Last Time:
Tsunade sighed and placed her cards down, "You're right, which is why you should count me out. Playing at Hokage? That's a fool's game."
Now:
Naruto jumped onto the table and ran towards Tsunade, but Hanara pulled him back with her chakra threads.
"Let me at her, Hanara!" Naruto growled.
"That's enough Naruto," Jiraiya scolded, "People are watching!"
Naruto growled and went limp against Hanara's grip.
"Don't think about it, Naruto. I'm not going to let you go." Hanara sighed.
"She needs to learn a lesson! Who does she think she is, insulting the Fourth Hokage and Old Man like that?" Naruto exclaimed angrily.
"I know." Hanara nodded, "Believe me, I think she needs to learn her place, too, but attacking her in the middle of a restaurant isn't going to do anything!"
"I'm not going to just sit here and let her make fun of them! No way! I don't care if she is an old lady!" Naruto yelled, his hand unconsciously forming a fist, "I'll knock that cynical sneer off her face!"
"Is that a challenge?" Tsunade asked.
"Lady Tsunade," Shizune said, warning her.
"You bet it is!" Naruto declared.
"Hmph. You've got guts if nothing else. Let's take this outside, kids." Tsunade smirked, standing up.
"No, no, no," Shizune said worriedly, putting her face in her hands.
"Let him go, Hanara. When Tsunade gets like this, it's best to indulge her," Jiraiya told her.
Hanara released Naruto and sighed, 'Hotheads, the both of them. Ohhhh Tenten is gonna be so disappointed.'
They all walked outside. Naruto and Tsunade stood on opposite ends of the street while Jiraiya, Hanara, and Shizune stood to the side.
"One of the Legendary Sannin taking on a snot-nosed Genin. I ought to be ashamed of myself," Tsunade said, riling Naruto up.
"Who're you callin' snotty," Naruto demanded.
Hanara shook her head, 'Naruto isn't going to be able to beat her. The best close-range fighters on the field are combat medics and Shadow Clone Jutsu or not, Naruto still can only do close-range. Combat medics can nearly replicate the Gentle Fist, except instead of targeting chakra points, they can target nerves.'
"One finger," Tsunade said, raising her right hand's pointer, "That's all I'm going to need to beat you."
'So she's not going to do that. Naruto has a chance.'
"Please don't," Shizune begged.
'Do what? ...ohhhhh Tsunade was known for her chakra-enhanced strength. She could destroy boulders with a flick of her finger. She's probably gonna do that but to Naruto. I take that back, Naruto doesn't have a chance. At least he won't die. He'll just take an ego beating.'
"You're such a showoff," Jiraiya sighed.
Tsunade ignored him, "Well, what are you waiting for? Come at me."
"Don't ever underestimate me!" Naruto growled.
He ran towards her and threw three shurikens, all of which Tsunade dodged. Undeterred, Naruto took out a kunai, but he made the mistake of holding it in grabbing range. Tsunade used her pointer finger and put it through the kunai's hole, spinning it and using its momentum to pull off Naruto's headband. She then used the same finger to flick Naruto's forehead, sending him flying back.
'Well, that was quick.'
"Huh. I'm surprised you aren't knocked out yet. Well, one question before you pass out. What makes you so touchy about Hokage?" Tsunade asked.
Naruto smirked, "Because, unlike you, that's my goal. One day, the village will stop ostracizing me and I'll be its leader. To be Hokage, that is my dream."
Still smirking, Naruto creates a blue ball of concentrated chakra. It didn't look like the completed version, but Hanara was sure it would do its job. Looking shocked, Tsunade flicked Naruto with her finger once again, causing a huge crater.
"Jiraiya!" Tsunade gasped, as Shizune ran up to Naruto, "Did you teach him the Rasengan?"
"Well of course I did," Jiraiya said proudly, "I'm his teacher after all. What of it?"
Tsunade scoffed, "Tch. What were you thinking? You and Lord Fourth were the only ones that could use it! What's the point of teaching it to someone that would never learn it? Next thing you know, I'll be hearing that you gave someone the Flying Thunder God! Stop playing with his dreams and giving him false hopes! It's not like this kid will even be Hokage one day."
That got Naruto mad, "Just give me three days and I'll have that jutsu down flat."
"Ha! Watch what you say, kid, I might just hold you down to it!" Tsunade said.
"Heh. I said it and I never go back on my word. That's my nindo, my ninja way." Naruto declared.
'If he's gonna train that hard, I might as well, too. Almost got Rotative Blades down, anyway.' Hanara thought, smiling. Naruto did give off a dumb blonde vibe sometimes, but he was also extremely inspiring. It's what kept her around him.
"Well then, care to make a bet? I say that you can't master that jutsu in a week. If you win, I'll admit that I was wrong and that you could actually become Hokage. I'll even throw in this necklace."
"Lady Tsunade, you don't mean that!" Shizune exclaimed.
'What's so special about it?'
"Heh, you can keep that. I'm not into jewelry." Naruto said.
"You numbskull, that necklace belonged to the First Hokage himself!" Jiraiya yelled.
'Huh, I didn't know that.;
"Why that little thing is worth three gold mines and the mountains on top of 'em," Jiraiya informed them.
'That's a one-sided bet if I've ever heard one.'
Naruto's eyes widened and he hastily said, "You've got yourself a bet, lady."
"All right. However, if you lose, I get all the money in froggy," she said, holding out Naruto's stuffed wallet.
"Not Gama!" Naruto exclaimed, searching his clothes to see how she could have taken it.
'That's more like it.'
Shizune ran up to Tsunade, "Lady Tsunade, what are you doing? How can you just gamble away that necklace?"
"They haven't a chance of winning. Let's go," she responded, briskly turning away after tossing Naruto his wallet.
The next week, Hanara spent her time training and exploring the village. It was the perfect place for tourists with tons of restaurants, festivals, and stores to go to. That wasn't important, though. What was important was the fact that she finally mastered Eight Trigrams: Rotative Blades. That's right. She finally managed to create three kunai-shaped blades (minus the handles) and control them decently. She could take away a blade or add up to three mid-attack and it could go through just about anything. It was definitely the most chakra control intensive attack she had, but it was worth it.
On the last day of Naruto's time limit, Hanara was startled when she walked out of her room to be met with a frantic Shizune and Jiraiya along with a confused-looking Naruto.
"Ah! Don't just stand right in front of my door like that!" she exclaimed before taking in their expressions, "What is it?"
"There's no time to lose, I'll explain on the way!" Shizune told her, walking inside her room and opening the window, "For now, please track down Orochimaru and Tsunade."
"On it," Hanara nodded. Whatever happened, if Orochimaru was involved it's nothing good, "Byakugan!"
The four of them jumped out the window and followed bits and pieces of Tsunade's chakra. Her chakra, like all medics', was a cool and inviting green, although not as inviting as most, indicating that Tsunade hadn't healed much in a while. Everywhere someone went, a bit of their chakra was left behind. Usually, only trackers that used their noses, like Inuzukas, or extremely good sensors, could sense it. However, Hanara's Byakugan caught nearly all the tiniest of details.
As Hanara tracked down Tsunade, Shizune explained the deal Orochimaru had given them. If Tsunade agreed to heal Orochimaru's arms, he would bring her sister and lover back to life. Hanara was disgusted. Only someone as foul as Orochimaru would even think of proposing a deal that preyed on someone's feelings. She had no idea what happened to Tsunade's brother and fiancé, but it couldn't have been anything good.
They passed by the original meeting place that looked like Tsunade destroyed but Hanara ignored the debris and continued to follow Tsunade's and now, Orochimaru's trail. Orochimaru's chakra was vile. It seemed tainted and almost... slimy. It looked horrible. Hanara felt bad for any sensor type that stayed anywhere near him. His chakra was disgusting, just like his personality.
Hanara stopped at an open field where Kabuto, Orochimaru, and Tsunade stood but didn't deactivate her Byakugan. Depending on the situation, she could be fighting two Sannin and a ninja whose abilities she didn't know. On her side was a Genin that has proven himself to be quite stupid, a Sannin that was drugged, and a medical ninja who's full abilities were unknown. If it really did come to that, it was almost certain that they would be defeated.
"It's been a long time, old friend," Orochimaru spoke.
"A long time indeed," Jiraiya agreed, "And I can't say it improved your looks any."
Orochimaru merely chuckled. Although Hanara was sure that it wasn't meant to sound creepy, it really did. Along with the vile chakra inside him... even if she didn't know how horrible he was, Hanara would never want to be anywhere close to the Snake Sannin.
Naruto gasped and pointed at Kabuto, who was beside Orochimaru, "Hey, Kabuto!"
Kabuto shot Naruto an evil grin, "Naruto. Hanara."
"Ah, so this is the boy you mentioned, Hanara. The one in the Chunin Exams." Jiraiya commented.
"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked.
"I already told you, Naruto." Hanara muttered, "He's on Orochimaru'sside."
"Out of my way!" Tsunade yelled, pushing Jiraiya and advancing towards Kabuto, "Stay out of this! I can handle them!"
Tsunade jumped and attempted to attack Kabuto. Before she could, though, Kabuto slit his wrist and covered Tsunade in his blood, causing Tsunade to become paralyzed with fear.
'Hemophobia... I had no idea.'
Kabuto mercilessly punched Tsunade away, causing Shizune to hurriedly catch her.
"Your jutsu's worn off," Kabuto informed the shaking Sannin, "I knew I wouldn't have been able to take down two Sannin, but at least I got one."
Naruto watched the scene with wide eyes, "But... Kabuto! I don't get it! I'm confused, did I miss something?"
"Look at his forehead protector," Hanara told him, "It's a Sound one, not a Leaf one. Kabuto's with Orochimaru."
"I see you're as slow as ever, Naruto," Kabuto said, walking up to them, "No wonder you're no match for Sasuke. I was sent by Orochimaru to spy on Sasuke and gather information on you. I learned one thing, you're not a bit like Sasuke."
Naruto glared.
"Tch, you really know nothing about battle tactics, don't you," Hanara sneered, trying to stop Kabuto before Naruto got too upset, "Don't give your opponent any information about yourself. It would've been more beneficial if Naruto was hesitant to attack you. Even though you pride yourself on your knowledge and Orochimaru thought you were smart, you're quite stupid. The Snake Sannin has quite low standards, doesn't he?"
Kabuto's smirk faltered, "With such a blunt personality, it's no wonder your father banished you to the Branch Family. You have no skill for the diplomacy needed in a clan head."
Hanara focused on her facial expression, trying not to prove to Kabuto that he got to her. Being the clan head honestly didn't matter to her at all. What hurt was the fact that Hiashi abandoned her just because of her time of birth. Hinata could have easily been in her situation, but because she came out first, Hanara was the one stuck with a seal on her forehead.
Evidently, Hanara failed because Kabuto said, "Go on, glare at me all you want, you two are still pint-sized Genin that are in over your heads. I admit, the demon inside Naruto had me worried at a time, but standing next to the three Sannin, I see how insignificant the two of you are. You're just mere children sitting at the adult table. If you don't get out of my way, I'll kill you."
"Oh yeah?" Naruto glared and ran towards Kabuto.
'I'll show you.' Hanara thought, making a water clone and going in for a close-range attack. She would've gone for long-range but she might have hit Naruto.
"Hanara, Naruto, no!" Jiraiya yelled.
As Naruto's clones closed in on Kabuto, Kabuto used the blood on his wrist to blind them and the clones dispelled. Hanara used some chakra threads, forced Naruto out of her jutsu's range, pulled out her fan, and enlarged it.
"Wind Style: Wind Scythe Jutsu!"
A mini-tornado was created and it attacked Kabuto, pushing him back, giving him cuts, and causing him to lose more blood.
Once it died down, Kabuto reached into his weapon's pouch and took out a pill.
"Plasma pill," Shizune muttered.
"Plasma pill?" Naruto asked.
"Well, of course," Hanara said, "He's trying to replenish lost blood."
"No, you misunderstood me. What's plasma to begin with?" Naruto asked.
"It's the colourle-" Hanara began to explain.
"Forget that, there's no time," Jiraiya interrupted.
"He's a medical ninja, like me," Shizune commented, "That means, I should be the one to take him on."
Kabuto walked back to Orochimaru and began to unwrap the bandages on Orochimaru's left arm.
"Well now, let's get down to business," Jiraiya said, "Shizune."
"Yes," she responded, snapping back to attention.
"I'll let you take care of four-eyes there." Jiraiya told her, "Just leave Orochimaru to me."
"Hey! What about us?" Naruto demanded.
"Isn't it obvious?" Hanara asked, "We have to stand guard over Tsunade and Tonton. In this fight, we'd be liabilities."
"No! That guy has to pay!" Naruto insisted.
"That guy was right, you are in over your head, Naruto. Our opponent is one of the Sannin, like me and Tsunade, and killed Lord Third. Glasses over there could go toe-to-toe with Kakashi if he had to! Just forget it. Just one last thing," Jiraiya turned to Shizune, "Can you do anything about my body?"
"I'm sorry, but the only thing we can do is wait for it to get out of your system," Shizune responded apologetically, "I'm sorry, but it can't be helped, Master Jiraiya."
"What? You've got to be kidding!" he sighed, "Oh well, what can you do? I'll just face him as I am."