Previously on Path of Shadows, Path of Lights...
The two finished rubbing their heads and sat up, looking into each other's eyes with a mixture of surprise and regret. "H-Hime?" Jiraiya stammered. "Jiraiya? The hell are you doing here?" asked the blonde bombshell he had run into, who was none other than Tsunade Senju, the Slug Sannin.
A few minutes later, Naruto found himself sitting next to and conversing with Tsunade's apprentice Shizune Kato, who was holding a small pig on her lap. The four people and one pig were currently in the Tanzaku Cantina - Jiraiya and Tsunade were, predictably, at the bar, while the two younger individuals sat at a nearby table, eating dinner. "So, why did you come to find Tsunade-sama and I?" Shizune asked Naruto.
The blonde finished eating his fourteenth bowl of ramen, then answered. "We came to find Tsunade because jiji wants to retire again, so Tsunade is the best option to become-!" he began, before Tsunade's voice cut him off. "I refuse! I will not become the Hokage just because Sarutobi-sensei wants to retire!" Jiraiya laughed. "I figured you'd say that; you always refused to go on a date with me too" he joked.
The Slug Sannin groaned and finished her sake. "God, first Orochimaru, then you; it's been a regular Sannin reunion today." Jiraiya's features sharpened. "You saw Orochimaru? What did he want?" Tsunade glared at Shizune just before she could open her mouth and say anything. "Nothing much; he just came by for a friendly greeting." Jiraiya snorted in amusement, but left it at that.
"Anyway, I refuse to become Hokage. Sensei needs to get some other idiot to do it, who knows that they're doomed to die in office like all the other fools aside from him have" Tsunade said, and Naruto felt his temper FLARE. Jiraiya sighed, because he knew exactly what was about to happen, as the younger blonde's chopsticks snapped in his grip and he got to his feet.
"The hell are you talking about, Granny?" he growled, and both Jiraiya and Shizune backed away, knowing that shit was about to get nasty. "What did you just say, brat?! Jiraiya, this student is even worse than the last blonde brat you had studying under you!" Tsunade said. "'That brat' has a name, dattebayo. It's Naruto Uzumaki, dammit!" th younger blonde returned fire. "The Kyuubi container is this kid? This is Minato and Kushina's son?" Tsunade wondered.
"Whatever, brat. Listen, Hokage is a job for fools. My grandfather Tobirama, grand-uncle Hashirama and the Fourth all gave their lives to protect that accursed village...they all died too young, because they risked their lives for Konoha. Lives can't be gambled like money can; anyone who does will die an early death like a loser!" Tsunade said, and Naruto's rage reached a fever pitch.
"Listen Granny, I don't care what you have to say about the job of Hokage itself, but don't spit on the graves of your family and my dad, dammit!" he growled. Tsunade's eyes widened for a brief moment. "Holy shit, he knows his heritage? Who told him?!" "So the brat knows his heritage, eh? Who told him?" she asked Jiraiya. "Orochimaru."
The Slug Sannin resisted the urge to facepalm. "That idiot is still salty about getting passed over?" "Let's take this outside, brat" the older blonde said, marching out in the street with the others behind her.
Holding up a single finger, Tsunade boasted about her strength. "It's still years too soon for you to be challenging any of the Sannin, brat. One finger is all I'll need to deal with you." Naruto tied his forehead protector back on in response and drew a kunai from his weapons holster. "Bring it, Granny!" he shouted, before charging at Tsunade.
In a matter of moments, Tsunade had stepped back to avoid his kunai slash, pulled the kunai from his grip, and sent him flying backwards down the street with a flick to his forehead, dinging the metal of his forehead protector. "Brat...before you pass out, tell me: why do you care about the office of Hokage so much?" Tsunade asked, looking down at Naruto's prone form as he slowly struggled to his feet. A Shadow Clone appeared next to the boy as he held his hand out.
"Because...it's my dream!" the younger blonde responded, as the clone gathered chakra into a swirling mass in his right hand, as Tsunade's eyes widened. "Jiraiya, you seriously taught him the Rasengan?" she asked, as another flashback haunted her - this time of a blue-haired man and a small brown-haired boy, standing alongside the silhouetted figure of Minato Namikaze. "What can I say? The kid's a natural" Jiraiya shrugged, as Naruto charged forwards.
At the last moment, Tsunade opened a crack in the ground, causing Naruto to trip and fall, burying the swirling ball in the ground and creating a large crater as a result. "It's still incomplete though" the older blonde noted, before lifting Naruto out of the crater he created. "You know what, kid, I'll make a bet with you. If you can complete your father's technique in a week, I'll go back to Konoha and become Hokage - and I'll throw in my grand-uncle Hashirama's priceless necklace. If not, then I'll never return to that village."
"I accept your bet" Naruto groaned, just before passing out. "Shizune, take him back to the hotel and let him rest until he wakes up. Jiraiya, we're getting more sake" Tsunade said, turning and storming back into the bar.
The blonde boy re-awoke on a soft bed in a nearby hotel, Shizune sitting near his bedside. "Ugh...I feel like Gamabunta was breakdancing on top of me..." Naruto muttered. "That old woman hits hard."
"Tsunade-sama...she wasn't always like this" Shizune sighed. "She used to care deeply about Konohagakure, and was arguably the greatest medic of all time, but she's lost a lot in her life." Naruto raised an eyebrow as Shizune continued. "Tsunade-sama has extensive psychological scars from losing people she cares about over the course of her life. Back in the Second War, she gave that necklace to her little brother Nawaki Senju, who wanted to be Hokage. The next day, an explosive trap killed him."
Naruto's eyes widened in shock. "The next person she gave that necklace to, who also wanted to be Hokage, was my uncle, Dan Kato - who also happened to be her fiance. He also met a bitter end in the Second War, and her inability to save him from blood loss has both led her to become afraid of blood and fall into a decades-long depression."
By this point, the blonde actually felt sympathetic for the woman who had beaten him up earlier. "Orochimaru suddenly betraying Konoha and the Fourth's death only sent her spiraling further down. I sometimes suspect that the only reason she hasn't gone to join them is because I'm still following her like a lost puppy" Shizune finished, a sad, bitter tone leaking into her voice, and the blonde's expression fell at the mention of his deceased father.
Naruto shook his head a few times. "I...shit, that sucks. I suppose I can relate to her a little..." he said sadly, before his expression brightened. "You know what? Fuck that. I won't just finish my dad's jutsu, I'll also get Granny Tsunade's hope back for her, dattebayo!"
With that, he tried to get to his feet to go train, but immediately fell back onto the bed. "Guess I'm stuck here until tomorrow" he laughed, and Shizune couldn't help but smile a little. "Even after everything he's been through, Naruto-kun is still so optimistic...losing Minato-sama and Kushina-neesan the day he was born, however bad the village treated him, all of it...I can't imagine living his life and still being the way he is."
Author's Notes:
Slowly getting through the Tsunade Arc, little by little. I anticipate finishing the first part of the story and starting the Shippuden years by the end of June; this story should be up to 80k words by then. As always, read and review. Thank you!