Previously on Path of Shadows, Path of Lights...

As the sounds of fighting died down once Suna's forces realized that they'd been duped, and Oto's were destroyed, Hiruzen peered wearily out over the rooftops of Konoha. After a few moments, the Third Hokage groaned, turned to his subordinates and said three simple words.

"I f***ing quit."

The air was somewhat tense in the Hokage's office, as Hiruzen sat wearily behind his desk. Gathered in the room were the four Konoha Jonin-sensei - Gai, Asuma, Kakashi and Kurenai - as well as Ibiki, Jiraiya and Iruka. After a few moments of silence, the Third sighed, and began to speak.

"I'm sure you all want to know why I've called you here, and some of you may know what I intend to discuss" Hiruzen said, before looking at Ibiki. "Tokubetsu Jonin Morino, in recognition of your efforts to bring down the barrier around myself and my fellow Kage, which likely saved our lives, I believe you are deserving of a promotion to full Jonin." The scarred man looked slightly surprised, but quickly regained his composure, striking an imposing figure.

"As you wish, Hokage-sama, but I believe that credit is due not to me, but rather to our two young defectors from Otogakure" Ibiki responded.

Hiruzen's face crinkled slightly into a smile. "That is the next order of business; what is to be done with our three newest former foreign assets?" The others in the room frowned slightly. "Three?" all of them thought.

"I can tell you are slightly confused. We acquired a young lady named Karin, who is of Uzumaki heritage, from Kusagakure after the second stage of the exam. They were apparently using her as a healer, and her mother had died from overwork, with her own future looking much the same." Noting the slight looks of anger on the Jonin and Chuunin's faces, Hiruzen added to his statement. "I was, just this once, more than happy to let Danzo do the negotiating once the girl informed me of how she was treated."

Those in the know about the ROOT leader derived some measure of amusement in knowing that the warhawk and his fearsome reputation had actually been helpful for once. "I would like to know if any of you four would be willing to take on the responsibility of an extra Genin" Hiruzen continued, addressing Asuma, Gai, Kakashi and Kurenai.

The younger Sarutobi chuckled slightly. "From what I can tell, Dosu Kinuta is a fairly decent tactician, and his personality would fit in well with Team Ten. I'll gladly take him."

Kurenai raised her hand as well, now that her maybe sort-of-kind-of boyfriend had thrown his hat in the ring. "Kin Tsuchi's specialty is auditory genjutsu, and she seems to have decent talent in that regard. I could help broaden her horizons and polish her abilities, not to mention she'd be the only genjutsu specialist on Team Eight. I volunteer to look after her."

Hiruzen nodded, writing on a piece of paper. "That's two. Any takers for the Uzumaki?"

Before Jiraya or Kakashi could say anything, Gai raised his hand. "Miss Karin, from what I could tell of her when I first met her, is in need of significantly better physical training to compliment her natural sensory abilities. She will benefit greatly from my youthful training!"

Kakashi sweatdropped. "That poor girl."

Jiraiya, meanwhile, chuckled internally. "Gai sure is a good case of appearances being deceiving. You could think he's just a spandex-wearing, youth-obsessed taijutsu nutjob, but he's actually tactically gifted and an excellent teacher."

Clearing his throat, Jiraiya spoke up. "How can we ensure that any of them are loyal though?" the Sannin asked, raising a legitimate concern.

Hiruzen stroked his grey beard solemnly. "The two from Otogakure are both aware of and disgusted by the fact that their teammate was used by Orochimaru as a human sacrifice, and they were more than willing to sell his plans out to us despite, or perhaps because of, their near-assassination at the hands of Kabuto Yakushi. And given the Uzumaki's treatment, she has no love for Kusagakure."

Seeing this answer as acceptable, Jiraiya nodded and stepped back in line. "Now, on to the next issue at hand - my successor" Hiruzen said, appearing to age even more before his subordinates' eyes. "There are very few candidates actually strong enough to realistically hold the position, and most of them are in this room. Kakashi-" Hiruzen began, before the silver-haired Jonin interrupted. "Nope."

"Fine. Iruka?" Hiruzen asked hopefully.

"I apologize, Lord Third, but if I've been avoiding a promotion to Jonin for the past two years, I doubt a promotion to Hokage is any more appealing, given how much I enjoy teaching." The Third nodded in approval of "Konoha's Strongest Chuunin" and his willingness to forego promotion to teach the next generation.

"Gai?" The bushy-browed Jonin shook his head, flashing Nice Gai Pose 22A. "I'm sorry, Hokage-sama, but I would not be a youthful enough candidate for Hokage."

Several of the others did their best not to sigh in relief. "Thank kami."

"Anyway, that leaves only three people" Hiruzen said, pointing to Jiraiya. "You, Tsunade and Danzo." At the last one, every single person in the room immediately responded in unison.

"Fuck no."

The Third chuckled. "Then it's either you or Tsunade, Jiraiya."

The Toad Sage stroked his nonexistent beard, before a sly grin developed on his face. "Well, y'know, being Hokage might not be so bad..." he began, grabbing everyone's attention with that statement.

"You...you mean it?" Hiruzen asked hopefully.

"Of course! Just know that, if I'm made Hokage, I will make a few changes once I'm in office" Jiraiya responded.

Eyebrows raised. "Changes? What kind of changes?" Kakashi inquired.

Jiraiya smiled as bright as the sun itself. "I'm glad you asked, Kakashi-san! On that day, all kunoichi will be required to wear...TINY MINISKIRTS!"

A slight trail of blood flowed from both Kakashi and Hiruzen's noses. Gai, Asuma, Ibiki and Iruka all blinked a few times, then sweatdropped. As for Kurenai, a dark aura surrounded her. "Pervert" she hissed, and with that, the Third was snapped out of his miniskirt-induced reverie. "R-Right. Jiraiya, you're leaving in two days to find Tsunade" he said firmly, as Jiraiya grinned knowing that his plan had worked, and Kakashi resisted the urge to moan in disappointment.

"Anyway, now for our final order of business. As you all likely know, the three children of the Fourth Kazekage were captured two days ago by a task force of our Genin, consisting of Naruto Uzumaki, Satsuki Uchiha, Shikamaru Nara and Shino Aburame. Suna has unconditionally surrendered in the wake of learning of their leader's demise, so the three are technically our prisoners of war" Hiruzen said, as Iruka looked ready to protest that they were children and didn't deserve this.

Turning to Jiraiya, the Hokage cleared his throat. "Before you leave to find Tsunade, I want you to modify the seal on Gaara, the Ichibi Jinchuriki. This move will both benefit and punish Suna, since they will no longer have a Jinchuriki with a seal unstable enough to release his Bijuu the way their invasion plans had intended, but he will be mentally more stable and capable of drawing on the Bijuu's abilities with no ill effect."

Jiraiya sighed. "I've already seen that seal, and whoever did it did an utterly crap job. I get that Suna isn't known for fuinjutsu prowess, but come on, that Four Winds Seal wasn't even applied right, and it's sealing the Bijuu into his brain - arguably the last place you want a being of malevolent chakra to be stored. I'll apply a double-layered Four Winds Seal on his stomach and transfer the Bijuu's chakra there."

Hiruzen nodded. "I expect nothing but your best work, as ever, Jiraiya. Meeting dismissed."

A day later...

Jiraiya appeared in front of Naruto in a puff of smoke. "Yo, Ero-Sennin!" the blonde said, unperturbed by the sudden arrival of his sensei.

"I told you to stop calling me that, dammit!" Jiraiya growled in frustration, before shaking his head. "But nevermind that, we're going to track down my old teammate Tsunade to be the next Hokage tomorrow morning."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess: jiji wants to retire again" he deadpanned, and Jiraiya laughed in response. "Damn right he does; he's still annoyed that your dad made him go back to those piles of paperwork."

The blonde snorted in response to this.

"What time do we leave?" "0900 hours, South Gate. She was last seen in Tanzaku Quarters, in the southern region of the Land of Fire."

The next morning, at 0900 hours, Jiraiya and Naruto did indeed depart in search of Tsunade, headed towards Tanzaku Quarters, located some 150 kilometers to the south. Their destination was notorious for being one of the shadiest locations in the country, home to gambling dens, dozens of bars, and prostitution, among other such things. In other words, it was exactly where you'd find one of the most notorious gambling losers in the world.

"She's gotten a very infamous nickname" Jiraiya said, watching his student's sense of curiosity build to a fever pitch. "Really? What is it?" Naruto asked eagerly.

Jiraiya laughed, thinking that it was too easy to get his student hooked on his words. "She's called...the legendary sucker!" Naruto turned red at the possible connotations, and even the Super Pervert of Mount Myoboku found it necessary to clear his teammate's name. "It's because of how bad she is at gambling, not...well, you know."

Arriving as evening fell in a small town called Karakura, halfway between Konohagakure and Tanzaku Quarters, Naruto and Jiraiya checked into a hotel. "Okay" Jiraiya instructed his student. "Here's what I want you to do this evening. I'm going to go gather information and get food for us, and you can check into the hotel room and continue training your Fuuton affinity. Understood?"

Naruto nodded in agreement and grabbed the key. "Got it, Ero-Sennin!" he said, turning to head up the stairs to the second floor. As he looked back, he briefly saw a scantily-clad woman leading Jiraiya off in some random direction, and his temper briefly ignited.

"Pervert" he muttered, before entering and locking himself into the hotel room, pulling out a ream of paper in place of leaves for the wind cutting exercise, a set of rubber balls for refining his Rasengan, and a cup of instant ramen noodles, which he set to making while several clones began the other exercises, bantering with each other as they progressed.

After a half hour or so, a knock came at the door. "Hm? One of you want to get that?" he said, gesturing to one of his clones. They all grumbled in disagreement, so the real Naruto relented and, setting his noodles down, walked over and opened the door. "About time you showed up, Ero-Sennin! I was starting to worry if you were falling into the shinobi...vices..."

The reason Naruto trailed off was because, instead of looking up at the white-haired, red-clad Toad Sage, he instead stared up at what literally any man - Naruto included - and many women would describe as a downright beautiful woman. Hair as black as midnight, with two birthmarks running down between her eyes and across the pale skin of her face, the woman was clad in a black cloak with red clouds, and wore a wide-brimmed hat on her head.

Removing the hat, the boy noticed the most striking feature of her face - the two fully-developed Sharingan eyes, glaring bright red at him. Inside his gut, Kurama growled angrily at the sight of the eyes that had twice enslaved him. Looking behind her to see an impossibly tall, blue-skinned man with a curious wrapped package on his back and the same cloak, Naruto felt a chill run down his spine, now knowing who he was looking at. "I-Itami-neesan?!" he thought, recalling "Weasel", one of the few ANBU who was truly nice to him as a kid.

"Naruto-kun, will you please come with us?" Itami Uchiha, the genius, prodigy, and perhaps most importantly, clan-killer, asked the orange clad boy.

The Dawn had arrived. Akatsuki had taken center stage.