The Sandaime Hokage had died during the invasion, the attack only lasted one day but damage had been dealt. The intention had apparently been to crush the village entirely, so the fact that Konohagakure had pushed Sunagakure and Otogakure out was impressive.
Orochimaru was revealed to be the leader of Oto, and it was him who killed the Hokage. Apparently he had also killed the Kazekage so Sunagakure had surrendered soon after the failed attempt at destroying the village, and Konohagakure accepted the unconditional surrender. However Konoha was in mourning, and they still needed a Godaime Hokage. Which was why the two elders, Koharu and and Homura, Hiruzen's old teammates and advisors, approached Jiraiya.
"Absolutely not." Jiraiya refused to be Hokage without hesitating, "I know someone better for the job anyway, just give me and my new apprentice some time to find her" he insisted. The elders were pretty sure they knew who he meant, but agreed to wait despite their misgivings.
Shino had been rescued by his father during the aftermath of the battle and was still recovering but allowed to move around, and Hinata wanted to visit Naruto who had been admitted with chakra exhaustion, so Shino and Kiba were going with her. The Aburame remembered how Naruto had fought Neji in the finals, and that the blonde had rushed to help his team after the fact. The fact he was suffering chakra exhaustion made a lot of sense with that in mind.
Hinata lead them to the room the Uzumaki had and then hesitated. Kiba figured this was coming and waiting patiently for the girl to overcome her nerves. Shino continued to muse on the blonde they were coming to see. The boy had improved by miles since the academy, it couldn't all be Sharingan as much as Kiba liked to pretend, Naruto hadn't even used it against Kiba or Neji.
Before the Hyuga worked up the nerves to enter a red haired girl their age in glasses approached, "Are you guys here to see Naruto-nii?" Karin asked, remembering some of them from the preliminaries. Hinata shyly nodded and Shino nodded as well.
Kiba shrugged and Karin opened the door, the blonde already had visitors, Sasuke and Sakura looked up as they entered, Kakashi was sitting in a chair reading his little orange book and he didn't look up.
Haku didn't look up either but he seemed occupied, "Naruto-kun please remain in bed for at least a bit longer," the dark haired boy was trying to negotiate with the energetic blonde, "you may not have been too badly hurt but you used a lot of chakra." he tried.
Karin betrayed his attempts, "You used more of your chakra than he used of his," the girl spoke up, "you get back into bed too." she demanded, pointing Haku into the bed next to Naruto. The older shinobi blushed but obeyed, hoping Naruto would rest a bit longer if he did.
Naruto knew no such restraint and leaped out of bed, "Hey guys!" he greeted Kiba and Shino, "Hey Hinata-chan!" he greeted her individually, the pale girl blushed and Haku reminded himself that he was not jealous of a twelve year old girl.
"There are an awful lot of you kids in one hospital room." Jiraiya's voice interrupted as he stepped in through the window, "How soon can Naruto be ready to go, I need him for a mission." the man asked Karin.
"If he doesn't get back in bed not for another week." Karin groused and Naruto jumped back into bed, "Good, now if he stays there he should be ready by morning." she told the Sennin.
"What about me?" Haku asked, concerned about the conversation,
"You ate a hyorogan, you'll be another couple of days at the earliest." Karin answered and the boy looked devastated.
"Hey, Ero-Sennin, can we wait for Haku-chan?" Naruto asked, surprising everyone in the room.
"Kid, this mission is important," Jiraiya explained and Naruto jumped out of bed again, giving a look to Karin as he did, "but I get the feeling you won't take 'no' for an answer. Pushy little shit." the old man groused, "Get your two days bed rest then we need to move."
Haku was embarrassed to be holding a mission back, apparently an important one, but he was internally pleased that Naruto wanted to wait for him. The blonde got back into bed with a smug grin on his face.
Kiba and Shino felt bad for Hinata, "I'm glad you're recovering, Naruto-kun." the Hyuga tried, fidgeting nervously.
Naruto grinned at her, "Aw I'm fine, I recover fast!" he bragged, "You should see the other guy!" he joked with a laugh.
"Who the hell did you fight anyway?" Kiba asked, curious about the details.
Shino spoke up, "When I arrived, I intercepted Kankuro, leaving Sasuke and Naruto to deal with Temari and Gaara." he explained simply.
"Temari was sent out of the fight by Gaara himself," Sasuke decided he'd pick up the explanation, "but I ran out of chakra to fight with and had to leave Gaara, and eventually Shukaku the Ichibi, to Naruto." he finished and Team 8 were shocked that a genin had fought a biju. Sakura nodded, confirming his story. Kakashi didn't even look up and it seemed Haku had heard this too.
Team 8 wasn't sure what to say to that, Naruto himself looked proud with his wide grin. Kiba didn't feel as bad about losing to the blonde in the preliminaries and Shino wished he'd been witness to the battle they were discussing.
Surprisingly Hinata recovered her voice first, "That's amazing." she muttered, more to herself than anyone but Naruto heard and looked pleased with the praise, although her adoring tone was a little odd to the boy. Haku noticed the tone too and closed his eyes to avoid accidentally glaring at the girl.
Haku noticed that Jiraiya never mentioned the rank of the mission or what they were actually doing, so he assumed it must be secret. So he had to wonder why Jiraiya had been so easily convinced to bring him along, he knew Naruto could be persuasive but Haku felt the old Sennin just didn't mind that much.
Still, Haku didn't want to let Naruto down and subjected himself to the horrors of bed rest while still processing stimulants from a combat drug. The crash was the worst part, but since he'd maintained bed rest he recovered swiftly.
Jiraiya let the two pack and led them to the village gates as soon as Haku was given the clear to move. They left so quickly no one had time to see them off except Karin, who wished them luck as they left Naruto's apartment since she would be living there alone while they were gone.
"So what's the mission anyway, Ero-Sennin?" Naruto asked on the road, seeming completely at ease despite going on a mission with unknown parameters. Haku admired his confidence.
"We're retrieving the Godaime Hokage." Jiraiya answered simply and the blonde looked startled. Haku thought it sounded like a simple enough mission, but he had no idea who had been selected as the Godaime, or why they would be out of the village.
"Who!?" Naruto asked, clearly curious as to who was worthy of such an honor.
Jiraiya smirked, "We're looking for Tsunade Senju, granddaughter of the Shodaime Hokage and the third member of the Sannin." he said, Haku was impressed already, Naruto didn't look convinced.
"Some Grandma?" The blonde asked rudely, Jiraiya stopped and looked at the boy.
"Don't let her hear you say that."
"Why not, if she was on your team with that snake guy then she must be ancient!" Naruto reasoned, Haku tried not to smile at the annoyance on the squad leaders face.
"Never mind, you know what, call her Senju-baachan, she loves when kids call her that." Jiraiya was petty and vindictive sometimes. Haku thought it was cruel and hoped Jiraiya wasn't giving Naruto a phrase that would lead to his death.
Sasuke had heard from Karin that Naruto was already gone, which was a shame as he wanted to spar against the blonde Sharingan vs Sharingan considering he needed to practice against his own dojutsu anyway.
Which was why he walked into Kakashi's apartment, confused about the door being open he noticed the man had guests already, despite the fact Kakashi was unconscious. They also looked nervous he was here which was mildly concerning.
Unknown to Sasuke the jonin in the room had all just unanimously decided not to tell Sasuke why Kakashi was like this, but hadn't gotten a story straight yet.
"Is it true Itachi Uchiha is after Naruto Uzumaki!" That jonin had only just arrived and completely ruined any need to get their story straight, and Sasuke was gone.
"God damn it, Aoba." Kurenai sighed.
Jiraiya had taken Naruto and Haku to Shukuba-machi and spotted a pretty young woman giving him eyes, "Hey kids, go get us a room at an inn, I'll catch up, some research material just caught my eyes." the old man said with an eyebrow waggle.
Haku was disappointed in the man but went with Naruto to find a room at an inn, then realized he was searching for a room at an inn with Naruto. It was no secret to Haku how this might appear.
"Naruto-kun, I get the impression Jiraiya-san will be a while, maybe we can find a ramen stand first?" Haku asked, trying to avoid becoming embarrassed.
"Hell yeah I want ramen!" Naruto declared eagerly, not even giving it a second thought they turned away from an inn and towards a stand that smelled like noodle broth to Naruto.
Soon that same day two figures in black cloaks with red clouds approached the stand, Haku noticed them coming and wondered why he felt a chill go down his spine. The pulled away the blinds revealing a dark haired young man with Sharingan eyes and a blue skinned monster of a man that looked part shark.
The blue skinned ninja spoke up, looking at Haku "Well look at that," he said in a voice that gave Haku chills, "if it ain't Zabuza-san's tool. What are you doing out on your own?" the man asked and Haku knew he was in trouble. Naruto was glaring at the blue skinned man, wondering what the two men want.
"Haku-chan is with me, what's it to ya?" The blonde asked, putting down his unfinished sixth bowl of ramen and turning to face the man.
"Kisame, do I have to worry about you being soft on the young lady?" The dark haired young man asked.
"No way, Itachi, and Haku-kun is a boy." Kisame laughed and the dark haired man didn't react, "Anyway shrimp," the shark like man began, looking at Naruto, "you're coming with us."
Haku grabbed Naruto and used shunshin, taking the blonde down the street swiftly. With speed that terrified Haku the blue skinned man was already on them and swinging his bandaged weapon at them, Haku shoved Naruto away.
With the sound of metal screeching against metal the blade was stopped, "Been a while, Hoshigaki-san." Zabuza said, having knocked Kisame's weapon into the ground with Kubikiribocho, "How is Samehada?"
Kisame grinned at Zabuza, "Momochi-san, we're fine, how is Kubikiribocho?" he responded amicably.
"Oh she's fine, I'm a little annoyed with you for taking a swing at some kids on a date," Zabuza answered, Haku and Naruto both blushed, "you trying to make our swords look bad?"
"Cut the crap, I know the pretty boy was yours, did you somehow infiltrate Konoha or something?" Kisame asked as Itachi approached.
Zabuza shook his head, "Nah, kid ain't mine, maybe I'm just more gallant than you remember?" he suggested and Kisame laughed.
"Kisame-san, that's enough catching up with old friends for now, kill them and I'll grab the jinchuriki." Itachi spoke up, turning on Naruto and wondering why the boy had copied Kakashi's headband style.
"Itachi!" Sasuke roared from down the street, Sharingan blazing and Chidori at hand. The older Uchiha noticed his younger brother was also copying Kakashi for some reason, then it clicked as Sasuke rushed him.
Itachi stepped to Sasuke and grabbed the left arm, forcefully dispensing the Chidori into the ground while breaking the arm and tossing his younger brother into a wall by said arm before holding him up to the wall by his throat.
"Foolish little brother, still so lacking in hatred," Itachi lectured, "did you hope to lighten your burden with friends? Were you planning on sharing the duty of avenging your clan with another?" he asked, "Let me remind you of why you fight."
Naruto saw Sasuke go limp and rushed to help him, Kisame rushed past to take out the blonde, sweeping Samehada at his legs. Haku stopped both with Hyoton: Hyogan Domu, concealing himself and the blonde within an icy barrier. Samehada crashed against the barrier and to Haku's shock shaved away a deep groove.
Zabuza stepped to Kisame and swung his own sword, Samehada parried Kubikiribocho and the blue skinned swordsman responded with a thrust, Zabuza easily dodged but Kisame swung at the Hyogan Domu instead. Haku trembled in fear as more ice was shaved away, the boy could already feel the chakra drain of his defensive jutsu.
"Haku-chan!" Naruto was trying to get his attention, "Snap out of it! Damn it! Let me out!" the blonde was fuming, Haku felt guilty and against his better judgement obeyed. The barrier fell, Naruto lifted his forehead protector and leaped, Samehada swung, and Kubikiribocho met the other sword in a shower of sparks.
Kisame stepped back, put Samehada on his back, and ran through hand seals. Zabuza braced himself in front of Haku. Naruto copied the hand seals as he ran at Itachi.
Zabuza blocked the Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu against the flat of his blade, using chakra to stick to the ground and avoid being sent flying but the force of Kisame's ninjutsu was bone rattling. Naruto skidded to a halt next to Itachi and blasted the older Uchiha with his own Suidan.
Kisame leaped at Naruto as Itachi used kawarimi to cause the blonde's ninjutsu to strike a log and landed next to Kisame. Haku panicked, the two powerful enemy ninja were between himself and Naruto, the dark haired boy ran at them, palming senbon as he did and Zabuza cursed under his breath.
With a burst of smoke a large toad stood between Naruto and the black cloaked shinobi, "You were fools to think the gallant Gama Sennin could be fooled by a pretty face!" Jiraiya said from atop the toad, although he did have the unconscious woman.
Kisame was wrapping his head around the fact a second shinobi had referred to themselves as gallant and wondered if anyone knew what being a ninja was really about anymore, "Kisame, we're leaving." Itachi interrupted his musings and the two disappeared with shunshin.
Jiraiya and Zabuza stared at each other, the two were not personally acquainted but they were aware of each other, which made the situation dangerous. Haku looked nervously between the two.
"Jiraiya-san, Sasuke came chasing after Itachi Uchiha and Kisame-oh you already know." Gai came running and changed his tune when he noticed Sasuke slumped against the wall, he then turned to Zabuza and his eyes widened in recognition.
"Well thanks stranger for helping protect these youngsters of our village." Jiraiya said suddenly, deciding to feign ignorance in an attempt to be kind to Zabuza since he had done exactly that. Gai looked at Jiraiya with thinly veiled suspicion but didn't interrupt.
Zabuza got the message, "Don't mention it," he insisted, turning to leave and giving Haku a nod as he did, "Pretty strong youngsters you got too, not many shinobi can use Suiton no Jutsu without a water source." he added with a nod to Naruto as he left.
Jiraiya, Gai, and Haku stared at Naruto after that as Haku realized that Naruto had in fact used a Suidan with water created from his own chakra. Naruto didn't seem to get the big deal, "Haku-chan, could you come and set Sasuke's arm, he's out cold but he's breathing." the blonde called and the older boy leaped to his command.
Gai and Jiraiya watched them with curiosity, "I should inform you, Kakashi was injured by Itachi as well and hasn't woken up yet, I'll take Uchiha-san back to the village, good luck with your mission." the green clad jonin told the Sennin, taking Sasuke once his arm was properly bound. Gai left with a wave and Naruto pulled his headband back down over the Sharingan.
Haku felt unbearable guilt, he shouldn't have dropped the Hyogan Domu but had obeyed the blonde without question. The boy was torn on whether he should have disobeyed, the fact it had worked out was the only thing keeping him going and assured that obedience had been the correct answer after all.
Jiraiya had taken them to an inn after that and sorted out a three bed room, Naruto had not argued and Haku wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disappointed, "Alright, I planned on teaching this to Naruto anyway," Jiraiya began as he pulled out a bag of water balloons, "but fill these up and I'll get to work on teaching you both a new jutsu." the old man promised and Naruto swiftly grabbed the water balloons and started filling them while Haku dealt with the surprise that he'd be receiving training from the Sennin as well.
"I get the feeling Naruto would just show it to you anyway," Jiraiya began, "besides if you saw him training with it you'd be able to figure out how to train with it later anyway. You'll need all the help you can get if you're going to be fighting alongside Naruto." the man finished ominously.
Haku frowned, "Those shinobi were after Naruto." he guessed accurately, remembering them saying as much. Naruto frowned as well, turning his head to listen while he filled the balloons at the sink.
"Akatsuki," Jiraiya answered, "a mercenary organization of S rank missing nin." he explained, "I don't know why exactly but they seek to collect all the biju, regardless of whether or not they already have a jinchuriki."
Haku gulped as Naruto brought back an armful of water balloons, "Now what?" the blonde asked.
"Put them in this bag," Jiraiya said, holding out a sack, "I'll start your training on the road tomorrow, get some sleep for now."
Sakura wasn't sure what to think, Kakashi and Sasuke were both comatose and no one would tell her why, and apparently Naruto was out on a secret mission with a Sennin. The pink haired girl felt very left out of the loop and wondered if her training had been for nothing.
Karin had told her that Haku had gone with Naruto which just made Sakura feel even more left behind. The worst part was she was stuck doing D rank missions on her own to help restore the village, she had no problem with the missions she just missed having a team to do it with. The village was spread too thin to put her with another team for now, but it might happen if Sasuke and Kakashi remained unconscious, she was told to wait for the Godaime Hokage but no one would tell her who that was either.
On the road outside Shukuba-machi Jiraiya explained the new training he'd have them do, "Once you finish training this jutsu is called the Rasengan, it's stronger than Chidori and it took the Yondaime Hokage three years to develop." he started, "Use your chakra to spin the water in these balloons until they pop." the man explained. Haku was tempted to pop it by having the water become sharp but determined that wasn't the point.
Naruto fiddled with his headband, "What about a demonstration?" he asked and Jiraiya laughed, forming a sphere of swirling chakra in his hand.
"Go ahead, this isn't a jutsu the Sharingan can copy." The Sennin allowed and Naruto lifted his headband in confusion, watching the chakra swirl with his borrowed dojutsu. The blonde frowned as he realized it was true, but then covered the eye and grinned.
"Well now I know what to try first!" Naruto declared and started swirling the chakra. Nothing happened. The blonde glared and pushed his chakra harder, the balloon writhed but didn't pop. Haku tried and found less success than the younger ninja.
Jiraiya smirked, figuring that training should keep them busy while they searched. Truthfully he hadn't wanted to bring Haku along, Naruto seemed oddly dependent on the older boy, Jiraiya had been suspicious at first before realizing it was almost like a co-dependency.
Haku was clearly protective of the young blonde, and beyond that had seemed eager to assist the younger boy with just about anything. Jiraiya was no fool, he could tell the older boy had a crush on the younger, but also viewed the blonde as a superior. It could be simply that he took being a vassal seriously, but the dark haired boy had obeyed Naruto instantly, as soon as a demand was actually made.
The Sennin considered it good fortune that Haku at least tried to dissuade Naruto from bad ideas, but he showed no resistance once Naruto set his mind to something and gave the order which was a potential problem. Jiraiya could tell the two boys wouldn't take well to being separated at this point, Haku had a crush that he refused to act on despite the fact that Naruto clearly adored the older boy.
Naruto himself was still childish, and Jiraiya considered that might be why Haku held back, the boy was a couple years older after all. The blonde boy was short for his age and acted like a bit of a brat sometimes, it was amazing he never came off as spoiled considering how much the dark haired boy seemed to dote on him.
Jiraiya considered for a moment that the majority of his musings were about budding love between two young men, then considered that Haku looked like a girl anyway and wondered if a book about that sort of thing would sell.
At some point Naruto finally got it to pop, Jiraiya was impressed since they were only coming up on the next town he wanted to search now, a festival in the works, "I did it, now what old man!" the blonde was very pleased to have done it.
Jiraiya decided the best revenge for being called old was to gather teasing material, "I need to see some contacts, ask around, and do some research," he said, "why don't you two go have fun?" he asked, "There's a festival starting so I'm sure you kids will have a nice date." he finished as he left.
Haku blushed silently and Naruto glared at Jiraiya with red cheeks of his own, "Um, Naruto-kun, would you-?" the older boy began nervously and Naruto's visible eye widened and he held his breath, "-would you help me learn what I'm doing wrong?" the dark haired boy finished the question but it didn't have the same tone as when he started.
Naruto grinned, "No problem, Haku-chan." he agreed, lifting his headband to watch the older boy with the Sharingan, "Oh, you need to spin it in more than one direction, Haku-chan." the blonde explained after a moment, "That's why I was doing that thing with my left hand." he added, miming the actions he'd performed prior to his success.
Haku tried to put the advice into action and the balloon writhed before popping, the boy was pleased with himself, "Nice work, Haku-chan." Naruto said with a proud grin and Haku was even more pleased, "Wanna go see if there's any good food in this festival?" the blonde asked as he pulled his headband back down over the dojutsu, "We probably won't see Ero-Sennin until after dinner, unless something happens." he guessed.
The vassal ninja nodded blankly and followed the smiling blonde into town, struggling not to be embarrassed since this definitely wasn't a date. Naruto led them around the festival, looking at the food and clearly not pleased that there was no ramen. Haku smiled as he realized what the blonde was searching for.
The pair of young teens settled on grilled squid as they wondered around, Naruto ended up trying some games, his accuracy and hand eye coordination from all the shurikenjutsu he practiced allowed him to earn some prizes, but they were all stuffed toys so he gave them to Haku without a thought. Haku had never had as many stuffed toys in his life as the blonde was piling into his arms and the older boy noticed that a few people looked at the two for longer than when they started.
Haku realized it looked exactly like a date and was red in the face until Jiraiya found them, "Oh good, I was worried you two would just train until I came looking for you." the old man laughed and Haku almost wished Naruto had insisted on doing that.
Sakura was surprised to see Tenten was finishing a D rank by herself and decided to approach since she'd just finished her own D rank mission, both helping construction crews move raw materials from the look of it.
"Hey, Tenten, doing solo missions too?" Sakura asked by way of greeting as she approached with a wave.
"Oh, hey Sakura," Tenten greeted, returning the wave, "Neji-san hasn't come out of the Hyuga estate since after the invasion, apparently he tried to fight with a concussion but his family tells me he'll be fine, Lee is in hospital still, and Gai is spread thin doing solo B rank missions." she explained, "What's up with your team?" she asked as she finished putting down the support beams for the crew.
"Sasuke-kun and Kakashi-sensei are comatose," Sakura began, "no one will tell me what happened to them but it happened after Naruto and Haku left on some secret mission with a Sennin." she explained.
Tenten seemed surprised by this information, "A Sennin?" she asked and Sakura nodded, the bun haired girl considered exactly how Naruto had beaten Neji and realized the boy must have caught the attention of a venerable Sennin for training, "That's amazing!" she said suddenly, startling the pink haired girl she was talking to.
"Amazing?" Sakura asked, seeming confused much to the confusion of Tenten.
"Don't you get it?" Tenten asked, "For someone to take Naruto on a special mission they have to have permission from your sensei and the Hokage, but currently the council is making any absolutely necessary Hokage decisions." she began earnestly, "Which means that Sennin convinced the council to let him have Naruto for a mission you weren't even told the details of, he probably intends to take Naruto as his apprentice due to his over the top ninjutsu display during his fight against Neji-san!" she finished, looking excited just to know someone in her age group might be receiving that kind of training.
Sakura looked at Tenten with shock as the realization she was right sunk in.
"Next make this entirely rubber ball pop," Jiraiya explained to Naruto and Haku, "this one is all about power so don't feel too bad if your boyfriend gets it first." he added to tease Haku who glared at him for his words.
Naruto sort of got it first, a hole burst in the rubber ball but it didn't pop entirely, "Damn it, what am I doing wrong?" he wondered, Haku wasn't sure since he hadn't even managed that much, and he needed to take a break more often than the blonde.
Eventually Haku managed to catch up to what Naruto was doing, but Naruto was determined to prove Jiraiya right about him getting it first and poured as much chakra as he could into the rubber ball while swirling the chakra with his other hand and the ball burst.
"Well shit, that was actually faster than expected." Jiraiya said, pulling out a regular balloon filled with air, "Your new next step is to do what you've been doing with your chakra, but don't pop the balloon." he explained.
Naruto looked confused, "How does not popping the balloon help?" he asked, so Jiraiya demonstrated a half formed Rasengan and hit a tree, causing spirals to carve into the bark.
"That was step one and step two," Jiraiya told the young teens before drilling a massive hole through the same tree and knocking it down with a proper Rasengan, "and that was step three." he finished, Naruto and Haku stared in stunned awe at the damage the jutsu could do. The blonde popped his balloon immediately so Jiraiya handed him the bag of them.
Tsunade Senju was a notorious gambler with the worst luck in the world, so when she pulled the slot machine and jackpot flashed in front of her she was startled, ignoring her apprentice who was celebrating as the coins filled the tray.
"Shizune, we're leaving." Tsunade said, standing up suddenly and turned to leave.
"Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked in concern as she picked up their pig, "Shouldn't we at least cash these chips?" she asked as she hurried after the older and bustier blonde.
Tsunade knew she'd made the right decision to leave Tanzaku-gai when a giant snake destroyed the local historical castle on her way out, "Orochimaru." she recognized the dark haired man on the snake, but not the silver haired younger man next to him. Shizune put the pig down behind them as she took stance next to Tsunade.
Orochimaru seemed quite pleased for someone whose arms looked like they were rotting, "Tsunade-chan," he greeted as if he never betrayed the village, "it's so good to see you." he said and either he was sincere or he was even better at acting than Tsunade remembered.
"What do you want, snake?" Tsunade asked simply, glaring at him. The man feigned looking hurt but was not as good at that as sincerity so it came off sarcastic.
"Why Tsunade-chan, I come seeking your help." Orochimaru began, "You see my arms just don't seem to work like they used to, and you're the best doctor I know." he explained with a wide grin.
"I don't do surgery anymore, why should I change that for you?" Tsunade asked, crossing her arms under her breasts.
"Well," Orochimaru began, "I've been studying jutsu, all kinds of them really, you know me, and I think I might have a way to return Dan and Nawaki to you." he explained and the blonde woman froze, "I thought that might get your attention. I recently tested this jutsu, so I know it works, they acted as expected they would act and seemed surprised to be alive. They were also nigh immortal and recovered from just about any injury, and they seem to have limitless chakra." the pale man continued selling up Edo Tensei, "The only downside is it requires live sacrifice."
Tsunade snapped out of it, "You claim to raise the dead?" she asked, "Even if you're telling the truth you're insane!" she accused, punching a wall down in her fury.
Orochimaru shrugged, "I doubt I'd get half of my projects done if I were truly mad," he didn't seem bothered by the accusation, like he understood exactly what made him come off as insane but didn't care, "just think about my offer. I am truly desperate her, my arms are complete and utter agony right now." his tone and grin did not convey pain at all, "So I assure you my offer is completely genuine, I just can't perform the jutsu without my arms. I'll let you cool off, I'll be back in about a week."
Tsunade didn't respond and her former teammate left with the silver haired man, Tsunade didn't recognize him but he had the symbol of Otogakure on his forehead protector. Shizune seemed concerned even after the snake man left, she became more concerned when Tsunade turned back to the town she was fleeing.
Jiraiya lead the boys into a tavern for dinner and couldn't believe his luck, "Tsunade-hime!" he called out, dragging the boys over to her booth, the woman he was looking for was already pink cheeked from alcohol so he figured it was the perfect time to talk to her.
"Wait, she's Tsunade?" Naruto asked as they approached, "I thought she was going to be a granny." he confessed, a backhanded compliment at best but Tsunade didn't like her age being mentioned.
"Show some respect kid," Jiraiya tried to defuse as he sat down opposite of Tsunade, Naruto and Haku sitting in the booth as well, "she's the greatest iryonin in the world, she could probably heal that Lee kid, and maybe help out Sasuke and Kakashi too." he said.
Tsunade scowled at that, "I'm retired, why the hell should I come back to the village?" she asked.
"Is she seriously supposed to be the next Hokage?" Naruto asked, surprising Tsunade, "She seems washed up." he said which pissed off the drunken older blonde.
"Hokage?" Tsunade asked, glaring at the younger blonde, "What kind of moron would I have to be to want that job?"
Naruto glared at her, "This old lady clearly doesn't want the job," he said and Tsunade wanted to throttle him, "you might as well just make me Godaime!" he declared, Jiraiya laughed and Tsunade seemed surprised.
"Brat, you must have a death wish, calling me old and wanting to put on that ticket to the grave they call a hat." Tsunade recovered first, taking another sip of her sake.
Jiraiya stopped his laughter, "Kid, you're way too young to be Kage, once we get Tsunade to be Godaime she can go over Sarutobi's notes from the exam." he told the younger blonde, the older blonde snorted.
"This punk is still genin and he's talking about being the Kage of a major hidden village?" Tsunade asked rhetorically with a raised eyebrow, "What are these kids even doing with you, Jiraiya?" she narrowed her eyes at the man.
"I've pretty much taken Naruto Uzumaki as my apprentice," Jiraiya said, surprising Naruto who hadn't heard himself referred to as such until now, "and his girlfriend comes as a package deal, they're inseperable." he explained and Haku didn't even seem flustered until halfway through the sentence.
Naruto was flustered immediately, "Haku-chan is not my girlfriend!" he corrected, not thinking to correct the second phrase too but it wasn't wrong anyway.
Tsunade snorted, "Letting an apprentice bring their girlfriend for training," the woman assumed the kids were just in denial, "hoping to catch them doing something you can research?" she asked accusingly. Both of the boys blushed brighter red at that.
"Nah," Jiraiya said honestly, "they're both guys and I'm not into that." he said with a smirk as Tsunade's jaw dropped.
"What?" Shizune was surprised too, she wasn't drunk so she was surprised she hadn't realized either. Haku found their surprise amusing, but struggled not to let it show as he nodded to confirm it.
Tsunade decided to shelve it for later, "Well in any event, I'm not becoming Godaime, find someone else, let the blonde brat do it if he wants to die so badly." she told Jiraiya flippantly, "Every fool dumb enough to wear that hat died a fools death." she spat harshly.
"You want to take this outside, hag!?" Naruto snapped before Jiraiya could stop the boy, the Sannin snorted at him.
"Kid, you don't stand a chance, I'll beat you with one finger." Tsunade declared confidently.
"You want to bet!?" Naruto asked, equally confident despite the vast difference in ability and age. Haku was becoming nervous.
Tsunade looked interested, "A bet? Now you're talking, alright if I win with only one finger you have to call me 'Tsunade-sama' and bow with your head to the ground." she set her terms.
"If I win I get to be Hokage!" Naruto declared his term with a grin, Jiraiya shook his head and sighed at the blondes.
"You aren't winning," Tsunade said with a laugh, "but tell you what, if you make me use more than one finger I'll give you," she thought about it for a moment, "this necklace." she decided on since the kid clearly had a death wish anyway, "It belonged to my grandfather, Hashirama Senju the Shodaime Hokage." she explained for the sake of the younger blonde to know what he was fighting for.
Naruto was very interested in acquiring an item owned by the Shodaime and it showed in his eyes, "You're on!" he declared, rushing outside. Haku followed, concerned for Naruto's safety as Tsunade and Shizune followed him as well.
"We couldn't have at least gotten something to eat or drink first?" Jiraiya grumbled but they were already gone, so he got up and followed to see how it would go down. It might be funny to see the blonde grovel a little.
As soon as Tsunade stood across from him and told him to begin Naruto made five kage bunshin, four of them leaped at the Sannin. The older blonde dispelled them by flicking them as the two remaining Naruto lifted their headbands to reveal the Sharingan.
Tsunade was surprised to see it and when she saw the identical blondes run through unidentical hand signs she prepared to dodge, one launched a Suidan at her so she jumped, then the other blonde dived and struck the Suidan with a Toppa, launching the ball of now roilling water towards her.
The Sannin new using hand seals would definitely constitute more than one finger, but she used kawarimi anyway and dashed to flick both the remaining Naruto as the Toppa empowered Suidan destroyed the log she'd left behind.
Naruto and his bunshin rushed to meet Tsunade head on with half formed Rasengan at hand. The older blonde was shocked to see that jutsu and stopped hard enough to stomp the ground, cracking up the street with her strength and sending Naruto and his bunshin to the ground.
The kage bunshin disppelled and Naruto's Rasengan dug furrows into the already damaged street, "Damn it!" he snarled and stood swiftly, almost dodging a thrown object from Tsunade before seeing what it was with Sasuke's eye and catching the necklace of the Shodaime.
"Why are you teaching him that jutsu!?" Tsunade asked Jiraiya with a glare, "He's not going to master it anyway!" she said dismissively.
"I will too!" Naruto shot back, "Bet on it, y'know, I'll master this jutsu!" he insisted.
Tsunade glared at the younger blonde, "Oh you want to gamble huh, alright, double or nothing." she decided, "If you can't master Rasengan in one week you have to return that necklace and grovel at my feet." she declared, "If you pull it off I'll come back to the village and heal your friends." she finished.
Shizune frowned, wondering why Tsunade picked the same time limit Orochimaru had given. Naruto agreed to the terms and ran off to go train, Haku followed him without a word.
"I saw the castle," Jiraiya began once they were gone, "folks are saying a giant snake destroyed it. Tsunade if you betray the village, I'll kill you myself." he finished coldly.
Tsunade scoffed, "Mind your business, I don't want to heal that bastard anyway." she shot back before leaving. Jiraiya sighed and figured they'd be in town for a week then.
Sakura was surprised to see Karin when she went to visit Sasuke in the hospital, not that he'd woken up yet, "What's up, Sakura-san?" Karin was apparently surprised to see her too.
"I'm visiting Sasuke-kun." Sakura answered, fidgeting with a flower.
"Oh you're the one who keeps giving him a new flower," Karin guessed, "I thought it was that Yamanaka girl at first since her family owns a flower shop." she added and Sakura frowned, "Damn, shame he's already got two of you after him, he's kind of hot." she finished and Sakura balked at her shamelessness.
"He's mine!" Sakura said with equal shamelessness, Karin chuckled at that.
"Well he is the last Uchiha," The red haired girl mused, "would you deny him if he tried to take all three for himself?" she asked teasingly, the pink haired girl blushed and glared.
"He wouldn't!" Sakura insisted and Karin just giggled at her as they approached the room containing the subject of their conversation.
Naruto and Haku kept training the Rasengan, the blonde throwing himself into the practice with a wild abandon. Haku hadn't even caught up to Naruto and he wondered why, he assumed it was a matter of power, which made the phase the younger teen was on about control.
It made sense for Naruto to have difficulty with chakra control even now, Haku made no assumptions that he would easily have the control once he got the power down. Naruto had stopped using the balloons, and had started practicing on trees halfway through the week. The blonde had even watched his kage bunshin perform it with Sharingan to try and figure out what he was doing wrong.
A week was almost up, tomorrow Naruto would have to show what he had to Tsunade, so Haku was having no luck getting the boy to go to bed, they were out in the field, Naruto was still practicing while Haku watched.
Eventually the blonde ball of energy passed out and Haku sighed as another approached them. He confirmed it was Shizune with his eyes and nodded politely to her.
Shizune nodded back but was frowning, "That necklace, I don't think Tsunade-sama should have given it to him," she began, ignoring Haku's frown, "the truth is, it's said to be cursed. Whenever Tsunade-sama gave it to someone, they died." she explained and the pale boy turned paler as his eyes widened.
"Is this some esoteric assassination attempt upon Naruto-kun?" Haku asked, suddenly tense and on edge, his eyes narrowing dangerously.
Shizune shook her head, "I don't think so," she began with a frown, "at least I hope not. Naruto-kun is a lot like the last people she gave it to, and she cared about them. One of them was her little brother, he wanted to be Hokage too." she explained and Haku frowned but nodded in understanding.
Haku asked for no help carrying Naruto back to their room so Shizune parted ways with them. When he got home the dark haired boy was almost surprised to see Jiraiya sprawled out unconscious on the lounge instead of his bed.
Shizune woke them all the next morning, "Tsunade-sama is gone!" she called, her legs shaking under her as she banged on their door. Naruto and Haku jolted awake and went to open it for her.
Jiraiya groaned as he sat up, "That slug poisoned me." he grumbled to himself, embarrassed at having been done in so easily, he was lucky to be alive.
"A week ago, Orochimaru offered her something," Shizune began hastily, "I thought she denied him, but I was worried because she gave Naruto-kun the same amount of time to complete the Rasengan." she explained, "When I woke up this morning I could feel she'd drugged me and she was missing." she sounded distraught.
Jiraiya's eyes were hard, "We have to stop her." he said, struggling to stand. Naruto could only nod in agreement, confused about the situation. Haku frowned but followed the drugged older shinobi with the young blonde.
"So, have you come to a decision?" Orochimaru asked, a confident grin on his face. He met Tsunade by the destroyed castle, where they'd first discussed this.
Tsunade returned his grin with a scowl as she formed chakra scalpels, "Let's get this over with. I want to see Dan and Nawaki." she announced as she approached him. Her approach was halted by a kunai, she and Orochimaru both jumped back, away from the kunai and each other.
The silver haired Oto shinobi landed next to the crippled Sannin, "Orochimaru-sama, her scalpels were filled with lethal intent." he explained.
"Ah, faithful Kabuto," Orochimaru greeted, "rescuing me from the treacherous Tsunade-chan?" he directed this question at Tsunade.
"You betrayed Konoha, don't harp about loyalty to me." Tsunade spat back, "Sarutobi-sensei took your arms to hell from what I heard, so I'll send him the rest of you." she threatened as she cracked her knuckles. Kabuto smirked confidently and followed Orochimaru in a dodge as Tsunade punched the ground, ripping up the street.
"What monstrous strength," Kabuto mused, "it's a good thing you told me her weakness, Orochimaru-sama." he said as the two leaped away from the wall and up the hill where the castle once stood. Tsunade chased them and Kabuto palmed a kunai, stabbing his own hand and throwing the blood over the blonde Sannin.
Tsunade stopped stunned, her face horrified and her body shivering, "Haemophobia is quite the mental issue for a supposed doctor." Kabuto spoke up, "I used to luck up to your talent as an iryonin, but look at you now, at the mercy of someone as weak as myself just because some blood got on you?" the boy asked, adjusting his glasses with a cruel smirk.
Orochimaru let the boy have his fun so Kabuto punched Tsunade in the face before kicking her in the stomach, scoffing as she fell to her knees instead of fighting back, "How sad." the shinobi mused, readying his kunai before jumping back to dodge a hail of senbon.
"Ah, the back up." Orochimaru greeted Jiraiya, "A pity she drugged you, you might have been able to save her otherwise." he said as he moved his gaze over the others, Jiraiya moving to Tsunade first, followed by Shizune, Naruto and Haku sticking with them.
"Kabuto? What the heck are you doing here?" Naruto asked, the silver haired young man just smirked in response.
"Look at his headband kid, what symbol is on that plate?" Jiraiya instructed and Naruto scowled as he realized the implications behind the Oto symbol.
"Kabuto, enough toying around." Orochimaru ordered and the young man used shunshin to get to the man's side in an instant, rolling up Orochimaru's sleeve and running his blood on the seal tattooed there. Kabuto started running through seals and Jiraiya bit his thumb and quickly ran through his own seals as Naruto lifted his forehead protector to reveal the Sharingan.
Kabuto called a monstrous snake with Kuchyose no Jutsu, possibly larger than the one from the forest of death, Jiraiya summoned a pug sized toad, "Gamakichi?" Jiraiya asked, realizing just how bad this situation was. Then Naruto bit his thumb and performed his own Kuchiyose, and the snake was met with the fierce gaze of the boss of the toads.
"We finally dealing with this snake in the grass, Jiraiya?" Gamabunta asked, reaching for his sword, Orochimaru knew Kabuto didn't have the power to summon the snake boss and narrowed his eyes at how difficult the situation became.
"It would seem so," Orochimaru surprisingly answered, "however I feel the need to point out that it was Naruto-kun who called you." the man said with a sly grin, "Very impressive really, I see why they might mistake his team for the Nidaime Sannin." he finished.
Jiraiya had heard of that, but was now wondering what Orochimaru was getting at, "It's almost amusing that I was there Hanzo, I had no idea I had come to inspire such fear." the snake man continued with a laugh, "Although," he trailed the word, "amuse my curiosity for but a moment," he began, "which members of his team seem most like who I wonder? You met them by now I assume?"
Jiraiya frowned at the question, "You think the Uchiha is like you?" he asked, concerned about the other Sannin's plans for the boy.
"Of course not," Orochimaru denied, "truthfully I don't see how anyone could mistake their pink haired teammate for Tsunade-chan, she's barely above average for her age." he dismissed and Naruto scowled at the man for insulting his teammate, "But Sasuke-kun is direct, confident, and reckless, he's like an angrier you." the man stated, "No, the one most like myself is right there." he finished.
Naruto frowned, "I'm nothing like you!" he denied.
Orochimaru grinned and Jiraiya noticed the man was stalling or up to something, probably both, "Oh aren't you? I wanted to be Hokage too, you know?" he asked, "I dove into any ninjutsu training I could, always begging my sensei for more jutsu, I wanted to learn them all." he explained and the blonde's eyes widened at how familiar that sounded.
"Humor an old scientist, Naruto-kun," Orochimaru requested, "how many ninjutsu do you know?"
Naruto took a moment to count, he counted on his fingers, it took him a moment, "Twelve!" he finally declared proudly.
"Of those twelve, how many are Seishitsu Hensha and of those what element do they correspond?"
Naruto looked confused and thoughtful for a moment longer, "Uh, three Suiton, one Futon, one Katon, and one Raiton I guess." he said, uncertainty clear in his tones. Haku was surprised at the mention of Raiton.
"Six Seishitsu Hensha spread across four different affinities." Orochimaru mused, "I am sorely tempted to kill you and take that eye now, but I'm curious to see what it might become if it stays with you." the man said, surprising Kabuto and Jiraiya. The two disappeared with Kabuto's shunshin as the snake attacked, Gamabunta cut it in half and sent it back.
"Damn it, you fools let him get away." The toad boss was displeased about this.
"Sorry," Jiraiya sounded it too, "Tsunade is out of it, Shizune and I are drugged, and I doubt Naruto and Haku could take him on even if he was crippled. We're actually lucky he didn't call our bluff." the man confessed.
"I wanted to shove a Rasengan in Kabuto's dirty tratorous face!" Naruto shouted angrily, Jiraiya watched him fume as Shizune cleaned up Tsunade.
"You finished the Rasengan?" Jiraiya asked once he was sure Tsunade was conscious enough to hear, "Let's see it then." he said with a grin, ready to be proud.
Naruto created a kage bunshin and had it focus the swirling chakra into a tighter ball than he could make alone and showed the finished product to the two Sannin. Jiraiya laughed at the shortcut and Tsunade was stunned he actually did it.
"You have to come back and heal my friends now." Naruto declared proudly with a grin, Haku smiled proudly at the blonde.
"I guess that was the bet." Tsunade said with a sigh, "Remind me never to gamble with Naruto again, his luck is absurd." she groused as she stood up, embarrassed that she needed to be saved and concerned by Orochimaru's behaviour once the Sharingan was around.
The return to Konohagakure no Sato was shorter than the search for Tsunade since they weren't wandering from town to town looking for the Sannin. Haku had completed the second part to the Rasengan training and was now working on the third, Jiraiya had insisted Naruto keep trying at the third until he could do it without bunshin assistance so they were out of balloons before they reached the gates.
Tsunade felt strange to be back in the village, she hadn't actually agreed to take the hat yet, Jiraiya had spoken with her about that and she just said she'd think about it. If it was up to her she'd heal the blonde kids friends and get out of there as soon as possible.
The woman wasn't even sure why Jiraiya wanted her to be Hokage, she had debts, and more problems besides that. Worse, she had a debilitating weakness that would make her an easy target if it was known, and Orochimaru knew it.
So when the former teammates of the Sandaime approached her and Jiraiya at the gates she struggled to think of someone else she could endorse, she entertained the idea of endorsing Naruto but even if he was strong for his age he was still too young to be Kage.
"How is Kakashi Hatake?" Tsunade asked Jiraiya suddenly, the white haired man narrowed his eyes at the question.
"Kakashi-sensei is unconscious." Naruto answered, "Apparently he got hurt by Itachi like Sasuke, so you're going to help them right?" he asked and Tsunade nodded, turning towards the hospital.
"Not going to greet your elders?" Homura asked as the two venerable shinobi approached.
"I'll deal with the political crap after I've done my duties as an iryonin and considered my options carefully." Tsunade said sharply, making her stance clear. The two old shinobi were surprised but let her go without argument.
Sasuke opened his eye and activated his Sharingan immediately, eye darting around the room to take everything in. He saw Naruto, Sakura, Haku, Karin, that Sennin that took Naruto on a mission, and two older women.
"Chill out, kid," Tsunade advised, "I'm about to wake your sensei and have a chat with him, you're welcome by the way." she told him as she moved over to the sleeping form of Kakashi.
"How long have I been out?" Sasuke asked, concern evident on his face.
"Almost a month, I'm so glad you're finally awake, Sasuke-kun." Sakura said sweetly and Sasuke panicked, wondering how far behind Naruto he might have fallen.
Kakashi's eye opened next, "Yo, Kakashi-san," Tsunade sounded surprisingly cavalier, "how'd you like to be Hokage?"
Everyone in the room stared at her, "Tsunade! I thought you-" Jiraiya began, clearly exasperated.
"I'm a bad fit and you know it, Kakashi is strong." Tsunade interrupted.
Kakashi was not ready to be woken up to that, "I have a genin team." he tried as an excuse.
"I haven't read Sarutobi-sensei's notes but from what I heard it sounds like you have a chunin team, so they'll be fine without you." Tsunade reasoned and Team 7 were shocked at the praise, "I'll tell you what, if you become Hokage I'll stay in the village and work the hospital with Shizune." she bargained.
Jiraiya was clearly annoyed the blonde woman wasn't taking the job and Kakashi was struggling to find a reason to disagree, "Godaime Hokage as our sensei," Sasuke spoke up, "it's hard enough getting training out of him, but I won't turn down a promotion." he said with a smirk. Sakura still seemed stunned.
Naruto grinned, "I don't mind sensei keeping the hat warm for me while I train." he said with a confident smirk. Kakashi sighed, he didn't really want the job, but it seemed the only two more suited were even less interested.
"Alright, I accept the honor." Kakashi said reluctantly, hoping Tsunade wasn't making an awful mistake. Jiraiya seemed more concerned than he did.