Looking around at the tiny apartment Naruto felt an odd sense of nostalgia. The trash on the floor, the mold, the rickety furniture, even the dishes piled in the sink all reminded him of his old apartment. The only real difference was that it would have been cups of instant ramen covering every nook and cranny instead of empty bottles of liquor. Well I was always the village pariah, she was… is a Sannin. How the mighty have fallen.

He was very careful to mask his thoughts as he entered, but there was no way Tsunade could not know they were there. She knew how this pigsty had to reflect on her. Since Shizune's departure she had stopped caring about appearances. "I hope you'll excuse the mess, I wasn't expecting company." She waved to one of the chairs by the table. "Will you have a seat?"

"Sure,' Naruto said and sat down at the small table covered by empty bottles. He really wasn't bothered by the mess or by the surroundings. One of the slight advantages of having grown up poor. "Thank you for agreeing to talk to me. I would have sent someone to set up a meeting but I trust you understand why I didn't think I could do that."

"You were probably afraid I'd vanish," Tsunade took the other seat across from him.

"Yes," Naruto answered blandly. He'd done his research and Tsunade had a reputation for being almost painfully blunt. He figured she would appreciate it if he was straightforward. From the very slight approving nod she gave him he thought he'd guessed right.

From her place across the table she surveyed the man who was causing so many so much worry. "I knew both your parents," she said cautiously. "If you'd like I could tell you about them."

"Hmmm, well if you don't mind I'd like to find about my mom."

Tsunade could keep from lifting an eyebrow in surprise. "What about your father?"

"I don't need to hear about him," Naruto smiled as he spoke but there was a clear chill to his words. "I heard more than enough about the great Yondaime back in school."

"All right," she leaned back in her chair, never letting her eyes leave his. "Is it true you killed that snake Orochimaru? I know the official story is he died of an illness but no one believes that."

"Yes I did," he answered directly. "I hope that doesn't anger you, my killing your former teammate."

She shrugged. "We stopped being teammates or even friends a long time ago. His being dead makes the world a better place."

"I'm glad you think so."

The two of them sat there in a momentary silence. Naruto still had the same intense and passionate nature he always had, but his time with Orochimaru had taught him the value of patience and of silence. He counted it as a small victory that Tsunade was he next one to speak.

"So just why are you here Uzumaki? What does Konoha's greatest enemy want to talk about?"

He gave her his friendliest smile and spread his hands. "Isn't it obvious? I want you to join me."

XXX

"Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi halted and looked up from his book. Beneath his mask he gave her a hidden smile. "Hello Sakura."

Sakura stared for a moment. It was odd to look at his face and see two eyes staring back at her. The fact the eyes were mismatched added to her sense of the bizarre. One was a pale grey while the other was a muddy brown. The fact his hitai-ite was worn straight across his forehead now rather than at an angle also seemed odd.

"Hello sensei," she managed a weak smile and did her best to pretend her whole world had not fallen apart. "If… if you have some time would you mind getting some tea with me? I was hoping I could talk to you about some things."

He'd known she'd come to talk to him sooner or later. He knew just what sort of questions she would ask him too. He shut his book with a snap and put it away. He wasn't sure if she would really want to hear his answers, but he owed her at least that much. "That sounds great Sakura, let's go."

XXX

"No," Tsunade replied instantly.

Naruto continued to smile; he hadn't expected anything else for an initial reaction. "No? Just like that? Aw, come on, at least let me tell you what I have to offer you first."

"Let me guess," she said not bothering to hide her scorn. "Money, power, and anything else I want. Is that about right?"

"You say it like it's a small thing," pointedly he looked about the room. "For someone hiding out in a place like this don't you think a little money and power sounds good? I'm prepared to pay off all your debts and give you a place of honor at my right hand. Come to Oto and serve me faithfully and I'll give you total authority over the Medical Corps, you can shape into whatever you like."

Tsunade put her head back and laughed. "Serve you faithfully? You've got balls to say that to me brat. Your father could have said that and I might have listened."

"I'm not my father," Naruto said coldly.

"I know, and that's a real pity, he'd be ashamed to see you now."

"Would he be more or less ashamed of how Sarutobi and the village treated me?"

She gave a slight nod. "Oh from what I here there was plenty of shame to go around. Believe me; I lost my faith in the village a long time ago. I know how Konoha devours its ninja, what happened to you was bad, but it's not my concern. You're lucky I feel that way too, otherwise I might have attacked you."

"You'd have died if you had."

She'd heard tough talk from people before and normally dismissed it. From the man who had slaughtered most of Konoha's ANBU at the Valley of the End and taken out Orochimaru with ease she decided she decided a little caution was in order.

"If you're so powerful why are you bothering to recruit me?"

"Orochimaru-sensei had a high opinion of you," Naruto replied. "I only ever heard him talk that way about three people; you, Sarutobi, and Uchiha Itachi. I figured anyone who could impress him was worth chasing after."

"What about Jiraiya?"

"Orochimaru always thought he was an idiot and too easy to distract." Naruto chuckled sourly. "I've run into him a few times too and I can't say I was impressed either."

"Jiraiya is an idiot and a pervert to boot," Tsunade agreed. "However he is as deserving of the title Sannin as me or your old teacher. What he lacks in cleverness he more than made up for in heart and guts."

"Sure," Naruto agreed in a voice that clearly said he didn't.

"Any way, while I'm flattered by your offer my answer is still no. So unless you were serious about wanting to hear stories about your mom I think you should go."

"With respect Lady Tsunade you still haven't heard my full offer. I still have much more I could give you."

"Like what? Secret jutsus? A chest full of gems? My own army?" She shook her head. "None of that interests me."

"I didn't think it would," Naruto answered with a hint of smugness. "If you could be satisfied so easily someone would have done it a long time ago. What you want though is much harder to provide. You want the people you loved most to come back to you. You want to see your precious little brother Nawaki and your lover Dan again. That's the real reason you still have that necklace isn't it? Because it's a reminder of them. You'd rather live in squalor and drink yourself to death than part with that last reminder of them."

Tsunade brought her hand up and slapped it down on the table. It shattered into pieces. She then reached out and grabbed Naruto by the collar hauling him to his feet. Her other hand glowed with chakra and was balled into a fist. "How dare you!" She screamed into his face. "Who the hell do you think you are to bring them up and talk about them like they were chips on a poker table?! They've been dead longer than you've been alive! The only reason I don't beat you to death right now is because I once loved your parents. Get the hell out of here before I lose my patience."

Naruto made no effort to pull away from her or defend himself, at least not deliberately. The red chakra flowed out of him and formed a cloak around his body as it always did when he was in danger. His absolute defense required no conscious thought on his part. Tsunade grunted as she was forced to let go of him as the chakra cover his front and freed him of her grip. Despite her anger she took a step back. She could feel the immense power flowing off of him. She was certain any ninja within at least a mile would be able to feel it as well. The cloak formed only a single tail.

"Forgive me Lady Tsunade," he said and gave her a bow that was in no way mocking. "I didn't mean to offend you. When I brought up Nawaki and Dan I wasn't trying to mock you. I can give them back to you, not exactly as they were, but close enough. I can make them return to this world with all their memories and feelings of love for you. They won't be truly alive but it will be them in every way that matters."

"What the hell kind of con are you trying to pull?" She demanded. "What, you think you can create some kind of illusion and that will be enough to make me serve you?"

"What I'm offering is much more than some cheap genjutsu. Orochimaru created a technique that could force the spirits of the dead to return to the land of the living. The jutsu hasn't been perfected yet, the effects are only temporary, but I can make them permanent eventually. I can give you back the people you love."

"I don't believe you," she snapped. "You'd say anything to try and trick me."

He nodded. "I wouldn't expect you to believe something like that without proof, that's why I brought some with me."

As if at a prearranged signal there was a knock at the front door. "Otokage? Are you all right?"

"Just fine Haku." He'd expected that at some point he would release some of his demonic chakra either on purpose or in self defense. He'd left instructions of what to do when that happened. "Is our special guest with you?"'

"She is Otokage-sama," Haku replied. "She is most eager to speak with Tsunade-sama."

Naruto looked back at a somewhat worried Tsunade. "I have someone here who can convince you that what I say is true. Will you allow her to come in; I assure you that she is no threat to you."

"Who is it?" She asked.

"An old friend of yours, someone you haven't seen in a long time." He refused to say any more.

She eyed the door. She had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. Somehow the thought of what might be behind that door scared her more than having the Kyuubi's jinchurikki not five feet away.

"Can she come in Lady Tsunade? She doesn't have that much time."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Naruto merely grinned at her.

He may look like Minato but he reminds me more of Orochimaru. "Fine, whoever it is let her in."

Naruto went to the door and opened it himself. "Come in, come in, Tsunade is eager to see you again."

A young woman of no more than 16 or 17 stepped tentatively into the room glancing about before spotting Tsunade. She was dressed in a green and brown jacket and dark grey trousers. Her weapons pouches and the grace of her movement proclaimed her a kunoichi. As she stepped inside and got a good look at Tsunade a wide smile of relief covered her face. "Tsunade! It's so good to see you!" Arms open she ran over to her without hesitation.

Seeing her face Tsunade paled. "Mi… Miya? Hyuuga Miya?"

"It's so good to see you!" The girl exclaimed and wrapped her arms around Tsunade as she hugged her. "Everything's been so confusing; I don't know what's happened to me. The last thing I remember was being in a huge battle against Hanzo and his men in Rain country. The next thing I knew I was here. What's going on? Is Aki okay? I lost track of him during the fighting."

Aki had been her fiancé and another member of the Hyuuga clan. Both he and Miya had been part of the Leaf army that had fought in the battle where Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya had received the title of Sannin from Hanzo himself. Hanzo had so honored them because they alone had survived. Every other Leaf nin had died that day. Including Aki and Miya. They were both more than 20 years dead.

"He… he's fine," Tsunade croaked. As she did so she forced chakra to pulse through her system, desperately hoping this was some sort of genjutsu. When nothing changed she was forced to admit it was not. She hadn't thought about Miya in more than a decade, but looking in the girl's face it was like being back in time. This was Hyuuga Miya, of that she was certain. "Do you remember the shopping trip we took a couple weeks before the battle?"

"You mean in that little town in Grass? The one with the ivory carvings you liked? I remember you were thinking about buying that little cat carving but didn't want to spend the ryu."

"That… that's right," she answered with a sickly grin. That town had been annihilated less than three months later with all the civilians there slaughtered. The only people who'd been present with her had been Dan, Aki, and Miya. It was impossible that Naruto could know about a little ivory cat she'd been interested in back before he was ever born.

"So do you believe me?" Naruto asked.

She looked at him past the girl who was still hugging her and nodded. "Yes."

"Glad to hear it," he said and made a single hand sign of negation.

"Ahhh!" Miya cried out in sudden fear.

"What's wrong?" Tsunade asked and began casting a diagnostic jutsu to find out what it was.

The problem quickly became self evident as Miya's body began to revert to ash. The girl sent her friend a last frightened look before falling at her feet. As Tsunade watched Miya's form crumbled away to reveal the body of a stranger, a lifeless corpse of some ninja covered in ashes.

Naruto explained. "Like I said, the jutsu is only temporary and can be used only once per soul. Your grandfather and grand uncle were already summoned by Orochimaru and can never be summoned again." He deliberately left out the fact that his father had also been summoned previously. "That's why I didn't try to summon Nawaki or Dan. I'll wait until I have the jutsu perfected, it may take years but I'm confident I can do it. When that time comes I'll bring them back for you."

Tsunade stared at him open mouthed, the revelation of what she had just seen was starting to hit her. It really might be possible; she might really see them again. She looked back at the body at her feet. "This jutsu, it requires a human sacrifice to work doesn't it?"

"That's right," Naruto replied. "For a human soul to be brought back one has to be sacrificed. Of course I'll need lots of human test subjects in order to perfect it. Part of your job will be to assist me in that. I hope you don't object, every great achievement requires some cost after all."

She stared down at the corpse and then at Naruto. She understood the devil's bargain he was offering her. As a medic nin she had always hated war and pointless death. When she'd heard about Orochimaru's experiments she'd been disgusted. She'd thought him a monster for being able to use human beings as nothing but experimental fodder, exterminating countless lives all for the sake of knowledge. She'd known that she could never do the same.

Now if she wanted to see Dan and Nawaki again she would have to wade through human blood. Naruto wasn't trying to trick her, his offer was plain and clear. She understood that if she accepted it she would never be able to refuse anything he commanded of her. No crime would ever be too hideous or revolting. She would walk in Orochimaru's footsteps and do it willingly.

A path that would someday bring her loved ones back to her.

"Will you serve me Lady Tsunade?" He held his hand out to her. "Will you proclaim me your Lord and follow me of your own free will?"

Perhaps if Shizune hadn't gone she would have found the strength to say no. Perhaps if she weren't all alone. Perhaps if she were still practicing medicine and helping people rather than spending all her time hiding and getting drunk.

And perhaps she was just making excuses; perhaps she would have given the same answer no matter what once she realized what he was offering was possible.

"I will," her voice was weak, barely above a whisper, but loud enough for him to hear her.

"Swear it then," he commanded.

She fell slowly to her knees and lowered her face. "I swear to serve you in all ways and in all things for as long as I shall live… my Lord Uzumaki Naruto."

"Good," he said sounding extremely satisfied. "Now up on you feet Tsunade, we have a long way back to Oto and a lot of work ahead of us."