It was fitting that Orochimaru had taken Tsunade to a cemetery. A constant reminder of why she was doing what she was doing and an open space that would make an ambush impossible. Apparently he didn't trust her. He always had been smart.
Dan would hate her for this. Tsunade had almost finished healing Orochimaru's arms, and Shizune's words kept coming back to her. So what? So what if he hated her? He'd be back. Nawaki would be back. Maybe they'd hate her, and yes that would make her miserable, but at least she'd have hope. If they were alive, hate could turn to love, she'd have something to work towards. Life would have meaning again, after so long.
And maybe Orochimaru had killed Hiruzen-sensei, but Hiruzen had sent Dan and Nawaki to die, so he deserved what he got and his sacrifice deserved to be meaningless. She didn't care…
And yes, maybe Naruko did remind her of her younger self, but-
Fuck! Tsunade leapt away from a yellow flash, as a ball of chakra that looked an awful lot like a rasengan grinded apart the gravestone she'd just been sitting on. Naruko jumped between her and Orochimaru, and attacked her with another of those chakra balls. Tsunade slammed the girl's arm into the ground and noticed that Orochimaru had gagged up a sword behind her. She had to stop him, he was gonna kill The Brat!
Tsunade tried to run forward, push aside Orochimaru's thrust or at least use her body as a shield, but realized she was too damn slow. How had she let herself get this fucking slow?
The awful screeching of metal against metal rang through her ears as Jiraiya flashed in front of the attack, turning aside the blade with a kunai. Tsunade let out a breath. She chuckled, despite herself, despite Orochimaru telling her the trick, she'd let herself get attached to the gir-
"I'm gonna kill the traitor!" Naruko screamed, shoving Jiraiya towards Orochimaru. "I'm gonna be the one to kill Tsunade!"
Okay, weren't death threats a little unwarranted? She hadn't been that much of an ass to the girl had she?
Shizune rushed to her side, her face all fierce and determined. What was that about? "You don't actually believe what Jiraiya said about her do you?" Tsunade asked. She could have chuckled, her assistant always had been a bit naive. "You can't believe everything you hear, Shizune," Tsunade lectured patiently. "Even my Grandfather couldn't have defeated a biju at her age, and she's just a clanless orphan." Not that Tsunade held it against Naruko. She liked the girl's moxie, leaping in to fight a sannin all by herself, it was exactly the kind of thing Tsu- well no, it was exactly what Jiraiya would've done, with Hiruzen-sensei and Orochimaru dragging their feet behind him, keeping him safe, complaining all the while. That old man, Hiruzen, had always been too stern to admit how he cherished the boy. Tsunade found herself smiling for some reason. "I can handle a baby-faced gennin. Go keep Kimimaro occupied. I don't want him ambushing The Idiot."
It would be just like Jiraiya to forget himself in the battlefield, and let some nobody take him down. Hmm… Fitting… Tsunade felt her smile broaden. This girl really was just like Jiraiya, all her big talk and her taijutsu was an absolute joke. It was like the girl had learned all her martial arts from a comic book, and only had had about a year of formal training. What was she shouting now, probably some rubbish just like Jiraiya would have…
"You shouldn't call Jiraiya an Idiot!" Naruko screamed, and for some reason the words brought some warmth to Tsunade's chest. The Brat brought her hands together, forming a cross, almost as if she was going to use the shadow clone jutsu. A clone or two would certainly make things a bit more inter-
Tsunade blinked. Genjutsu from this Brat? No, but how was this possible? Naruko had created what must've been thirty shadow clones. That meant she'd split her chakra up thirty times, and she didn't look tired at all. A girl couldn't- No, any kunoichi no matter their age- No, not just a kunoichi, any shinobi couldn't afford to throw away chakra like that. Maybe there were a few exceptions. Jiraiya for one… But not at this age, not when he was twelve, the only person who she'd ever heard of having chakra reserves like that had been Grandfather…
Naruko really had single-handedly fought off a biju, hadn't she?
Tsunade glowered. She'd been tricked. Naruko was no Jiraiya, she really was just like Tsunade. Or Orochimaru. Or her father Minato Namikaze. Or Kakashi Hatake. Maybe even Obi Uchiha. Another spoiled prodigy, so used to succeeding, so used to being praised that why wouldn't she take on a sannin? She was smart, sure, maybe even a genius, but she was so used to getting her way, so used to being right, that she'd never developed any wisdom.
"That's The Wise Sage you're talking about!" The Narukos screamed, slamming an obscenely large chakra scalped down on her. "My sensei! A good man!"
Strange. Tsunade caught the scalpels, snapped them in her hand, and tossed the brittle remains through a dozen shadow clones. "He was your godfather." Tsunade said bitterly. "Jiraiya left you to rot alone. You can't just forgive him."
"Yes I can!" Naruko shouted, summoning more clones. Just how many could she make? "I'm not some bitter old hag like you!"
"So you're just going to let it go?" Tsunade caught a charging shadow clone, and threw it crashing into the others. "It's not that easy!"
"It's not about it being easy." Naruko picked herself up off the ground, and stared up at Tsunade. There wasn't any trace of anger in those blue eyes. Just compassion. "When I was a kid I wanted a mom and dad. More than anything. But I wasn't alone. Old Man Hokage always took the time to visit me, always took the time to visit all the orphans! And that mattered more than anything! To all of us! I can have bonds! We all can! And if you think I'm gonna throw away a connection for some dumb old grudge you're outta your damn mind lady! Believe it!"
She let the girl wail on her, not sure whether Naruko's taijutsu really was just that bad, or if the girl wasn't actually trying to hurt her after all. Well… Well… Why were her eyes wet?
Sensei really was gone wasn't he?
Dammit.
She'd thought she was over it, mourning these dumb idiots who kept throwing their lives away. But no, she could still feel pain. Was that a good thin- shit!
Tsunade knocked a kunai out of Naruko's hand. The Brat had tried to stab her! She'd thought they'd had an understanding!
But no, Naruko still didn't look angry, if anything she looked relieved that her attack hadn't landed. So why in the hell was she trying to kill- Jiraiya's damn vow! Shit!
Naruko was trying to kill her so Jiraiya wouldn't have to. Duh.
Tsunade's eyes widened. She'd… She'd almost forced Jiraiya to kill her…
Fuck. How could she have fallen so low? She glanced at Jiraiya, fighting desperately with Orochimaru. Just when had she started prioritizing the dead over the liv- What was he doing? What the HELL was he doing? That IDIOT!
Tsunade leapt in front of him, taking Orochimaru's sword through her chest. Orochimaru pulled the sword out with a smirk, and Tsunade's wound had healed by the time she'd turned to chide Jiraiya. "Why the hell did you stop fighting Idiot?" Tsunade screamed, he was too damn old to fall for Orochimaru's tricks! And why wouldn't he look at her? He wasn't even looking at Orochimaru, he was looking at…
...no…
"NO! Orochimaru you damn bastard!"
"Kukuku," Orochimaru laughed, jumping backwards, strolling next to Kimimaro. Who held a bone against… Against… After all this time, all these years… How the hell could Tsunade have been such a fool to compare Sensei to Orochimaru? "And here I thought everyone you loved was dead, my dear Tsunade. It appears you have someone you love still. And you Jiraiya, why do you care for the girl? Why do I even ask, you've always been a fool! Kukuku! Perhaps my objective is possible after all! Now let me make this simple."
Kimimaro slowly scratched Shizune's neck, a line of blood dripping down her clavicle.
"Now, now, Kimimaro, we talked about this. Do not forget why we are here. The true reason." Orochimaru said. He turned to Jiraiya. "You will let Tsunade finish healing my arms. Or I'm afraid I'll have no choice but to kill Tsunade's servant."
Tsunade squeezed her fists. Shizune hadn't even been taken hostage to force her to heal him, no Orochimaru was threatening Shizune to make Jiraiya cooperate, not Tsunade. She had seen fit to heal this monster all on her own. Orochimaru hadn't forced her, she'd had to choose between Konoha and Orochimaru and she'd actually chosen him.
"Don't do it Tsunade!" Loyal Shizune screamed. Orochimaru's damn smile deepened because he knew. He knew that he had Tsunade.
The girl had always stuck by her side, she'd even been prepared to fight by Tsunade's side when she'd been on the precipice of betraying Konoha. She'd almost forced Jiraiya to kill her, she'd almost forced Shizune to betray Konoha, what was wrong with her? She took a step towards Orochimaru. Then another. Why wasn't Jiraiya stopping her? He'd said he'd kill her if she healed Orochimaru hadn't he?
"Wait," Jiraiya said. And Tsunade couldn't help but smile at the Idiot's antics. Jiraiya always tried, no matter how many times he failed, he never, ever gave up. The Idiot bit his thumb, and summoned an elephant-sized toad. The toad threw up an unconscious body, Kabuto, one of Orochimaru's assistants. Perhaps that would do? An exchange of hostages.
"Tsunade!" Orochimaru said, his voice curious. "You said you would take care of Jiraiya."
"I did," Tsunade said. Shizune must've taken care of Kabuto then, impressive, Orochimaru had claimed he'd been as strong as Shizune's old crush Kakashi. Tsunade would have to buy her assistant a round for getting them out of this mess.
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and glanced at Naruko. "As I suspected. You have grown. I will have to send Kimimaro to collect what is mine."
What the hell did that mean?
"I won't let you take Sasuke!" Naruko shouted. "I'll protect him!"
Sasuke? Who the hell was that? Was Orochimaru stalling? Shizune struggled against Kimimaro's grasp but couldn't break free.
"Kukuku! You really think that he, an Uchiha, is safer in Konoha than with me? You really are a fool, just like your father before you!"
Naruko didn't respond, if anything she looked troubled. Like a young woman questioning her beliefs for the first time. Never had Tsunade been so reminded of herself. A blonde half-Uzumaki prepared to turn her back on the Senju.
Naruko set her jaw, and glared back at Orochimaru. "Sasuke is a hero. He gave his body for Konoha. Once he's healed, things will change!"
But that stubbornness was all Jiraiya.
"He failed. Shinobi are but tools. Thrown away at their master's whim. Let me explain." Orochimaru spat out a kunai. Tsunade flinched. It slammed through Kabuto's throat, killing him in a spray of blood. "Now Tsunade, come. Heal me."
He… How could he? To… to his assistant? But he was Orochimaru, this was simply his way… She… She had no choice, she had to do this, for Shizune.
But Jiraiya, he could stop her. Now that Orochimaru's arms had been sealed, he was the strongest one here. He would not allow her to betray-
Jiraiya nodded at her. Continue on. Of course. That had always been his way. The Gallant Jiraiya. Shizune was innocent, he would never allow her to be killed, even if it meant returning a monster to full power. Jiraiya was a fool, he'd never been able to see how killing one innocent now might save a hundred later on. It was simply beyond his capacity. He may have written about The Will of Fire, he may have believed in it, but he did not embody it. It was why she trusted him. It was why he should have been Hokage.
Still, it meant she would actually have to heal Orochimaru. She slowly, ever so slowly, walked towards the pale man. It reminded her of their fight with Hanzo. They'd fought, they'd struggled, almost as if they were waiting for sensei to come and save them. So Tsunade dallied as much as she could, not really sure what she was waiting for. There was no hero coming to save-
A barrage of kunai rained down on her as an army of Narukos attacked her. Tsunade didn't hold back this time. She was fighting to protect Shizune's life, and Naruko may have been the strongest twelve-year-old since Hashirama Senju but she was still no match for a sannin. All that was left was a cloud of smoke, and the girl's unconscious body. Lighter than Tsunade expected…
Much lighter actually…
Like it weighed nothing at all…
So that was what Naruko had planned… Don't react, don't look back, don't give anything away. Jiraiya would have to play his part as well, but she trusted him. Tsunade stoically threw Naruko's limp form back to Jiraiya, and dragged herself towards Orochimaru. It was well known that Tsunade was a terrible gambler, but there was a reason she was known for her bad luck. She was actually decent at bluffing.
She stood behind Orochimaru and reluctantly began to heal him. Not yet, not yet, not yet… They hadn't even decided on a signal. Which meant Tsunade had to be the one to initiate the attack. Did Orochimaru know what she had planned? His earlier conversations indicated that he'd fought Naruko before, did he know her tricks? Did he realize what those kunai really were? Was Tsunade about to throw away Shizune's life? Could she take that risk?
What was she thinking?
Tsunade was a sannin, the last Senju, the strongest kunoichi in the entire world.
Her will hardened, as did her chakra. Orochimaru's eyes widened, but it was too late. "Kimimar-" Tsunade slit his throat with a chakra scalpel.
Naruko slammed into Kimimaro, using a shunshin straight out of her disguise as a discarded kunai, knocking aside the bone pressed against Shizune's neck. But the pale shinobi kept her obi tightly in his grasp, and thrusted a bone straight through the girl's gut. But before the smoke from the shadow clone could even clear, twelve more Naruko's, all disguised as the kunai she'd thrown earlier, had body flickered into the man, moving at speeds that should have been impossible for a genin.
It was no problem for Kimimaro, he sliced through the clones with calm speed and bored efficiency, that blank look never leaving his face. Naruko couldn't even phase him, couldn't break Shizune free. It was only a matter of time until Naruko ran out of shadow clones.
Tsunade felt something scaly brush against her fingers, and Orochimaru's corpse slushed out of its skin. He smashed her aside with a flick of his tail, and Tsunade skidded across the graveyard until she was stopped by a pair of warty hands.
She looked up, and almost threw up. They'd bought enough time. Jiraiya set her down, and flickered next to Kimimaro, sending him through several grave stones. Jiraiya's speed in this form was as fast as he'd claimed, too fast for her to follow. Shizune, finally freed, ran to Tsunade. Naruko and Jiraiya stood between them and Orochimaru.
"Sage Mode," Orochimaru said, delightedly. "Intriguing Jiraiya… Very, very intriguing… I can see the truth in the legends, it does so resemble the sharingan… I wonder…" The White Snake slithered away. Kimimaro's stare lingered on Naruko. And then he left too, following after his master.
Tsunade let out a breath. "Would you get out of that disgusting form Idiot? It displeases me."
"No way," Naruko said, shaking hands with one of the toads on Jiraiya's shoulder. "Ya look really interesting. That's a mighty cool technique, you even scared off the Pervy Snake. Will ya teach me the jutsu?"
"Hmm," Jiraiya scratched his warty nose. "It would improve your speed, but I've never heard of a woman sage. Aww hell, y'know what, it's worth a sho-"
"I'll return to Konoha," Tsunade announced. Seriously? This girl lacked common sense and perhaps needed glasses. There was a reason no kunoichi had ever been a sage, and it wasn't because of a lack of chakra reserves.
XOXOXOX
"The operation will be dangerous. The odds are 50-50 that you'll be healed or that you'll be killed," Tsunade said hesitantly. Should she even be doing this?
"Do it," the two young men said. Rock Lee and Sasuke were both orphans. Without being a shinobi, neither would survive long in Konoha.
An old man, Danzou Shimura, was waiting for her by the door. He was the acting hokage in Konoha. "We have business to discuss. About the operations."
"Yes I know." Tsunade smiled softly, she hadn't had many interactions with the man, but the way he fussed over the genin reminded her of Hiruzen. "They're so young, to be risking their lives for-"
"No," Danzou said impatiently, scratching his bandaged arm. "You should have simply operated on the Lee boy. His potential is limited, but he is a drain on the village's resources as he is now. To give him a choice was foolish, though he will likely be more loyal to the village should he survive, so I suppose it was defensible to pretend to give him an option."
Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "And the Uchiha boy?" She asked carefully, betraying none of the emotions swirling within her. "Naruko told me that Orochimaru marked him involuntarily, and that he only accepted the curse to save a teammate."
Danzou smiled grimly. "Yes… That is the more important matter. Who shall we be giving his eyes to? We can not give them to the Nine-Tails jinchuriki. I fear that the Nine-Tails has taken over the body. I do have a few-"
"The operation is on his arm and legs, not his eyes," Tsunade said dryly.
"Yes, yes, I know the official story. This is an excellent opportunity to snuff out the last of the Uchiha without fear of repercussions, and bring about the peace that your grandfather worked so hard for."
Tsunade's lips creased. "My grandfather wanted peace with the Uchiha. Not to kill them. I will operate on the Uchiha to the best of my ability."
Danzou put a hand on her shoulder. "We shall see Tsunade." His eyes softened. "It is good to have you back. There is something missing in the Leaf without the Senju."
Tsunade nodded, and waited for Danzou to disappear from sight. Then she immediately rushed to find Jiraiya.
He smiled lightly. "I take it you met Danzou."
Tsunade nodded. "Who the hell is he?"
"Many things," Jiraiya said innocently. "But you already know the most important thing about him: he is the interim hokage. Should you turn down the position, Konoha is his."
He'd trapped her. Tsunade bit her lip. She wanted to throw a tantrum. She couldn't allow Danzou to be hokage. The man was worse than Orochimaru. She couldn't let him hold a position of power.
But…
"Jiraiya," Tsunade said desperately. "You should be hokage. Demand the position."
Jiraiya laughed and laughed. "The council would never accept someone like me being hokage. I'm still the Idiot Deadlast remember?"
"You could change that," Tsunade said urgently. "They only wanted me because I was Senju right? Well what if you showed them Sage Mode? That is our clan's kekkei genkai."
"I would have, I was ready to accept the position. But during my mission to get you I realized that I could never be hokage." Jiraiya beamed. "I just won't have the time. Afterall, I've got a girl to raise."
Author's Note: And that's a wrap! Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the Tsunade Retrieval Arc. The next chapter should be out sometime around 2/23, and will kick off the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. And now onto the reviews!
Amaterasu53 - Yeah, I wanted Kabuto dead to. I hate when the dead come back to life in a story, so I always try to kill him off early. I felt Orochimaru would be the best guy to do it though, as it would drive home to Tsunade the difference between Orochimaru and Hiruzen/Jiraiya. Thanks for leaving a review!
TheBeauty - I'm not sure if Tsunade will make Naruko a chunin right away, but that would be for purely political reasons. Naruko has and will piss a lot of powerful people off because she doesn't embody what a shinobi should be (To the Konoha elders). She isn't from a clan, she does some things that embarrass the village, but more importantly she has a tendency to spare enemies. As to the betting, in the modern world there would be rules about that. I don't think that a shinobi world would be heavy on documentation and bureaucracy, so the gambling is an unwritten rule that shinobi are expected to know and follow. Thanks for the review!
Time Parad0x - Kabuto is dead. As I said above, I feel that Kabuto represents a danger to the narrative weight of the story. I'm not sure if this will ever be a story where I kill off main characters, but it will begin to deviate from cannon pretty drastically soon. I hope this alleviates some of your concerns, because your review has alleviated some of my concerns with making a pretty huge change to cannon that changes the story from a for want of a nail to more of an AU.
NotANarutoSimp - Thanks for the review!
Guest - There will be a hint of how the village reacts to Naruko in the next arc, but that will be explored more in the arc following that one.
Vikraal - Thanks for the encouragement! Deviations from cannon are coming, I'm not sure whether that's going to be a good thing or a bad thing though. I hope you like it!
Jen - The Dragonball Jutsu is between the rasengan and the stage-2 proto-rasengan in strength so it doesn't do as much damage as a normal rasengan. The marble in the center stabilizes the jutsu, allowing it to be thrown, but also slows the rotation of the chakra, making it less powerful. Thanks for asking about it so I could clarify!
Jiraiya - I was pretty proud of that chapter title myself. Originally it was supposed to be: The Root of All…
But for some reason, the site wouldn't let me put a … at the end of a title. And Jiraiya's heart is taking a pounding and Naruko is watching. The grace with which he's handled everything has made a big impact on her.
Gaara has been destroyed by Naruko's words, but for the better. Losing and failing completely as he did was good for him. Gaara needed to fail at some point, so he could know that people would help him when he couldn't offer them anything in return.
melancholic town - Wow thanks a ton! The way you read the story is pretty similar to the way I read the story, especially your comments about chapter 4. The reason I ended up deciding to change Gaara's personality was to show Naruko that the way she was looking for acknowledgement was wrong.
Guest - She is being heralded in Konoha, but there's going to be a catch. I'm really glad that you and a lot of others wanted Kabuto dead since well… You know… Anyways, thanks for the review!
Loralie Gold Dream - I had to look up the speech you mentioned and I'm trying to think of which character would speak up like that… Hmm… Anyways, thanks for sharing that with me!
