "Though Konohamaru-chan said something about a mission?"
"Naruto left Konoha for training," Kiba said, somewhat annoyed by the prodding of the eternally inquisitive blonde.
"Him too?" Sakura grumbled. "Men and their training.. They could at least stick with their team a bit.. Wait, Kurenai-sensei was just here, who is Naruto training with?"
"Kurenai-sensei told me that he is trained by Jiraiya-sama now," Hinata smiled faintly. "I am sure Naruto-kun will return stronger than ever. How is your training going, Ino-san?"
After a detailed description of Ino's 'suffering' with her training regime, they discussed the performance of all the others. They agreed that the genin from Suna were particularly scary, Gaara especially. "Though Naruto impressed me most," Ino admitted. "That Rock Lee was incredibly fast..But Naruto still seemed to be holding back. I really wonder where his limits lie.. It's as if he has become a completely different person," she smiled faintly.
"What?" she added, upon the look of the others.
"Naruto is.." Sakura started. "Naruto is rather exceptional as a shinobi. I always thought Sasuke was the top of our class. But it looks like Naruto has never been serious."
"Naruto-kun trains very hard," Hinata added.
"Yeah, unlike that stuck-up Uchiha teme, Naruto was not gifted with special powers, but he works harder than any other. And now… aside from Gaara, I doubt there is anyone capable of fighting him on equal terms," Kiba remarked, proud of his teammate. Proud enough to risk two near-deathly glares.
"Which is all the more reason for Sasuke to train even harder," Sakura sighed. "He seems to be obsessed with Naruto, especially after his defeat."
"Defeat?" Ino asked sharply. "Is that rumour true? About the reason why Naruto left team 7? Did he really attack Sasuke-kun?"
"It was the other way around," Kiba grumbled. "Naruto doesn't attack people without being provoked.."
Sakura nodded reluctantly, and Hinata remained silent in her hospital bed. "Why?" Ino asked softly.
"Sasuke-kun.. Sasuke-kun is dreaming to become the strongest.. And Naruto just seemed to surpass him with such ease," Sakura said carefully. "It infuriated Sasuke-kun. During our mission in the land of waves, Naruto defeated someone, but for some odd reason he refused to kill that person. Sasuke wanted to do what Naruto refused, to finish the job, and he attacked even though Naruto stood in between."
"Pretty stupid," Kiba remarked. "If you ask me, that Uchiha's pride is out of control. He was always acting like he was superior to everyone. Calling me the 'dead last' all of the time.." he added darkly, never forgetting his grudge.
A nurse opened the door, and looked annoyed. "Hyuga-sama needs to take her rest. Return tomorrow if you want, but not more than three visitors at a time."
Under the gaze of the stern-looking woman, the genin quickly left after saying goodbye to Hinata. Kiba returned to his own room, though Sakura wondered why he was there. Kiba did not move like he was injured at all.
"Ino! Sakura!" another female voice called them just after the left the hospital. Tenten walked towards them. "You've visited someone too?"
"Yes, we have just been to Hinata," Ino said. "And you?"
"I just visited Lee with Gai-sensei," the tomboyish kunoichi said. "Though Lee should be able to leave the hospital in a few days," she added with a smile. "Thank god, because now that I'm all alone, Gai-sensei is focusing the training schedule completely on me, and training has become hell on earth!"
"What about Neji-san?" Sakura frowned.
Tenten stopped smiling. "He is training with his father, at the Hyuga estate. Gai-sensei… Neji promised Gai-sensei not to lose his head over the stuff between the main and branch families. Gai-sensei was pretty disappointed after… well, you know.." she gestured in the direction from where Sakura and Ino came.
Sakura and Ino nodded. "So I guess sensei doesn't really mind that Neji trains on his own," Tenten concluded. "Even if he would never admit such a thing. It wouldn't be 'youthful', I suppose."
"Well, I sure as hell hope I don't have to face Neji in the finals," Ino remarked, shuddering lightly.
"I think that Gaara is worse," Tenten frowned. "Or Naruto… I have never seen Lee move like that, and still Naruto outmatched him like that. Petty sad that Lee, even after he overburdened his own body like that, still lost. But I just can't believe how Naruto defeated him. It was just.. Awesome," Tenten could not hold her admiration out of her voice.
"We can't all win," Sakura said, half to herself.
Tenten smiled. "Yeah, you are right! Well, I must go now, got to fetch some weapons from my dad's place before I resume training again. I don't want Gai-sensei to go looking for me again.."
"Ughh.. I wish Kiba-kun was here," Karin complained, not for the first time. "All you two can do is train, train, and train... oh, and let's not forget that you also train. It's infuriating!"
"Do you miss Kiba that badly?" Jiraiya smirked, before getting another hit from the embarrassed kunoichi. Jiraiya had quickly found out that Karin was sensitive to jokes involving Kiba or Akamaru.
The joke was not detected by Naruto, who usually pestered Karin just as much as the old man did. Something which amused Jiraiya a great deal, because the genin himself was totally blind towards the affections others had to him.
"It still doesn't work," Naruto said with some frustration.
Even after Jiraiya had given him hints on how to improve the third step of his training for the rasengan, Naruto still kept losing control of his chakra. Jiraiya noticed that the Kyuubi's influence had been the root of the problem, and focussed the training on the mastery of Naruto's lightning release. Jiraiya suspected that Naruto first had to resolve the whole situation with Neji, before he could complete the rasengan.
Luckily, Naruto had more success with the lightning release, now being able to quickly wrinkle leaves within seconds, while the splitting or burning of leaves by accident occurred less frequent now, indicating that his control was improving with leaps and bounds.
"Well, be happy that things don't go easy," Jiraiya said cheerfully. "The more work you put into it, the greater the satisfaction will be once you have success!"
"Crazy old goat," Karin grumbled. "Well, this town doesn't seem to have any shinobi in it that possesses a similar level of chakra as you do."
Jiraiya frowned. "Are you sure? My sources said that she was supposed to be here."
"Well, the only person who is noticeable has chakra at the level of low jonin, maybe high chunin," Karin replied. "The others are all too weak."
Jiraiya scratched his chin. "Well, perhaps we should see that person. I might be possible that Tsunade is suppressing or masking her power in order to avoid detection."
"To do that continuously ever since we arrived here last night? That would be impossible," Karin frowned. "That jonin-level person also tries to hide, but still slips up from time to time. Everyone does that."
Jiraiya remembered that Tsunade was being followed by Shizune. "I know Tsunade had one person close to her, she might have been trained by Tsunade, and be the one with that jonin-level chakra."
"Then we must seek her out," Naruto remarked dryly. "Besides, getting into a town, after over two weeks of living in the wild, would be nice as well."
Though it was against Jiraiya's nature, as he loved a little comfort, the trio had stayed out of the towns they had passed on their journey. Jiraiya thought it would be better to avoid detection. Despite the measures they had taken, Jiraiya agreed with his sensei's wish to not make their location public knowledge. With the threats that Konoha was facing, it would be better if no one knew about their exact location.
But Jiraiya believed that this was the place where Tsunade should be, the other two places had been empty, so they had to be here. No choice but to enter the town, and follow Karin's lead. The latter was very serious about it, as Jiraiya had promised that he would arrange it that she could stay in Konoha if the mission was successful. And she was quite determined to stick close to Kiba..
"Are you sure we should be eating like this, Tsunade-sama?" Shizune hesitated.
"Sure, why not?"
"Well.. We do have a lot of debts at the moment," Shizune whispered, looking around at the expensive restaurant.
"Mehh, I finally won something, so what's wrong with a little celebration? Usually bad things happen when I win, right?"
Shizune nodded. "But today was fine," Tsunade continued. "Now I am just going to drink it all away, and we leave this town tomorrow, alright?"
Even Tonton was a bit distressed by Tsunade's attitude. Even the pig recognized the woman's unrest. Even though Shizune had always been a level-headed and a rational thinker, she tended to agree with the pig.
"Tsunade-sama, why are you so agitated?"
Tsunade frowned. "Drink! You are always so serious, you should drink a little! Come on! Drink!"
Shizune shook her head, but before she could respond, Tsunade's head jerked up, and the elder woman stared at the entrance of the restaurant.
"What.."
"From this distance, I can sense two chakras, though one is masked so well I can hardly recognize it."
"Good work, Karin-chan," Jiraiya said. "Now, let's go inside before she runs."
"I hope she is worth the effort," Naruto frowned, upon hearing that the target would try to flee. Jiraiya knew how Naruto thought about running away.
"She is a great ninja," Jiraiya replied. "And a great beauty as well!"
"Ugh, if she's your age…"
The three of them entered, and found that the restaurant was quite luxurious. As it neared the time where even the establishments of this reputation would close, the restaurant was mostly empty. In the back, two women and a pig sat a table.
One looked at the door, and her face turned from a look of surprise into one of annoyance.
"Tsunade-hime!" Jiraiya called out towards the blonde haired woman. Naruto was somewhat surprised that the woman, who was supposed to be of Jiraiya's age, actually looked like she was in her early thirties. The light-skinned woman had brown eyes, and straight blonde hair. Naruto smirked that for once, Jiraiya's exaggeration was not as bad as usual. Though, this appearance was obviously not how she really looked like.
"Jiraiya," the woman replied sour.
"And Shizune is here as well, I barely recognized you!" Jiraiya exclaimed. "That little girl I once knew really changed into a beautiful young woman."
The slender woman with black eyes and hair blushed slightly at the compliment, and bowed her head. "Jiraiya-sama."
Compared to Tsunade's extremely large bust, Naruto thought that Shizune looked a little more 'normal'. Besides, the alerted look in her eyes, along with the warning from Karin earlier, gave Naruto the impression that the fair-skinned woman was dangerous.
"Keep your flattering to yourself," Tsunade snarled. "Why are you here? And why did you bring that along with you?" she looked at Naruto.
Karin frowned. "Are you always that rude, or only when you are drunk?"
Jiraiya tried to laugh it off, knowing Tsunade's temper was especially perilous when a large quantity of alcohol was mixed in. "He is Uzumaki Naruto," he said, putting emphasis on the 'he'. "And this is Karin, a girl gifted with a sensory ability, who we picked up while we were searching for you," he lied.
"Who cares," the big breasted drunk said bluntly. "Why are you here?"
"Me?" Jiraiya asked. "No particular reason, I'm here because Naruto needs you."
"You help him," she said, not interested. "Or sensei, or whoever. I am done."
"Someone got hurt badly during the exams," Jiraiya explained, not listening to her refusal. "And you are the only one capable of completely healing her."
"I have long stopped doing those things," she shrugged. "Not interested, just get out."
"Perhaps we should," Naruto cutting off Jiraiya, who wanted to continue in his attempt to convince Tsunade. "Jiraiya-sensei, did we really waste all that time on this old hag? She seems like a useless drunk to me. Completely worthless."
"You just shut up, you little brat," Tsunade threatened Naruto. "Or I will do it for you."
Naruto shrugged. "You're probably too drunk to even hit me.." he said with a cold voice. "Besides, you're running away.. Why would anyone fear a coward like you?"
Jiraiya sighed. "Naruto, calm down. Tsunade… the girl who got injured is Hyuga Hinata, the heir of her clan. If you save her, I'm sure they could help you a bit with your… financial issues."
Shizune looked hopeful, but Tsunade scoffed. "Think you can buy me off, Jiraiya? And then what, when I fix one person, everyone will chase me again. I told you, I have had enough. I have seen too much."
Jiraiya rubbed his forehead, knowing Tsunade's history better than most. But Naruto was oblivious to that, not that Jiraiya thought that Naruto would have cared if he did know.
"So you just run away? And this is one of the great Sannin?" Naruto sneered. "Pitiful. Even that Orochimaru was more of shinobi then this old Baachan is, sensei."
Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "What would you know about us, brat?"
"Naruto met Orochimaru during the same exam," Jiraiya cut her off. "Sensei is worried about his presence, as well as the presence of an unstable jinchuriki from Suna. Though Hinata is our prime reason we came, we also hoped that-"
"Then you thought wrong!" Tsunade exclaimed. "I told you, and that old goat himself as well, that I was done with healing, and done with fighting. Get out, and don't make me warn you again."
Suddenly she released an amount of chakra which startled Karin, Shizune, and Tonton the pig. But Naruto laughed at her. As if her chakra was a joke to him. In fact, it was actually funny to him. Then again, no one had ever tried to scare him with such methods before.
"Really, Baachan?" Naruto mocked her. "Trying to scare us with a tiny bit of chakra? Are you really that senile?"
"Naruto," Jiraiya said sharply. "Stop provoking her."
"You damned brat," Tsunade was too drunk and agitated to restrain her anger any longer. "You could not even make me serious, even if you are a monster."
"An old woman who is too busy to run away from her regrets?" Naruto smirked.
"What do you know about regret," Tsunade growled as she stood up and grabbed Naruto by his shirt.
Though she nearly lifted him from the ground, Naruto just looked her in her eyes. "If you know what I am, you retard, you should know I have my fair share of regrets as well," he said coldly.
"Tsunade-sama, don't.. Not here.." Shizune tried to interfere. Tsunade noticed the waiter, who was too scared to speak up.
"Fine, we'll take this outside. Now," she said as she dropped Naruto back on his feet.
"Tsunade-sama, please don't-" Shizune pleaded.
Jiraiya put his hand on the young woman's shoulder, shaking his head. "It is no use at this point, trust me. Tsunade, I don't mind you having a little duel with Naruto. But I will not allow you to endanger his life. So keep it together, unless you want to fight me as well," he added darkly.
Tsunade knew enough about her old teammate that he was not the type to make baseless threats. She nodded once, acknowledging his conditions.
"Don't worry sensei," Naruto said indifferently. "All I have to do is make the old bat go serious, right? You better come with us when you do," he added, looking at Tsunade.
"You really are a stupid brat, aren't you?" Tsunade grumbled. "Fine then, but if you lose, you pay me 250.000 ryo!" Shizune grimaced as she saw Tsunade's reckless gambling abilities kick in again.
In the empty alley behind the restaurant, Tsunade and Naruto stood, facing each other. Jiraiya stood next to the backdoor, while Karin and Shizune, who tightly squeezed Tonton in her arms, stood in the doorway.
"I'd rather be a stupid brat, than a coward," Naruto goaded her. Successfully, as Tsunade punched the ground in front of her, creating a large fissure in the ground.
That surprised Naruto a little. 'Impressive physical strength.. Way beyond that of Gai-sensei… Got to keep out of her hands, though she does not seem very quick,' Naruto analysed the situation.
"You know, all I ask is you saving my friend's life," Naruto said casually, wanting to create the impression that he was not impressed at all. "No need to risk your life for something like that, right?"
"What do I care about some retarded noble?!"
Jiraiya slapped his own face.
Insulting Hinata was the last thing she should have done..
Naruto lost any pretence of restraint. No one would insult his friends and get away with it. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" he growled.
Tsunade was somewhat surprised that a genin of his age could create such a large fireball, but she just smacked it away with her chakra-imbued hand.
"Futon: renkudan," the boy followed up, before Tsunade could lauch a counter-attack. Contrary to the rather blunt fire based attack, this jutsu fired a barrage of razorsharp bullets of wind chakra.
Tsunade dodged, and saw the attack was strong enough to damage the street substantially. Though not to the extent as the gap she just made, but she was impressed that the boy was capable of two elements at his age.
"Katon and futon?" she asked Jiraiya, looking away for a moment.
"Raiton: wave of paralysis," Naruto replied.
"Impressive, but still not enough," Tsunade shrugged, when the attack failed to reach her. Though, she noticed that she had become more careful now. 'Three elements is insane for mere genin.. What has Jiraiya been doing with him?' she mused, 'Wait.. Uzumaki… No way, he couldn't be that brat's-'
Naruto was a little disappointed that his jutsu had failed, but it was just distraction anyway.
"Fire barrier," he said calmly, activating the four corners he had just created.
Tsunade looked around. "And fuinjutsu as well," she whispered to herself. "Let's see how strong.."
To her surprise, it took her five hits to shatter the barrier, while she had to heal her own hand due to the burns she sustained. "But still not enough," she said to the frowning boy.
"Perhaps you don't really care about that girl of yours?" she taunted him.
"Infernal seal," Naruto said, jumping away from Tsunade without performing any hand seals.
But not before she saw the boy's crimson eyes. This distracted her for a precious moment. Somehow, there was a seal on Tsunade's hand, the one she just broke the barrier with. With a single move of Naruto's hand, the seal exploded, creating a small crater in the alley.
"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune shouted, wanting to step forward. But Jiraiya stopped her.
"She is fine," he assured her.
Despite the moment of distraction, Tsunade had noticed the seal right before it exploded. But it had cost her a significant amount of chakra to shield herself from the flames.
"She's not taking you seriously," the fox smirked.
"Shut up," Naruto shouted. "Don't distract me now, or do you want to get killed?"
"Idiot. You challenged her, but you are too weak to do it. Do you want that white-eyed fool to die, because you failed here? You should know you are no match for her, or that old pervert that acts as your teacher now. Not without my chakra.."
"I won't fail, so get lost."
"Such anger," the fox smirked. "Perhaps I should help you a little.."
'And with a little help, you might actually kill that big breasted cow, and fall into despair after you realize what you have just done,' the fox thought by himself. 'And taking revenge on those Senju would also be amusing.'
Tsunade had to admit she was impressed that the brat had forced her to use that much chakra. This certainly was not a simple game anymore. She had wanted to use the boy's petulance to avoid the lecture Jiraiya had prepared for her. Of the latter she had no doubt. He always did love to lecture others. But she started to wonder if this course of action led her to more trouble than a stupid lecture.
"What the.." Tsunade whispered. As the smoke from the explosion lifted, she saw the boy standing in front of her, surrounded by a cloak made from an ominous crimson chakra.
Naruto howled as he jumped forwards, dodging Tsunade's fist, and smacking her into the wall of the restaurant.
"These levels of chakra," a somewhat dazed Tsunade mumbled. As much as she hated it, she would have to get serious. Or she might get really injured.
Naruto, now completely clad in crimson chakra, tried to hit her again.
This time, Tsunade was not holding back, and dodged the genin's fist. Catching his arm, she wanted to return him a few favours, but Jiraiya stepped in.
Jiraiya smacked Naruto on the head, while he held a piece paper in his hand. As the red chakra disappeared, Naruto fell down to the ground, unconscious.
"He is fine," Jiraiya said to Karin, who ran forwards after the fight had ended. "I only knocked him out. But I guess we should leave this place, after what you two idiots did here.." he looked at the ruined building behind Tsunade.
"How dangerous is he?" Tsunade asked. Shizune and Karin looked after Naruto, trying to speed up his recovery.
"Let's see.." Jiraiya smiled. "Large amounts of chakra, and equally great stamina. He has the determination and talent to learn fast, and had two nature affinities, and trains a third element. I'd say he is already close to the level of jonin, in terms of ability. But the origin of his strength is also a danger.."
"My grandmother was like him," Tsunade whispered. "But even she always said that it was a constant struggle to keep control."
"Yes," Jiraiya admitted, happy that his old teammate had sobered up a little. "Naruto had a rough life, and had enough reason to lose control and give into the demon's hatred.. But he did not. He has a very strong personality. Hell, I'd say he would make a great leader if he manages to shake off the anger he tries to hide."
"You're quite proud of him, aren't you?"
"Well of course. After Minato, I have never seen someone with talent like this."
"Though Minato had a better temper.."
"But even Minato was not at his level. Not at this age…" Jiraiya countered. "Naruto has been through a lot, but also grew because of all those hardships. But when he was young, he accidentally saved the heir of the Hyuga clan. They took him in, and gave him a safe place to live, despite the hatred he got from the rest of the village. I'd say that saved the kid from a far worse fate."
"The same Hyuga as.."
"Yes, Hyuga Hinata," Jiraiya nodded. "I suspect that Naruto holds a lot of gratitude towards her, and sees her as the one who saved him, rather than the other way around. In the end, they were put in the same genin team, and their bond only got stronger.."
"So that is why he went so far? I mean, he risked using its chakra.."
"Yes. Hinata suffered injuries to her heart. Though not directly lethal, it would mean the end of her future as a shinobi, as well as her position in her clan. Naruto was desperate, because I told him you are the only one capable of saving her. Desperate enough to engage an opponent of who he knew was superior to him."
Tsunade sighed, and rubbed her forehead. "Fine then.. I guess I lost that bet anyway."
"I know you swore you would stop," Jiraiya said. "And I do not ask you to fight, but your presence alone would be enough to make any opponent reconsider an attack on Konoha."
Tsunade nodded, though she did not know how to tell Jiraiya that it wasn't so much that she swore to quit, but rather that she could not fight in earnest anymore. Not since Dan… she would not be able to deal with more death and destruction.
"What is it, kid," Tsunade sighed, after she saw Naruto looking at her again. He hadn't spoken a word since they left. He had slept the entire night, and woke up early in the morning. She had the impression that he was depressed because of something, but could not understand why.
After a few moments of silence, "I must apologize, baachan," he said.
She narrowed her eyes, and Shizune quickly moved in between them. "Then why don't you stop calling me that?" she asked sharply.
Naruto shrugged, smiling faintly. "That nothing I want to apologize for. No, I lost control for a moment.. I…"
"Like I said, it was not enough to put me in danger," Tsunade boasted. "I admit that I had to take you seriously, but it wasn't like you could have killed me."
Naruto did not look very convinced. "Tsunade-sama is one of the Sannin," Shizune scolded him gently. "She is one of the strongest shinobi in the world."
"I am not stupid enough to fail to see that she was playing with me," Naruto replied pointedly. "But still, she is only a shinobi. A mere human. If the Kyuubi broke out, what chance does one human have? You are too fragile."
Karin exhaled sharply. So that was the secret behind Naruto's strange chakra? The legendary monster was somehow locked inside him?
"This is of course a secret," Jiraiya said looking at her. "Do not tell anyone, unless you want to risk execution.. Though you can talk about this with Kiba and Hinata if you want, they know about it as well."
"Naruto.." Karin did not know what to say. Though the boy had a chakra that scared her more than anything else had ever done, he was rather friendly, even though he distanced himself from others.
"And Naruto," Jiraiya continued. "You should not overestimate the situation. With Tsunade and myself around, we will be more than able to stop the Kyuubi before he can break free."
"You still have a lot of things to learn before you can beat us, brat," Tsunade agreed. Though Tsunade did not dare to guess how long it would take for Naruto to reach their level. Probably years, instead of decades..
With Shizune carrying Tonton, the group travelled fast. Within days, they reached the vicinity of Konoha.
They decided to put up camp for the night. Karin and Shizune prepared dinner. Tsunade noticed that the two had grown pretty close in these last few days. Something which amused her a lot, as she saw the differences between the calm and reasonable older kunoichi, and the hot-headed and straightforward genin.
She took another sip from her bottle of sake, and looked at the other side of the clearing where they had stopped. Jiraiya was instructing Naruto, as the latter tried to improve his mastery of the lighting style. Naruto seemed rather frustrated that his attempted jutsu had failed during the match with her.
At first, she had been surprised about it, but after a few days she got used to the casual way the boy used the kage bunshin no jutsu. As usual, Jiraiya instructed his real body, while about a dozen clones were busy trying to wrinkle their leaves as quick as they could. The boy had claimed he could create more clones for this, but that he did not take the risk to be discovered. As if he thought she would be disappointed that he created 'so few' bunshin for this.. The look Jiraiya gave her said enough: Naruto was not even aware that this method of training would likely only be possible for a jinchuriki like him. Still, his opinion of her did not seem to change much, and he could barely muster the proper respect when speaking to her.
"So, how do you think you will do in the finals?" she asked one of the clones near her.
The clone shrugged. "I think there is only one who is equal to me in terms of power."
"That Gaara of the desert," she concluded. Jiraiya had told her about the other jinchuriki who had entered the exams. As if one was not worse enough for the other candidates, had her first thought been when she heard about it. "And that Neji you talked about yesterday?"
The clone grimaced, and then smirked. "I will allow him to think that he can fight, for a while. Fools like him need to be humiliated before they die."
"You really care about that girl, don't you," she teased the clone.
"I.. eh.."
"Don't be shy," she smirked. "Just admit it!"
"It is not like that," he said resolutely. "I owe Hinata-sama my life," he added with a formal tone. "If I had not met her, I would have remained in orphanages. Or perhaps I could have gotten a room in the barracks when I got a little older. But because of her, I have at least had some happiness.. She is one of the few friends I have. And I will never forgive those who hurt my friends."
The undercurrent of pure rage was clear to her. Jiraiya had told her about how this Neji had beaten Hinata.. She wondered if Neji would survive, or if that boy was smart enough to forfeit before the fight started. Though a Hyuga would definitely be too proud to do the latter, she guessed.
A/N: Quite a long chapter. And I apologize to all the Tsunade-fans, considering that I did not particularly hold back against her. I believe the transition from drunk gambler who spends her time running away from reality to Hokage in the manga was a bit too much, so I changed things a bit. Of course, Jiraiya told Naruto a thing or two about her past, but Naruto doesn't care... Not when... Well, I guess it wouldn't be too much of a spoiler if I said that Naruto is rather protective.
And as always: please leave some thoughts regarding my story.
-Z-
Edited: 28/02/2015