A/N: 28 and 29 have been released together, so if you missed 28…you know…it comes first.

But hey, whatever flips your pancake.

Enjoy.

- XXIX -

Toad

It was nearly an hour since Genma left the room, and Naruto hadn't moved. The tears stopped a little while ago, but the pain in his heart was stronger than ever.

He failed. He broke his promises. He had already lost Kurama.

And now Itachi was gone, too.

A knock came upon the door. Naruto said nothing. He didn't want to see Genma right now. He didn't want to see anyone right now. Better to feign sleep and—

It opened anyway, but it wasn't Genma who stepped in. Naruto lifted his head as the blonde woman spoke, her light brown eyes fixed directly on him.

"I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon."

His mouth opened slightly, though his eyes were still sad.

"Tsunade…"

"Tch. That's Lady Tsunade to you, kid." With the clacking of her heels on the floor, she approached the stool and took a seat, crossing her arms in front of her.

Naruto didn't have it in him to smile, so all he could so was look at her for a moment. Eventually she noticed, and her face lost its false fierceness, and softened.

"Genma told me about Itachi. I'm sorry."

Naruto returned his eyes to the bedsheets, the heart in his chest twice as heavy as it was a second before. A moment of silence passed between them before she spoke again.

"He was a good man…and you were very important to him."

Though he tried to stop them by pursing his lips, the tears returned to Naruto's eyes. Sadness, anger, frustration; all of them swirled with him in a vortex of emotion—but at Tsunade's words a new feeling rose to the surface: guilt.

"I…I couldn't do anything…he saved me…he took care of me…and I could never do anything for him…"

All Tsunade could do was watch him for a moment. She knew all too well what Naruto was feeling at the moment, and she allowed him to let it out as he needed to; but she softly spoke the words that she had wished someone would have told her long ago.

"Don't blame yourself, Naruto. It's not your fault."

But the tears only seemed to flow harder. Naruto voice shook through his sobs. "I… failed him…"

"No," Tsunade said firmly. She took a second before turning away and adding the rest of her thought. "You were the only reason he was able to keep going…"

Suddenly, Naruto's head lifted. "What…?"

She returned her brown eyes to him. "You knew…you knew about his eyes, didn't you?"

The tears began to slow. The emotion subsided for a second as Naruto thought back to all the times he had seen blood dripping from Itachi's bright red eyes.

"Yeah…"

Tsunade sighed. "Genma told me he was with Sasuke at the end…I'm sure he was happy that he got to see his brother again."

Naruto's teeth clenched behind his pursed lips. "But still…if we didn't go back…if I would have said no…"

A tense silence filled the room as Naruto's head hung low, and Tsunade realized it was time to ask the question that she had been dreading ever since he showed up at her door two days ago.

"Tell me…why did you go back to Konoha?"

Naruto's eyes shook for a moment, threatening to cry again. No tears came to him, but they had a familiar look in them as they glared down on the bedsheets; as if they were trying to see something that wasn't there.

"I couldn't let go of the past."

Slowly, his knees raised, and he hung his arms loosely around them, letting his head fall between his legs. Tsunade could only watch, frustration slowly filling her.

"What…what do I do…? What do I do…?"

Tsunade let the confusion in his words sink in before taking a deep breath. She responded slowly.

"Well…what do you want to do?"

It wasn't the first time Naruto had been asked that question, and the memory of Itachi speaking those same words made them all the more difficult to hear.

Yet this time, the answer was easier than ever.

"I…I want to go…I want to leave…I want to forget everything…"

Suddenly, an angry expression began to form on Tsunade's face. Her voice was dripping with rage. "What…?"

"I'm tired," Naruto said through his returning tears. "I'm so tired…all this time…I've been running…but…for what…? I'm just…I'm so tired—"

SLAP!

Naruto felt a sting on his cheek as Tsunade grabbed his collar and pulled him in close to her. Her eyes, filled with anger, were widened in front of him.

"WAKE UP, KID! THIS ISN'T JUST ABOUT YOU ANYMORE!"

His own eyes were a terrified blue as they trembled. His voice was choked out by a hot pain in his throat.

"But…but I failed…"

"So what!?" Tsunade yelled. "You're going to give up!? You're going to let Itachi's death be in vain!?"

Naruto wanted to protest, but his voice gave out on him. As a solemn look appeared in his eyes, Tsunade slowly let him go and returned to the stool. Her arms crossed in front of her, and her head turned from him.

"Itachi knew…he knew something was happening in the ninja world, and in the end, he got caught up in it—but soon this won't just be about you or him, Naruto. Pain has Kiri, and now he has Konoha, too. It's only a small step to the other great villages…and then the entire world…"

The words all rolled off Naruto's back like rain he could hardly even feel. They meant nearly nothing to him.

"Why should I care…?" he asked. "What does this have to do with me?"

Tsunade was silent for a moment. Truthfully, she had no good answer. A distant memory called out to her, reminding her of someone who once told her of the Great Prophecy, who once told her that he would be the one to fulfill it. But…

This boy…?

Her brown eyes softened as they studied his face. "You look just like Minato."

His blue eyes widened as they turned to her, and Itachi's declaration that Tsunade had known about him all along returned to him.

"You knew…"

She said nothing at first. Finally, she sighed and explained. "Your father…was a good friend of mine. I was the one who convinced him to leave Konoha."

Naruto's mouth dropped. "What…? Why…? And why didn't you say anything…?"

Tsunade turned away and narrowed her eyes. "If it wasn't clear from story I told you last time…I'm a coward…I couldn't bring myself to tell you…"

All Naruto could do in response was stare at her, waiting for an explanation, waiting for anything at all about his parents; but Tsunade offered no story.

"You look just like Minato," she said. "But…you have your mother's eyes."

"Promise me, Naruto…promise me you'll be free."

His mother's words returned to him, and though they sent a slight warmth to his heart, he still had no idea what they meant. He recalled the faces of his parents, and the peace they brought him. He couldn't help but wonder…

What would they say to him right now?

Tsunade watched him struggle in his mind to figure out the right path forward. She badly wanted to help him but knew she wasn't the person for the job.

But perhaps she knew who was.

"Naruto," she said firmly. "There's someone you have to—"

BANG!

The door burst open, and into the room flew Shizune.

"Lady Tsunade," she said, voice shaking. "They're here."

Naruto and Tsunade both felt their eyes widen at the news, but Naruto felt especially frightened. Memories of Pain beating him to a pulp returned to him, and his body began to ache.

Tsunade quickly rose to her feet. "Get Genma, Shizune! Hold them off! I'll be right there!"

"Yes, Lady Tsunade!"

Naruto felt the room move too quickly as Shizune ran away and Tsunade came over to him, grabbing his shoulders tightly. There was no anger in her eyes this time—only desperation…

"Listen to me, Naruto. You have to get out of here. I'm going to call someone for you."

It was the first time in a while that Naruto had felt helpless, like the scared little boy who dropped onto Konoha's doorstep five years ago. "What? What do you mean?"

She pulled away from him, but the serious look in her eyes remained. "There's somebody you have to meet."

"What? No…no…I don't want to…I don't want to be a part of this anymore…!"

Tsunade swallowed hard as she heard the pain in his cracking voice.

"Fine," she said, pulling out a scroll from inside her green coat. As she unrolled it and placed it on the ground, she spoke quickly. "Run away, then. Forget it all. Forget Konoha, forget Itachi, forget the things you couldn't save, if that's what you really want—but if there's any part of you that wants to keep going, then you have to trust me."

Naruto rose quickly off the bed, ignoring his pain. He was about to begin protesting when Tsunade placed one hand over the other and summoned her chakra. Falling to her knees, she placed them over the scroll, its characters beginning to glow blue for a moment before a light enveloped the room and a cloud of smoke puffed out in its centre.

Everything was still for a moment as Naruto coughed the smoke out of his lungs and waved it away; but as he clued back into what was happening, two unfamiliar voices came to his ears.

"Tsunade, ya old hag! What's the big idea!? That scroll was for emergencies only!"

"Settle down, would ya, Kosuke? All yer yellin' is bad for my ears…"

"You don't even have ears, Gramps!"

As the smoke began to dissipate, Naruto's eyes saw the picture before him more clearly. Tsunade stood in the same spot she had a moment before, but in front of her were two new people who seemed to have popped out of the scroll itself.

On second thought, 'people' was certainly the wrong word. Naruto struggled to get the correct one out of his mouth.

"You…you're…"

The two toads turned their heads to Naruto. The larger one was red with dark sports around its eyes and atop its head, with a pair of green goggles hanging around its neck, while the smaller was a more typical green, though it had wrinkles and white hair at its eyebrows, chin, and the rear of its head.

"Who the hell are you, kid?" the red one, Kosuke, said to Naruto.

The elderly green one, though had a different reaction. His mouth fell at the sight of the boy. "Tsunade…is this young lad who I think he is…?"

"That's right," Tsunade said firmly. "But we don't have any time, Fukasaku. You have to take him back with you."

"Woah, hold on just a minute!" Kosuke said. "We can't just bring anyone back ta—!"

"I said we don't have any time, you idiots!" Tsunade exploded. "Pain is coming!"

Naruto watched as Fukasaku froze in shock at the name. It didn't mean anything to Kosuke, who looked at her confused.

"Pain? Who the hell's Pain? Ah, it doesn't even matter! We can't go bringin' every lost kid back home with us, right Gramps?"

Fukasaku spent another quick moment studying Naruto before his withered voice came out slowly.

"We're takin' him." He reached out a hand. "Grab on, lad."

Naruto was frozen for a moment. It had all happened too quickly. Who the hell did Tsunade want him to meet? And how the tell were toads able to talk!?

It was all too much for Naruto, whose pain still wrapped tightly around his heart. He had lost Kurama…he had lost Itachi…he had broken his promise to Ino…what was the point? What was the point of going down this road any—

Suddenly, Tsunade came over to him and grabbed his shoulder again and shook him. As they stood, they were now the same height, and for the first time Naruto saw her deep brown eyes piercing his directly. They were still desperate, as if hanging onto something by a thread.

"Naruto. Please."

His eyes began to waver. "I…I can't…I don't want to…"

"I know," she said. "And I'm sorry. But this isn't for me, or for Itachi, or for the rest of the world." She removed a hand from his shoulder and placed it on his cheek.

"Trust me. You need to do this for yourself."

Naruto didn't have time to think of his answer. It was only a second after Tsunade spoke that the door was kicked off its hinges, and in walked two men with black and red cloaks. The Akatsuki.

Tsunade turned from him and stood to meet the enemies.

"There he is!" one of the men said. "Get the boy!"

"Go, Naruto!" Tsunade yelled. "Now!"

"Come on, lad!" Fukasaku croaked.

All of this happened so fast that Naruto hardly even felt himself reach out for the toad's hand.

A second later, everything was black.

- XXIX -

"Aaaaahhh!"

BOOM!

Naruto fell to the ground with a thud. He wasn't sure how he got into the air, but as he fell through a cloud of smoke, all he saw was green grass getting closer and closer before he crashed into it. His body, still wrapped in bandages, screamed upon the impact.

In his wincing, his saw Fukasaku and Kosuke land on the ground beside him. "Hey!" Kosuke yelled. "Who tha hell left tha scroll up on tha leaf!"

Fukasaku hopped over to Naruto and stood over his face. "Look alive, lad. We're here."

Naruto gingerly sat up. It didn't take long for his mind to start playing tricks on him; perhaps he hit his head too hard or perhaps it was injuries finally getting to him, but his deep blue eyes looked around in awe, taking in the incredible sight.

Green tree trunks rose high into the air, but instead of branching out into a bush of foliage, bloomed into single, enormous green leaves that hung off the stem as if they were heavy with water, blocking out some of the sunlight over the grassy field that Naruto sat in now. Beneath them, leading into a forest of sorts, were a number of statues, each of a giant toad that looked to be meditating, each with a peaceful smile on its face. The forest was teeming with large red and yellow mushrooms, each about the size of Naruto himself. There was a stairway at one end of the area that led to a path with a mountain on one side and more forest on the other. From what Naruto could see, there were cornucopia-shaped buildings spilling water from their tips at the end of the road.

It was, truly, unbelievable.

"Where…where am I…?"

Kosuke folded his toad arms in front of him. "Mount Myoboku, of course."

Naruto only looked at him in confusion. "Mount…Myoboku…?"

Fukasaku began to hop anyway. "We'll show ya around later, lad. Right now, there's somewhere ya gotta be."

Naruto understood nothing except the pain in his heart. He wasn't sure why he reached out for Fukasaku's hand. It must have been fear, he convinced himself; because the only thing he really wanted right now was to lie back down on that bed and fall asleep, and never wake up again…

…right?

He got to his feet and, though his body still ached, followed the two toads up the stairs and down the path. For the first time, he noticed the presence of other toads besides Fukasaku and Kosuke. They hung out on the sides of the path, some on mountain ledges near some shrubbery, and some in the forest or atop the giant leaves. Naruto was still a little surprised every time he heard them speak—though other than the two that hopped in front of him, none of their words were directed at Naruto.

But they were about him.

"Is that…?

"He looks just like the other one…"

"It's impossible. That one's dead, isn't he?"

"It has to be him. It has to be!"

Naruto didn't understand what they mean, but clearly, they knew of him. He had no idea how this was possible, and Fukasaku, as if reading his mind, began to explain.

"Once upon a time, lad, yer father was a visitor here."

"W-what…?" Naruto kept walking, but everything inside of him stopped. "Really…?"

"That's right…but it was a long while ago…to tell ya tha truth, we never thought we'd see you here…"

The words sounded ominous to Naruto, but still he pushed forward. "H-how come…?"

Fukasaku stopped and turned around to him. The toad's beady yellow eyes were firm.

"We thought ya were dead."

Naruto swallowed hard. For the first time, he found himself wondering if there was anyone else who knew him from before Uzushio was destroyed. Tsunade seemed as though she did, or at least knew his parents, and these toads were the same; but the sight of the ruins came back to him…it was unlikely, to be sure.

The three of them walked down the path for another few minutes before arriving at their destination: a small pond of crystal-clear water that was encircled by a lush garden of plants on the other side, some of which Naruto had never seen before.

But that was not what caught his attention. Between himself and the pond was a small grassy area with a long wooden couch finished with red and yellow upholstery.

Naruto had to squint for a moment to see if the white puff he saw hanging over the arm was a part of the design or not.

"Jiraiya-boy," Fukasaku said. "We have a visitor."

Jiraiya? Naruto thought. For some reason it sounded…familiar…

"No thanks, Fukasaku," a drunk, lazy voice came from the couch. Naruto noticed that the white puff was actually hair as a hand holding a bottle waved from behind it. "Hey, bring me some more of that toad sake when you-hic-get a chance…that's some gooood stuff, you know!"

Instead of getting upset, Fukasaku only smiled. "Oh, come on, Jiraiya-boy. He's travelled such a long way to see you."

Naruto, for some reason, was nervous, feeling as though he should be clued into what was happening—but all he could do was watch and wait.

The white hair began to move. The man rose to his feet in a huff, his voice filling with annoyance.

"Did you hear me, you old geezer? I said I'm not interested in seeing anyone! How many times do I have to—!?"

KRIIISSSHH!

The bottle shattered on the ground as a dark pair of eyes stared in shock at Naruto. The man was older, in his 50s at least, and wore a dishevelled robe; but Naruto barely noticed that; he could not stop looking at the tears rolling down the man's cheeks.

"Naruto…?"

I'm not trying to release two chapters at a time, but the way they've been going lately I feel like I have no choice but to break them up. 7000 words of mostly dialogue is pretty daunting, at least in my opinion.

I will warn you that the next one promises to be quite long, as well; but if I end up at 9000 words again, I'll probably break that one up, too, haha.

Anyway, hope you liked these latest developments and the story overall. If you feel like it, leave me a comment/review. They're always nice to see.

And of course, thanks for reading!