Sweat glistened down Naruto's face as he glared at where a smirking Jiraiya was standing in front of him, arms crossed about his chest.
"Still gotta be faster about it," Jiraiya said simply. "If you can't do it fast enough to catch your opponent off guard and fast enough to keep the heat from getting to you, it's not going to be that useful in a fight."
"I'm getting better," Naruto growled back as he glared at Jiraiya. "I'd like to see you do something like this."
"I'm not that crazy and I don't have that little healing factor of yours to keep from cooking my brains," he responded without skipping a beat and smirked lightly.
"Then why're you having me do this?" Naruto demanded with a growl as he looked up at him with sweat stung eyes.
"Because you are that kind of crazy," Jiraiya said simply. "And this kind of crazy works for you."
"It just gets so damned hot!" Naruto whined softly as he fell back, staring up at the sky as the light touch of a cool breeze ran over his skin.
"You can worry about confining the exothermic properties into the focal point after you've managed to get the technique working," Jiraiya said with a deadpan.
"… huh?" Naruto blinked several times as he stared back up at Jiraiya.
"… Right, idiot, I forgot," He rubbed his face slowly and shook his head with a sigh.
"Hey!"
"Don't worry, I'll try to remember to not use big words around you." Jiraiya waved his hand and shrugged a bit. "I don't really have the patience to improve that shitty vocabulary of yours."
"Bastard," Naruto said with a hiss as he closed his eyes and just sank back into the cool earth for a few more moments before slowly pushing himself back up to his feet. "Again."
"Eesh, already? Youth, so quick to recover," Jiraiya said before his lips drew into a wicked grin. "Now if only you used it on those girls of yours, I'm sure that they would… appreciate it. Especially your little blonde boar of love."
"… Boar of love?" Naruto repeated, staring at him with a sudden look of incredulity, "Seriously, you're going with boar of love?"
"Oh, shut up, like you could do any better, her name's Ino for kami's sake!" Jiraiya protested. "That's not exactly a name for the epics of romance! I don't even want to think about what Inoichi was thinking naming her that!"
"I still don't want to even think about the fact that you want to inflict her on me," Naruto muttered sourly.
"And I still don't see why you're complaining. She's spirited, she likes you, she's going to be one helluva looker, she's not afraid of actually getting into a fight…" Jiraiya shrugged his shoulders. "And. She. Likes. You."
"She likes Sasuke," Naruto stated stubbornly. "All of them do. And she'll just try to make me act like Sasuke. I'm. Not. Sasuke! I want to be recognized as Naruto Uzumaki! Not someone who tries to be Sasuke Uchiha!"
"Idiot," Jiraiya muttered sourly. "If she didn't like you, she wouldn't like you!"
"She wants me to be more like Sasuke!" Naruto growled back stubbornly at the man.
"She only thinks she wants you to be more like Sasuke. What she really wants is for you to be you," Jiraiya nodded with a sage nod of his head.
"… That completely doesn't make sense," Naruto said with a confused stare.
"Ah, my poor, little student, let the master educate you in the ways of female mind," Jiraiya paused dramatically, before glancing carefully to his left, then his right, before leaning in to whisper in Naruto's ear. "It never, ever makes sense."
"But…." Naruto started to protest as he stared up at Jiraiya.
"Never," Jiraiya repeated firmly as he crossed his arms about his chest.
"… Why should I believe anything you say?" Naruto frowned slightly as he crossed his own arms about his chest and glared back at Jiraiya. "You're just a dirty old pervert."
"I already told you, I am no mere pervert! I am…!"
"The super-pervert, Jiraiya," Naruto said in complete deadpan. "You know, not even I'm dumb enough to yell that like it's a good thing."
"Humph. I know more about women than you do, brat." Jiraiya grunted sourly as he glared back at the boy.
"You just said that you didn't know anything!"
"I said the female mind didn't make sense, not that I didn't know anything," Jiraiya said with a sage nod of his head. "For while it does indeed not make any sense, there are certain… consistencies in that lack of sense."
"…" Naruto looked back at him in silence for a moment.
Jiraiya opened his mouth to say something before noting that Naruto's gaze wasn't quite on him. He vanished in a puff of smoke, just before Tsunade's fist passed through the spot his head had been a moment before.
"Ugh, bastard," she said with a grunt as she straightened up and then glared down at Naruto with narrowed eyes as she started to crack her knuckles. "Now, I'm going to hope you're not so much of a brat that you actually believe that old pervert."
"He's an old pervert," he said simply as he looked back at Tsunade in confusion. "Why would I listen to anything he has to say about women?"
"Hey!" Jiraiya's voice called out from a nearby tree.
Tsunade vanished herself for a moment and suddenly the tree split in half as a log fell to the ground from one of the branches. As she pulled her fist back from the broken trunk, she slowly scanned the area. When she apparently found no further sign of Jiraiya, she scowled and walked back over to Naruto.
"I suggest you stick with that thought. And never, ever forget it," Tsunade muttered darkly as she continued to send a general glare around her.
"That kinda was the idea," Naruto paused a moment, before groaning softly as he fell back and dropped onto his ass. "Now I have to wait for him to get around to getting back here."
Slowly Tsunade looked at the scorched area around them, before palming her face with an audible groan. "You're not seriously trying to make that ridiculous idea work."
"Hey! It works!" Naruto huffed in irritation. "I just need to do it faster."
"Right," she said with a roll of her eyes. "I'm sure."
Wordlessly, he brought up a completed, swirling rasengan in one hand as he glared back at her in challenge. "I already got this down. I got my other skills down. You think I won't get this one?"
"Hmph, luck is only going to get you so far, kid," Tsunade said simply before she suddenly changed the topic. "So, don't you have enough girl troubles with your two spoils? You've got another girl you're chasing after too?"
"I'm not chasing after her," Naruto turned away, grunting softly. "She's chasing after me. Just so she can try to make me act like the bastard."
"The bastard?" Her lips twitched slightly at that, and for a moment, a brief flash of nostalgia rose up as she remembered another spiky haired brat describing someone in that tone.
"Sasuke," Naruto said with a nod. "My teammate. Rookie of the year, stuck up bastard."
"Which, as I recall, would probably have made you the year's deadlast," Tsunade said reasonably, even as she smirked at the boy.
Naruto tensed at the words and glared back at Tsunade. "Yeah, so? You think I care about something as stupid as that?"
"And you really think it's possible for a deadlast to become Hokage?" Tsunade smirked at Naruto and shook her head
"Yes." he said simply, causing her to blink as he leaned back and stared up at the clouds.
She frowned slightly and glared slightly back at the boy. "Then you need to wake up and start living in the real world. No one's going to follow a deadlast."
"You think that's going to stop me? You think that's going to scare me away?" Naruto didn't even bother looking at her as he stared up at the sky. "All you people are just broken records repeating the same thing over and over again. You're the ones that need to start living in the real world."
"Excuse me?" Tsunade's eyes flashed in anger as her fist clenched back.
"You heard me," he said as he sat up and twisted in her direction. "I'm going to follow my dream, no matter what. Even if I have to claw and scrape my way to the top, I'm going to do it."
"Better men than you have died trying." The pain in her voice had bled into venom as she glared back at Naruto. "And you think some punk like you will triumph where they failed?"
"I don't go back on my word," he said simply, glaring back at Tsunade. "I said I would be Hokage. I will be. I will protect the people of Konoha. I will make them acknowledge me. That is my dream and I will make it happen."
Tsunade unconsciously gripped at the pendant hanging from her chest and shook her head, scowling at him. "People like you... they always talk so big about their dreams. What happens when you die trying? Do you even think about the people you leave behind?"
Naruto paused a moment, confusion written on his face. "... Huh?"
"When you die on that stupid little quest of yours, not only taking yourself, but those girls of yours, too. Have you even stopped to think about the people you'll leave behind? The people that care about you? Have you?" Tsunade's fingers clenched tighter onto the pendant in her hand. "Do you think about how they feel when you die failing to live up to your dreams?"
"I won't die like that," Naruto said angrily as he glared back at Tsunade. "I won't do that to Kin-chan or Sunshine." He paused a moment before his lips pressed tightly together into a thin, hard line. "But, even if I did? Dying, fighting to reach your dream? Refusing to give up? They might be sad, sure, but if they knew me, if they knew my dream, they'd know that I died how I lived, refusing to go back on my dreams!"
"So, you'd just want them to suffer through it? Stupid, typical idiocy." Tsunade spat as she refused to look back at him.
Naruto looked at her for a moment before he scowled again. "I'm not the one who's not listening. It's my dream. It's my reason for living, my goal, my purpose. Friends, people who care about me… if they want to deny me who I am, they never really cared about me."
He took a breath and suddenly, he wasn't looking at her as he stared into the distance. "All my life, I wanted recognition, for people to see me. When they finally did… that's not enough for me. I want to protect them. I want to protect them all. So my goal is still the same; I will be the Hokage, I will be the strongest, I will be the awesomest. I will be me!
"And if people see me, know me… like me for me, they will have to accept that me being me means I have to follow my dream. Otherwise… they don't want me to be me and if they don't want me to be me, how can they care about me?" He frowned at his words before scratching the back of his head and shrugging. "I don't know… but doesn't caring about someone mean you care about who they are? If you try to change who they are, aren't you trying to change them into someone that you don't care about?"
Naruto shook his head for a moment and turned away from the staring Tsunade. "Anyway, I need to get back to my training. Later, Granny!"
It took Tsunade several seconds to process his last line before her eye began to twitch, violently. "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE CALLING OLD?!
-o-o-o-
It was the end of the week Orochimaru had given her to come up with her decision as Tsunade stared down at the half filled cup of sake and let the flickering light of the moon reflex across its surface. Tomorrow she would meet with her teammate. Tomorrow would require her to answer.
"Tsunade-sama…" And, of course, there was Shizune.
"I don't want to hear it," she said gruffly as she continued to stare down into the sake.
"You've made up your mind then?" Shizune sounded resigned more than anything before simply bowing to Tsunade. "Very well."
"That's all?" Tsunade asked simply as she raised a brow and brought the cup of sake to her lips. "I expected… something more."
"I miss home," Shizune said simply, head still bowed. "I have followed you faithfully for most of my life, Tsunade-sama, but I am still a ninja of Konoha. I humbly request to be released from your service."
Tsunade's flinch was only a tightening of her fingers on her cup, as she kept her features schooled to neutrality. "And if I say no?"
"Then I will continue to follow you, as I have all these years, Tsunade-sama," Shizune said in a completely neutral tone.
"… Ask me again tomorrow night," Tsunade responded simply before she raised her cup to her lips and drained its contents.
"I see," Shizune slowly nodded her head, before bowing again. "Very well, Tsunade-sama."
With that she wordlessly stood and backed out of the door, leaving Tsunade alone again to stare up into the night sky, searching for answers she knew she'd never find in the glittering heavens.
-o-o-o-
It was wonderfully warm in her bed, Shizune noted with a heavy veil of contented drowsiness fogging over her mind. There was a delightful security she only rarely indulged herself in, buried down in those sheets. Around her the world simply didn't exist for a wonderful moment that stretched onto eternity
"Oi, Shizune-chan! Where's Tsunade hiding?"
And then Jiraiya's voice just had to go and ruin it. Then his words filtered through her mind. Wait, Tsunade, hiding?
"What?" Immediately Shizune sat up, before feeling a wave of vertigo washing over her senses.
"Blonde woman, about this tall, likes to pretend she's half her age, with a rack that makes a man want to fall to his knees and thank the kami for the glory of creation?" Jiraiya waved his hand at roughly Tsunade's height before a disturbing grin curled over his lips.
"She's not here?" It was hard to think, her head was foggy, clouded. Not like how she was normally when she woke up. It was like she was…
Her eyes immediately widened as she attempted to stand up before collapsing back into her bed. "Oh, no…"
"Shizune-chan!" Quickly he moved, catching her just before she could fully crumple. "What's wrong?"
"Tsunade-sama… she… she went to meet him, all on her own," she said in almost a whisper, before she frowned. It was difficult to string her thoughts together, she had to force her mind to focus, to ignore the way the drugs scattered her thoughts. "She must have… drugged me."
"Him…?" Jiraiya's voice suddenly went hard. "Shizune, are you talking about Orochimaru?"
She blinked owlishly up at him before opening her mouth, then shutting it without a word and shrugging helplessly at him.
"… Wonderful," Jiraiya's face was caught in his palm before he looked back at Shizune. "Where are they?"
Again she shrugged helplessly, staring almost owlishly back at him as she shifted nervously in her blankets. It was really hard to think. Did she even know where Tsunade had planned to meet her renegade teammate?
"Of course," Jiraiya said as he groaned softly and shook his head. "Well, it's not like I don't have enough time Tsunade hunting as is…"
"I'll… come." Shizune managed out, her words thick in her too-dry mouth as she started to push her way out of her oh-so-comfortable sheets before she realized the air felt particularly cool to her skin.
"Why, Shizune-chan, I never knew you preferred to sleep in the nude. Tell me, is it because you like the way the silk sheets feel against your bare skin?" Jiraiya's expression had turned down right lecherous as he grinned down at her.
"…What…?" Shizune blinked, then blinked again, her eyes owlishly wide as she looked down from her completely bare chest, to Jiraiya and back, before her brow furrowed. "I… don't? Do I?"
"Well, you certainly have nothing to be ashamed of!" Jiraiya agreed quickly as he nodded his head and stared.
"Wait… Tsunade-sama! We have to… she's going to meet with him! It's not… safe?" She frowned again. Something was wrong, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She was rather cold, though.
As she pulled herself back into her sheets, Jiraiya paused, almost frowning in disappointment, before managing to compose himself. "Right, Tsunade… Orochimaru. I've got to go make sure she doesn't do anything too stupid."
"Tsunade-sama and… him," Shizune blinked before quickly trying to stand up again, almost leaping out her sheets. "We have to save… her…?"
And before she could fully stand up, she swayed and faltered, before collapsing, naked back onto her sheets.
"Oh… you're an evil, devious woman, princess…" Jiraiya muttered mournfully as he looked at Shizune for one more moment before almost whimpering as he tore his eyes away from sight and started to move towards the door. "Evil, evil I say."
-o-o-o-
Three figures stood before the ruins of what had been a castle only a week earlier. Orochimaru smirked coldly towards Tsunade. Next to him his assistant, Kabuto, watched Tsunade with a more wary expression behind his glasses.
"So, come to a decision, Tsunade-chan?" There was nothing but confidence in his smirk as he stood there, his golden eyes glittering wickedly.
"Let's just get this over with." she said irritably as she refused to quite look at him.
"Kukuku…" The cold chuckle softly left his lips as he slowly lifted up his hands and looked around. "No Shizune-chan? My, I didn't expect you to be here all alone."
"Shizune asked to be released from my service last night." Tsunade said, her teeth gritted softly.
"Oh ho? Such a shame," Orochimaru said as he lifted up his bandaged arms. "I would think she would have realized you were making the right choice…"
Tsunade turned a harder glare at Orochimaru before her hands lifted up towards his, beginning to glow a pulsing green.
It was then that Kabuto suddenly imposed himself between Tsunade and Orochimaru, pushing his Master behind him as his own hands began to glow a pulsing green.
"I'm afraid she's deceiving you, Orochimaru-sama…" Kabuto said quickly as his Master's grin faded into a frown of irritation. "Her killing intent…"
"Ah, Kabuto-kun, so over protective," the grin returned full force as he chuckled again. "Of course she wants to kill me. Her dear little apprentice has gone and abandoned her. Now all she has left is the promise of her dear loved ones to be returned to her."
"You have a really annoying brat there." Tsunade growled out as she glared back at Orochimaru.
"As I said, he's so very… over-protective," Orochimaru chuckled softly as his eyes glittered. "Besides, we all know what your little… weakness is here, Tsunade-chan. And something so easy to bring out…"
"Let's just get on with this, you bastard." Tsunade hissed out with a glare.
"Of course, wouldn't want to keep Dan and Nawaki-kun waiting, now would we?" Orochimaru smirked softly as he held up his hands again.
Her hands glowing green once more, Tsunade took hold of Orochimaru's hands in hers. She then raised her head and looked up into his eyes. "They'll have to wait a while longer."
Orochimaru's eyes widened before he let out a scream of pain as the bones in his hands were completely crushed inside his flesh. Then he was flying through the air courtesy of a powerful kick from Tsunade. His entire body exploded in pain an instant later as he crashed through the hard stone wall that had surrounded the castle.
Tsunade turned towards Kabuto before freezing, a splash of crimson blood was flicked into her face as Kabuto held up a bloody kunai, with his free hand dripping blood.
"I have to congratulate you, Tsunade-sama. It must have taken an exceptional amount of control to destroy Orochimaru-sama's bones like that and not have broken the skin." Kabuto said with a patronizing smile. "But you really shouldn't have underestimated me."
Tsunade said nothing, only shivering in response as she stared back at the dripping blood splashing onto the ground. Her whole body was frozen, refusing to move. All she could see was flash after flash of Dan's dying body, his blood covering her hands.
"Ah well, one less problem to worry about," Kabuto said reflectively as he held up his kunai. "If only all problems could be solved this easily…"
"Leave her alone you basta…!" Naruto's voice cut in as his kunai landed where Kabuto had been only moments earlier. "… You?!"
"Ah, Naruto-kun. This is a surprise." Kabuto said with a sigh of annoyance before frowning lightly. "I shouldn't be, but that does seem to be your specialty."
"But… what?" Naruto's mouth hung open, as Kabuto sent his kunai rocketing towards him at speeds faster than his body could fully react to.
It split around him nearly a foot from his face.
"You… you just tried to kill me!" Naruto stated, before his eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched. "You just tried to kill me!"
"And I am sorry about that, Naruto-kun, but I'm afraid I really do need to kill Tsunade-sama here. She did just try to kill Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto said apologetically with a cold smile back at Naruto. "So, I'm terribly sorry, but could you please lay down and die now?"
"No!" he practically roared out as he rocketed towards Kabuto.
"Ah, I'm sorry, I'll have to insist," Kabuto simply twisted out of the way of Naruto, easily avoiding the grinding edge of air cutting away in front of him and dodging the blades of wind jutting past his clawed fingers with apparent ease.
As he twisted out of the way of Naruto's angry charge, his glowing green hands struck, slapping against Naruto's shoulder, almost barely making contact before pulling back with a smirk. Naruto's arm immediately went limp, falling uselessly at his side as he bit back of scream of agony at the sudden eruption of pain. Twisting about he growled softly and skidded to a stop, his fingers and claws gouging into the earth from his good arm.
"As you can see, Naruto-kun, one doesn't need wind to cut," Kabuto said with a chuckle as he pushed his glasses up his nose. "A good medic, well…"
Naruto's response was a deepening of his growl, as suddenly the air grew saturated with a thick, boiling rage. As crimson bled into his eyes, a coat of matching chakra flowed out over his body, pulsing, bubbling above his skin. Kabuto's smirk dimmed slightly as he watched the slight transformation Naruto endured, before suddenly the limp arm at his side lifted and his fingers flexed.
"So, you've learned to harness a bit of the Kyuubi's power after all, Naruto-kun? I'm impressed," Kabuto let himself smile again as he shifted and glanced around. "And you put yourself between me and Tsunade-sama. You might actually have what it takes to be a shinobi. A pity."
"Shut up," Naruto said simply, before his fingers moved into a familiar sign and suddenly the area was flooded with clones.
"Ah yes, the quantity over quality approach. I expected better from you, Naruto-kun," Kabuto tsked lightly before his glowing hand struck a rushing Naruto in the crotch, before he jabbed another Naruto in the throat, and crushed a third's foot beneath his heel. "Quality first, Naruto-kun. Quality first."
"You… you…" Naruto stared at him, mouth opened in shock at the speed and efficiency that Kabuto displayed, completely contrary to the teen he'd encountered in the chunin exams.
"I thought it was fairly obvious I was fooling you before, Naruto-kun. I am a ninja after all," Kabuto said with a thick condescension. "Now I'm afraid I've wasted enough time on this. Good bye, Naruto-kun."
And with that he tore through the clones without pausing for more than a moment. He kept himself moving in tight efficiency, every step carefully measured just beyond the reach of blades and blows. He wasted as little energy as possible, evading most of the clones instead of dispersing them, treating them as if they weren't even worth his time.
Then, he was suddenly almost on him. He twisted at the last moment, avoiding the cutting edge reaping towards him by the barest of distances before lashing out with his hands once more. A nearby clone pulled Naruto out of the way, catching the strike in his own back and exploding in a cloud of smoke.
As Naruto twisted about, claws raked out, leaving slashes of red across Kabuto's chest.
Kabuto simply took a step back and, as one hand glowed over his wounds, the other struck down three more clones in quick, snapping thrusts. "I had forgotten how lucky you could be, Naruto-kun. I suppose it's time to stop playing then."
He moved even faster as he suddenly struck inside of Naruto's guard, his hands hitting once on each of his arms, once on each of his legs. When he finished, Naruto dropped onto the ground with choked scream of pain. He glared back up at Kabuto, his eyes still an almost glowing, bloody red as he wordlessly tried to struggle back to his feet.
"Yes, I'm sure that your little bijuu-induced regeneration can heal you back up in no time, almost as well as I can heal myself, Naruto-kun," Kabuto said almost indulgently before he smiled coldly back at him. "Which is why I don't plan on giving you a chance to recover.
"Good bye, Naruto-kun," he said simply as he moved swiftly around the forming blade of air and struck towards Naruto's chest.
Only another crimson cloaked form barreled into the way, knocking them both out of the way and tumbling around until they came to rest at the feet of the still-frozen Tsunade. When they stopped, Naruto found himself on his back staring up at his savior. Weakly, Kin smiled back down at him.
"I...'m sorry... I was so afraid, Naruto... sama," she said in a voice that was soft, too soft, before her body convulsed, and blood began to leak past her lips.
Kabuto actually frowned at that, before sighing softly and shrugging his shoulders as he lifted his hands up almost helplessly. "Well, Naruto-kun, you certainly seem full of surprises. Another jinchuuriki somehow going and throwing their life away for you? Quite amazing. Well, at least I don't have to deal with both of you."
"... Kin-chan?" Naruto stared up at the girl, feeling the way she just collapsed atop him as he weakly managed to pull his arms up, to hold her gently, even as he could feel the way her body fell still and silent. "No..."
"It was supposed to be your heart I did that to but I suppose I really do keep underestimating that luck of yours, Naruto-kun," Kabuto said with an exaggerated sigh and a shake of his head. "And as I really do need to get Orochimaru-sama out of here... I'll share something I learned just to in case it came to this."
"No..." Naruto forced his body to sit up, cradling Kin's body in his arms. "Kin-chan..."
Tsunade watched, frozen as present warred with the past in front of her, everything slowing to a crawl as memories slipped back and forth with reality. She could see Dan and Nawaki, she could see Naruto and Kin. She could see herself and her grandfather. She could see her sensei and her uncle. She could see Naruto's parents.
All in a broken series of images, flashing together.
Words vaguely reached her ears, from the blond boy and from the smirking man. Then words led into actions as his hands moved through a series of signs and a sudden rolling line of fire barreled down onto them.
This wasn't right. She was sitting by, watching it happen all over again. This wasn't right!
And somehow she could feel her body start to move. Start to stand up, start to move towards the children. Only, she already could see she was moving too slow to make it in time.
Then fire exploded around them, turning into an inferno that blocked out in a rush of hungering, greedy flames. Reflexively she knew she wouldn't be able to pull off a move to stop it in time. But, still she had to try.
Then that voice spoke up.
No. It didn't speak. Instead, it screamed in defiance one single word.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"