"Who the heck were those two?" Naruko asked. Two shinobi had knocked on her door, dressed in fancy black cloaks with pretty red flowers. One of 'em had been this blue shark-guy she'd never seen before, but the other she recognized. Itachi Uchiha. Sasuke's older brother. She'd told him that once Sasuke got all healed up, he was gonna kick his sorry butt.

Itachi hadn't reacted at all, and the blue shark-guy had told Naruko that they'd be taking her with them. She'd thought they were gonna be super tough, the shark-guy had drained her chakra with his shark-sword thing in like two seconds, but Itachi had fled as soon as he saw Jiraiya. Coward.

"And who the heck is that?" Naruko asked, nodding at the unconscious, big-breasted, blonde woman Jiraiya had placed on the bed.

"She's uh…" Jiraiya said, shifting uncomfortably. "Those two are part of a shadowy organization called Akatsuki," he said confidently. "Their goal is to collect all nine Tailed-Beasts. They've already hunted down a few jinchuriki. I don't know the exact details, but the jinchuriki they've managed to capture have been found dead, with their Tailed-Beast removed. In other words, they want to kill you. Don't get any ideas about fighting them. They're too powerful. If you see them, run."

Naruko frowned. "Tailed Beasts?"

Jiraiya nodded solemnly. "They are giant beasts that ravage the earth, walking disasters made entirely of malevolent chakra. The First Hokage once had all of them under his control, and gave them to the other Hidden Villages as gifts. Along with you and Gaara, there are as many as five other jin-"

"So that's it!" Naruko said excitedly. Now that she knew what Tailed-Beasts were, everything made sense. "That's why The Fox was willing to fight against Shukaku, and why he called him little broth- Ow!"

Jiraiya had poked her forehead. "Brat! What did I tell you about fighting Gaara? I thought we had a deal."

Naruko hung her head. She'd hoped he'd forgotten about that. It wasn't like she'd wanted to lie but Sasuke and Sakura had been in-

Jiraiya mussed up her hair. "...A perfect shinobi always keeps their word, but a gallant shinobi knows when to break it. You protected the village, you protected your teammates, good job."

Naruko preened. She wished that this moment could last forever, because it was as close as she'd ever get to having a dad tell her he was proud of her. Maybe it wasn't exactly the same, but Jiraiya's warm approval filled an ache in her chest she'd had for as long as she could remember.

"But," Jiraiya sighed, his tone becoming heavy, his giant hand still gently placed on her head. "You should have run. If not for you, Gaara would have transformed more slowly, and I would have gotten there in time to stop the conflict myself."

Naruko took a step back, breaking their connection. The hotel room didn't feel so warm anymore, and she noticed that the blonde woman on the bed smelled like sex and cheap perfume, that the hotel light was flickering, and that an old man she barely knew was telling her that a group of the strongest shinobi in the world had banded together to kill her. It was almost tempting, to go back to that warm world, to win back Jiraiya's approval with empty words. But if she lied to gain a connection, wasn't she just being like Gaara?

"I won't sit on the sidelines ever again," Naruko said, glaring up at Jiraiya's somber black eyes. "In the Chunin Exams, there was only one shinobi I fought who was stronger than me. The Grass Shinobi." And that had been Orochimaru. There were definitely some shinobi that were stronger than her. But not many, and none for long. She'd be the strongest someday. She couldn't just ignore that anymore. She'd known Gaara was bad news as soon as he'd arrived in the village. She'd let Lee fight him. She'd let Sasuke fight him. She'd just sat and watched as he almost killed them, all because she'd been afraid… She was still afraid, she was almost happy she'd gotten out of the village, because now everybody knew… "What if I'd fought Gaara right away? If I beat him at the beginning of the Chunin Exam Sasuke and Lee wouldn't have gotten hurt. Would Suna have even attacked? Would Old Man Hokage still be alive? If I sit around and do nothing about Akatsuki, I'll just be letting innocent people get hurt again. I'm strong Jiraiya. It's my duty to protect the weak."

Jiraiya sighed, and walked to the unconscious blonde hooker. He put some crumpled ryo next to her, and walked out of the hotel, motioning for Naruko to follow. He led her out of the city, to an empty meadow in the forest. "Go on kid. Show me your moves. Just how are you going to take down Akatsuki?"

Naruko let out a breath. The academy instructors always told her she sucked at taijutsu, but her fighting had been good enough to beat Gaara so what did they know? Maybe they hadn't known what they were talking about, or maybe she'd gotten better since those days. Either way she was sure that The Wise Sage would see her point if she showed off her moves a little.

She bounced on her toes like Goku before a big fight. She ran forward, and little flowering grains from grass-stalks floated around her. She aimed some jabs at seedlings as they hovered, a hook, some nice little bobs of her head, a few fakes, and then a big roundhouse kick that woulda torn Itachi's face off. Next she darted backwards, avoiding an imaginary fireball jutsu, showing off her speed. And then she struck the grass again, fast as she could, turning to avoid an imaginary-

"Ahahaha!" Jiraiya was wiping tears from his eyes. "That's enough, that's enough. You look like you learned to fight from reading comic books."

And what was so funny about that? How else was she supposed to learn? Did he think the senseis at the Academy taught them that? They weren't exactly taijutsu masters themselves, and each sensei had like ninety students! Was she supposed to just remember all of Sasuke's fights? All of Hinata's? Just copy all their moves? Their bodies were different than her's and it was hard to copy! She was better than Sakura and Ino, believe it! And even if she weren't, wasn't he supposed to be her sensei? "Why am I even here, if you're not gonna train me?"

Jiraiya frowned. "Let's get one thing clear. You're on the mission because I think you can help, not because I want to train you. Lady Tsunade is a kunoichi. You understand a lady's mind far better than I ever could. I think if you talk to her about your two little boyfriends, it might just thaw her icy heart. If you want to get stronger, go back to Konoha and train with Kakashi. He's your sensei, not me."

She'd just thought… He'd taught her so much last time, and he'd seemed so nice, so she'd just thought… It was stupid. She was being stupid. It wasn't fair to expect that out of the old man, even if he was a good person. Nobody ever helped her. She didn't expect them to. It was fine. Fine. "Fine! I won't bother you about training anymore." She stomped after him. She'd still be watching, and if he ever used a jutsu in front of her she was gonna steal it!

Jiraiya sighed. "Brat. You think you can fool me with the Grass Shinobi thing? You think I don't know that you fought Orochimaru? How did that turn out? You think you coulda' escaped him alive?"

As much as she wanted to say 'yes' just to see the look on his stupid face, she was a girl who mostly kept her word. "No." Naruko had gotten the feeling The Pervy Snake had been toying with her when they'd fought. Even when she'd snapped his neck, she'd never felt the fear from him that she had the other shinobi she'd battled. He was stronger than her… For now anyways. She was done being modest about her abilities.

"He was once a member of Akatsuki," Jiraiya said solemnly. "And there are members in that organization far stronger than him."

"Then train me." Naruko knew she wasn't the strongest yet. Orochimaru knew more jutsu than her, was more skilled, but she'd never felt he was a better fighter. If she learned more jutsu and got a bit faster, she'd be able to take him. She just had to train. "Make me strong enough to fight them."

Jiraiya looked up at the clouds and let out a long breath. "Did you know that there was a prophecy about me? When I was a young man, I was told that I would have a role in creating the Child of Prophecy. The child would be born into darkness, but my teachings would inspire the child, show them the light. But the child would be faced with the true darkness of the shinobi world. The child could save everyone. Or destroy them. Whether the Child of Prophecy was a savior or destroyer would be dependent upon my actions."

Jiraiya swallowed. "Naturally, whenever I trained a promising shinobi I tried to teach them the importance of responsibility and duty. I wanted to be the sensei of the savior of the world. Self-sacrifice, duty to the world, altruism, peace, love, I tried to teach those things to my students. In all my life there have been two shinobi who I felt could be The Child of Prophecy. One of them is your namesake, who died to depose a tyrant named Hanzo and free The Rain Village. The other was your father. He may have been the best student I ever had. I had to make him a savior. He would save the world. Is it any wonder that he thought he had to protect everyone? Is it any wonder that he died protecting the village? Does it make you happy that your father was a hero? Or are you just sad that he isn't here?"

That… Was a good point. Naruko would give up everything, anything, to have a dad. She didn't really care much learning that he was some hero. He was dead. She'd have preferred a disgraced coward who was alive.

She wouldn't be heroic like her mom and dad. Thinking about it, Sasuke had gotten hurt trying to protect her. If she'd have run away, if he'd have run away, if they'd left Konoha to Gaara then neither of them would have gotten hurt. Sure it'd have been bad for Konoha, but Jiraiya would've showed up eventually, and Sasuke would still have his legs. "Then can you teach me how to run away?"

The Wise Sage sniffled, wiped his nose, and ruffled her hair. "Let's get started. Your form is amateurish at best."

Amateurish! Amateurish? She'd show him amateurish! Just um, what did that mean? What it meant was that it turned out she didn't know the correct way to run. Hah! As if! Running wasn't some complicated thing, ya just had to move your legs back and forth real fast.

But of course The Wise Sage thought differently.

"Keep your head in one place, if it's bobbing you're directing too much force upwards."

Naruko bit down an insult, and just nodded.

"Land on the top of your foot, not your heels!"

Yeah, yeah, whatever. They were working on her form. Making it more efficient. She got it.

"Channel chakra into your legs and feet. Channel chakra into the ground the same way you would if you were walking on a tree. Remember, it's not just about how fast you can move in a straight line, it's about how quickly you can change direction."

Okay, better, but- what the heck? He'd just chucked a rock at her!

"Maintain your form brat! This training won't do you any good if you break into old habits in a fight!"

This was good and all, she was moving like, a tiny bit faster, but she still had one question. "Where the heck are my weighted training clothes?" Naruko asked angrily. What the heck was The Wise Sage trying to pull? She knew from Dragonball, and even watching Rock Lee that weights were the key to getting fast, not stupid running mechanics. "How am I supposed to get stronger without lifting weights?"

Jiriaya just kept her running sprints, all the way to the next town.

"It's not like the ramen mom used to make," Naruko said gloomily, as a big-breasted blonde waitress walked past their table, swirling the broth with her spoon. She didn't really get it, but apparently acting was an important part of covert shinobi operations.

"I know you miss your mom, but we talked about this," Jiraiya said sadly, hugging her. "Sorry about her, the Pho is really good." He told the waitress smiling at her in a way that was somehow creepy.

Naruko was sick of his gross lies. These noodles weren't really good, they sucked! Naruko would put it somewhere between Ramen Ichiraku and that disgusting Chow Mein that Lee called food. At least these noodles had the decency to have a broth, but how would this stupid restaurant get any better if nobody ever said anything?

After a few moments, the waitress left in a huff, and Jiraiya had a red imprint of a hand on his left cheek. "Now Naruko, this is an important part of training. Remember how much food Goku eats in Dragonball? That's what makes him so strong!"

...That did make sense, but… Naruko's unhappy reflection stared back at her, until she slurped up all the gross broth from the bowl. Terrible! But that was how it was in this mission. They went from gambling den to gambling den, one small city to another. They stopped for food often, Jiraiya making her eat everything he ordered, even the disgusting menma on her ramen. She hated menma! And all he ever did was make her run back and forth! Boring! Why couldn't he teach her a teleportation jutsu or something? Apparently there was one, but he didn't know how to use it himself, and wouldn't even let her study it on her own! How dumb was that! So he taught her this other jutsu, which was basically just running really fast!

And now here they were. Another gambling den. Naruko stared at her reflection in the mirror, flexing her biceps. Look at that muscle! Call her a skeleton now, Ino! Hah! She stuck out her chest, and admired the little bumps on them. Yeah, she was totally finally getting breasts, and she was completely shredded. She flexed her arms again, admiring her guns. She was definitely the strongest woman in the-

Whoa- Bouncy!

A big-breasted blonde- no that wasn't right- a biggest-breasted blonde woman had walked through Naruko's reflection. Yeah, they were definitely going into this gambling den, and Naruko didn't even blame Jiraiya this time. That was the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen, too bad she was probly some weak meek waitress. The Wise Sage grabbed her hand, and pulled her into the casino, wearing a determined, stern expression. All he was concerned about were breasts, men were such idiots.

"Hey you," Naruko said, grabbing a strong looking waiter's shirt. "I bet I can do more pushups than you!"

The waiter shook her off, huffed, and continued on to one of the tables.

"Can you believe that guy?" Naruko asked, turning to Jiraiya. He was staring at the beautiful blonde woman, his entire body frozen in place. Naruko smiled. This guy was totally hopeless! He wasn't blushing or stuttering or anything, but she could tell he was head over heels for Tsunade by the way his eyes never left hers. It was like when Hinata watched Lee, but more constrained, more intense. She poked him but he didn't respond, he just kept staring at the blonde.

Ahahaha.

Naruko giggled, and sprinted to Tsunade, jumping onto the poker table before Jiraiya could stop her. Cards went flying, the dealer yelped, but Naruko ignored him. "I've got some wonderful news! You're gonna be hokage, and it's all because my sensei, The Wise Sage Jiraiya totally campaigned for you!" Naruko gave Jiraiya a thumbs-up. He facepalmed.

Weird. And why was Tsunade staring daggers at Jiraiya? Hadn't she heard a word Naruko had said?

"That's great Tsunade!" said a cute black-haired woman holding a piggy. Naruko liked her, she got it! "Oh it was always Uncle's dream, what a wonderful-"

"Don't be a fool Shizune," Tsunade snorted. "Pass." She folded her cards. "What a load of shit! I haven't gotten a hand worth a damn all fucking day!"

"Don't you want to know the girl you're speaking to?" Jiraiya asked, the love on his face gone.

"No," Tsunade said bitterly. She was looking at Jiraiya the way all those rich clan kids used to sneer down their noses at Naruko. "I know what you're trying to do Jiraiya, and it won't work. I don't whore out my love so easily. I don't just forget them like it's nothing. I can't just latch onto every cute little orphan that comes my way like you do. Konoha means nothing to me anymore, I'm just trying to win a- Damn! You've got to be kidding me, what are the chances? If I'd have stayed in I'd have had a straight flush!"

"Unforgivable!" Naruko shouted. She was disappointed. Tsunade was like a grown up version of Ino, but even worse! At least when Ino insulted people it was on purpose! This Tsunade had her head so far up her butt she couldn't even tell how much of a jerk she was being to the two people who cared about her most. How the heck could a woman like that lecture about love? "You have no right to talk to Jiraiya like that!" She stuck a finger into the woman's enormous chest. ""He's spent years looking for the man who killed his student, and what have you been-"

"I know who you are," Tsunade said, scowling and pushing Naruko's finger away. "You're Naruko Uzumaki. Part Uzumaki just like me. Do you wanna know who your father was, kid? Minato Namikaze. The Fourth Hokage. The prized pupil of the Gallant Jiriaya. They were close, basically father and son, and you wanna know who Minato, your father, named the godfather of his firstborn child?" Tsunade smirked cruelly. "The Gallant fucking Jiraiya. He bragged to me about it. So why aren't you calling him 'daddy'?"

…

Hehehe…

That was a joke right?

...Hehehe…

What a horrible woman! That wasn't funny! Didn't she know not to joke about things…

Tsunade was smirking, and Jiraiya was hanging his head as if…

As if...

No! It couldn't be true! Jiraiya was a good guy! He was the only adult who'd ever cared about her! He wouldn't have abandoned her, left her alone in an orphanage! He wasn't the reason she hurt!

Tsunade was just making things up right? She had to be! She was a mean, bitter old lady who did everything she could to make sure that everyone was as miserable as she was! Jiraiya was the good guy, the man who'd helped her, who was gonna make her strong! He'd have never abandoned her! Tsunade was lying, she was lying, she had to be! But it was just...

Why wouldn't Jiraiya look at her?

Why wouldn't he tell her Tsunade was lying? If he'd just say it, she'd believe him!

He said nothing.

… So...

… Then...

...It was true.

Jiraiya was the reason she was alone.

Naruko ran. Away from the city. Into the forest. Not to be alone, she'd always been alone, just to get away from other people.

Why hadn't he checked up on her? She understood he was doing important work for the village, she understood that he couldn't always be there, but even just a few meals together? If Old Man Hokage could make some time for her, why couldn't Jiraiya?

What the hell was wrong with her? She'd had a potential parent this whole time, and she'd been so horrible he hadn't even stopped by once to say hello. Why hadn't he? Why not? Why?

"Naruko…" The Sage's deep voice came from the trees. He must have been standing right in front of her, but Naruko couldn't bear to even look at him. "...I messed up… I chased ghosts, I chased Minato's shadow, rather than take care of-"

"That woman, Tsunade, why do you want her to be the hokage?" Naruko asked, wiping her nose.

The Sage was silent for a moment. When he finally spoke, he was smooth, polished, and confident. "She is the granddaughter of Hashirama Senju, she is a legendary and powerful kunoichi, one who the other Great Villages-"

"Bullshit!" Naruko snapped, trembling. "You left me alone for twelve years, you at least owe me honesty!"

The Sage tilted his head. "You saw her. What she's like," he said softly. "She used to be the greatest kunoichi in the entire world. She needs something to live for. The position, it would be good for her."

"So," Naruko prompted. "How long have you loved her?"

"Since we were kids," The Sage admitted, and Naruko could tell by the terror in his voice that he'd never spoken it aloud before.

"Well she's never loved you." And as Naruko walked away, she heard The Sage say the one thing that made her regret her cruel words.

"I know."

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! This is going to be a short arc, with only three chapters, but will heavily impact the Sasuke retrieval arc. And now, onto the reviews!

TheBeauty - The reason Jiraiya doesn't kill Danzou or the rest of the council is because that isn't the type of person Jiraiya is. At least in this story. As for why Danzou hasn't been executed, it's because he isn't alone in his anti-Uchiha sentiment. It isn't something people will mention aloud, but many of the people in Konoha distrusted the Uchiha. More importantly, Sasuke is the only Uchiha and he hasn't made any allies except for Naruko and Kakashi, so there isn't anyone left who can push back against Danzou right now. What was once said only behind closed doors is becoming safer and safer to speak of in public. But the sentiment was always there, it was simply lurking in the background waiting for an opportunity. Now that Sasuke has revealed Orochimaru's seal, it has validated Danzou's viewpoints in the eyes of many. Thanks for the questions!

Lonewolf1836 - Glad to hear it! I hope you keep reading, and thanks for the review!

Amaterasu53 - I wasn't a fan of the eye switching stuff either. And while you're probably right about Jiraiya, I don't think he'd be happy as a hokage, and I want to give him a happy ending. Thanks for the review!