Chapter 8: Deadly Confrontations

Naruto and Jiraiya had been traveling for an hour, jumping from tree to tree when Jiraiya stopped and jumped down to the main road and signaled Naruto to join him. "Alright were about an hour's walking distance from Shukuba Town. I promised to help you train after the exams and I plan to start that when we get to town. First I'll need to speak to some contacts of mine to pick up on Tsunade's trail and then we can begin." Naruto nodded along before something popped into his head.

"So, do you have a picture of what she looks like?" Jiraiya grinned as he reached into his shirt and brought out a picture. Naruto took a look at the picture of a blonde woman wearing a gray shirt and green coat. "I meant a picture of her currently, not of her thirty years ago." Jiraiya just grinned harder."

"Kid, this picture is from six months ago." The blond's eyes widened as he looked at the picture then back to Jiraiya.

"How the hell does she look like that when you look like." Naruto paused and gestured to all of Jiraiya. "You." Jiraiya got a tick mark on his forehead.

"First of all, I'll have you know that the ladies think I'm roguishly handsome and as for your question Tsunade uses a very advanced genjutsu to make herself look younger."

"That's weird, well what are her most common hangouts then, where will we start searching."

"She will most likely be at the local bars or casinos." Naruto made a face at that but Jiraiya ignored him. "Either way there are a couple big gambling towns near Shukuba Town, once I talk to my contact well head off early tomorrow morning."

'Man, what a weird bunch, ones a snake freak with an obsession with Sasuke and the other is a gambling drunk.' Thought Naruto as he looked at Jiraiya. 'At least Jiraiya is somewhat normal.' The duo made it to the town were making their way to a hotel when a woman with a very revealing kimono came up to Jiraiya. Naruto noticed she had blond hair and a bountiful chest. 'Weird she kinda looks like Tsunade.' The blond chuunin watched as the women flirted with Jiraiya who was beginning to drool over the woman as he let out a perverted giggle when the woman pushed his arm between her breasts. 'Great, he's a pervert. First Kakashi and now him. At least Jiraiya goes for real women.' Thought Naruto with a sigh.

"Hey kid why don't you go find a hotel room for us I'll be back later." Jiraiya waved the blond away as he walked away deeper into the town, the blond woman basically hanging off the white-haired sannin. The chuunin just let out a sigh and quickly found a hotel and rented a room for the night.

'Might as well do something productive.' The blond thought as he sat in the bed and started meditating. It didn't take long for the blond to feel the familiar sensation of being pulled into the seal.

"I see you finally got over your pathetic brooding." Naruto turned around to look at the giant fox, already used to his abrasive personality from coming to talk to him on an almost daily basis during the month of training.

"Yeah, I lost myself in pity there for a second but I'm back now." Naruto smiled at the fox who simply snorted.

"You did adequately against the container of my brother, but don't get complacent! He was weak compared to the others. Shukaku drives all his hosts mad with insomnia but there are others who work alongside their hosts, like the eight-tails, if you encounter him at your current level you would perish. I remember that his host could use all his powers perfectly and even become the eight-tails itself." Naruto nodded taking the news as motivation to train harder than he had been.

"How did you meet the container for the eight-tails?" The great fox looked down at the blond as he studied him.

"I met him when he fought my previous container." Naruto looked shocked at that.

"You had a previous container? Who was it? How did you get out?" The nine-tails looked angry, his chakra becoming oppressive as the blond began to have difficulties breathing.

"I was released by a one of those accursed Uchiha! He used that twisted eye of his to take control of me, ME! "The giant fox stood up during his rant before laying back down his head resting on his left hand." He is the reason I was rampaging in the first place. As for your other question ask the white-haired one you're traveling with, he will answer your questions." Naruto nodded, breathing easier as the chakra receded.

"I'm sorry they did that. It must be horrible to go from one prison to another because someone took control of you." There was a long silence as the fox studied the blond, the fox suddenly looked up as a growl escaped his throat.

"I feel two strong chakra signatures with vile intentions coming to your room." Naruto looked alarmed before his eyes hardened.

"Thanks for the heads up." The fox didn't say anything before started channeling chakra.

"You can't win against them, I'll grant you some of my chakra so you don't die and drag me with you. You need to leave and find the pervert."

"Thank you. You'll tell me your name someday I can't just keep calling you nine-tails." Naruto smiled at the fox as he awoke from his meditation. His attention was brought to the door as he heard a quiet knock. Naruto quickly went to the window and jumped away going for the edge of town as he summoned 30 clones to spread out to look for Jiraiya. Naruto made it to a clearing at the edge of town when his eyes widened and ducked. Naruto felt the wind howl above him as it was displaced by a giant bandage covered sword, it was thanks only to listening to his instincts that the blond had managed to dodge what would have most likely been a debilitating blow. Naruto jumped forward and as he turned around he saw two people standing behind him. The taller of the two was the one with the sword that had almost taken him out. He had grayish-blue skin and dark blue hair. He had what appeared to be gills on his neck. The shorter of the two had long black hair with some very distinctive red eyes with three comas spinning around his pupil. 'Shit, Itachi Uchiha!' Naruto cursed as he saw the kin slayer. The two were wearing identical black cloaks with red clouds on them.

"Hello, Naruto. I'm going to need you to come with us." His voice was smooth and lacked any and all emotion. Naruto started sweating trying to think of strategies to escape this dire situation.

"Hey Itachi, look at that. The brats a chuunin, I guess out information was wrong. Wasn't he supposed to be the loud-mouthed dead last with an orange obsession?" Naruto saw the man's teeth were sharp like Zabuza's had been when he grinned at the blond.

"It doesn't matter if he were a jonin Kisame, it doesn't change our mission." Itachi replied.

"Heh, I guess you're right. Maybe I should cut his legs off so he doesn't run anymore." Naruto jumped back as he summoned ten clones. Five rushed the duo as three popped immediately covering Naruto as he and his remaining clones from the Uchiha's eyes, he and his clones quickly went through hand seals.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" Naruto shouted as his clones performed a wind jutsu to enhance the blonds fireball.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" The jutsus mixed creating a blazing inferno that raced at the two rogues. Kisame smirked as he ran through his own hand seals and the fire was met with a massive wall of water, the entire area was filled with steam as a result of the two elements clashing. Naruto bit his thumb and went through the required seals for his summon. "Summoning Jutsu!" A human-sized toad appeared with a green vest and two swords strapped to its back. "Gamashiro I need you to help me deal with an enemy swordsmen." The Green toad nodded at his summoner.

"Of course Naruto, I shall help with the best of my abilities." Naruto and Gamashiro jumped back as the giant club sword came down between them.

" Hiding in the mist? A rather poor choice brat, I was never as good as Zabuza with silent killing but every single one of the 7 swordsmen learned to use it!" Naruto cursed as he created a clone to blow away the mist as he gathered earth chakra into his right arm tuning it black. The clone used breakthrough and Kisame covered his face from the wind Naruto punched with all his might only to be blocked as Kisame brought up his sword. Naruto stood still seeing his attack didn't do anything and then he sensed that the sword was eating his chakra, his hand returning to its normal coloring. The blond recoiled as he felt a sharp sensation on his fist, he looked down and saw it was bleeding. Gamashiro took the opportunity to try and slash Kisame only have to jump back from a fireball from Itachi. "Looks like samehada doesn't like your chakra all too much. Seems he finds it a bit heavy." There was an angry yell and everyone's attention was brought to the edge of the clearing as Sasuke ran in.

"Itachi. Finally, I've trained for years and spent countless hours imagining this day. I have embraced my hatred for you and now finally I'll avenge our family!" The younger Uchiha glared with his Sharingan active as he charged his Chidori. "DIE!" Sasuke screamed as he ran at Itachi at full speed, his Chidori leaving a trail of destruction in the ground.

'That IDIOT!' Naruto yelled internally as he tried to intercept the two only to be met with a grinning Kisame who dashed in front of him as the blue-skinned man swung his sword.

"Not so fast brat, that ain't our fight!" Naruto crossed his arms as he channeled all the earth chakra possible into his arms as well as unleashing the chakra the nine-tails had given him. A shroud of bubbling red chakra formed around him as a single tail appeared behind him. He was hit by the blade and he could feel the sharp spikes dig into his arm as he was sent flying back, his chakra shroud completely gone along with the earth chakra he had used to coat his arms. Naruto skidded to a stop as he watched Itachi grab Sasuke's wrist as he held the Chidori away from himself.

"Foolish little brother, you lack the proper hatred to match me. Only when you acquire the same eyes as I have, will you be able to properly challenge me." Itachi slammed a fist into Sasuke's gut causing the younger Uchiha to double over as his Chidori dissipated. Itachi grabbed his brother by the collar as he lifted him up to eye level and whispered. "Tsukuyomi." Three seconds later Itachi dropped the now unconscious Sasuke to the ground. Naruto cursed his teammate in his head. "Now I think it's time we left. Don't make this harder than it has to be Naruto." Naruto saw that Itachi was now standing next to Kisame and that he had a clear path to reach Sasuke.

'Damn it, where the hell is Jiraiya!' Thought Naruto as he began to channel as much chakra as possible as he creates 100 clones who each start going through different hand seals. Naruto body flickered to Sasuke as some clones had charged the dangerous duo to distract them. Naruto saw that multiple walls of earth sprang up on three directions trapping the duo in a funnel as the rest of his clones start unleashing everything they have.

"Lightning Style: Electromagnetic Murder!"

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough! "

"Water Style: Raging Waves!"

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

"Ninja Arts: Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Naruto used up most of his remaining chakra as he body flickered away with Sasuke as a giant explosion overtook the clearing. He looked back to see the once green clearing was now a crater as smoke slowly dissipated. Naruto grit his teeth as he heard a whistle from directly in the middle of the smoke. "Damn Itachi, the kid can pack a hell of a punch." Naruto saw that the two looked unharmed except for that they were now wet. "I gotta admit kid, had you done that against anyone else that might have worked." Naruto let out a curse as he was now out of chakra and had to drag his teammate along too.

"That's far enough Akatsuki. You won't be getting Naruto." Naruto sighed in relief as Jiraiya jumped down between the two pairs.

"So it was you who told Kakashi the name of our organization." Itachi said as he gazed at the old sannin. Naruto saw a green blur as Kisame raised samehada to block a kick. Guy backflipped as he disengaged from Kisame and stood in his strong fist stance.

"Hello Lord Jiraiya, I have come to help you deal with these two most un-youthful fellows." Jiraiya simply nodded as he watched the Akatsuki duo, unwilling to look away from them even for a second.

"Kisame let's go, it has become too difficult to capture the nine-tails with both Jiraiya of the sannin and Might Guy here." Itachi said as he looked at the two leaf jonin.

"And it was just about to get fun too. Alright, we'll see you around brat." Naruto watched as the two missing ninjas left, he let out a sigh as he laid down, exhausted from the whole ordeal. Guy went over to Sasuke to pick him up.

"I will take him back with me to the Leaf, he managed to find out Itachi confronted Kakashi along with Kurenai and Asuma. Someone let it slip they were looking for young Naruto here." Said blond just looked on as Jiraiya made a grim face.

"It can't be helped, just get him back and make sure he doesn't run off on a suicide quest again." Guy nodded as he left with Sasuke on his back. Naruto and Jiraiya walked back to the inn slowly.

"Tomorrow I'll have you start working on a new jutsu. For tonight why don't you just rest up we'll leave early tomorrow morning after I give you the basics to the jutsu." Naruto didn't say anything until they were both back in the hotel room. Jiraiya saw that the blond was unusually quiet and was honestly shocked by the question that came out of his mouth.

"Who was the container of the nine-tails before me?" Jiraiya looked at the blond as a deadly serious frown marred his face.

"Where did you learn about the other containers." Naruto put a hand over his stomach.

"The Nine-tails. We were discussing how he ended up sealed in me and he mentioned someone breaking him out of his old host. He told me to ask you about the identity of the person." Jiraiya looked surprised at the mention of communicating with the giant fox and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"I'll tell you when we get back to the village, along with some other information. I would have told you before you left but the need to find Tsunade as soon as possible overshadowed that possibility." Naruto frowned but nodded in understanding he was assuming that the news must very sensitive and not be shared in some random hotel room in some town.

"Alright, but I want to know about them." Naruto had caught that Jiraiya had said containers and not a container.

"I will kid, I promise. Why don't we turn in for the night? It's been an eventful day." The blond nodded and soon the two were out for the night.

The two toad summoners left just as the sun rose, Jiraiya had brought out a water balloon and held it in front of the blonds face. "The first step to learning the jutsu is to pop this water balloon with only your chakra." Jiraiya demonstrated as the blond watched as the balloon started to bubble before popping. "You need to do this by spinning the water inside the balloon at an immense speed." Naruto nodded as Jiraiya threw him a balloon.

"So what IS the jutsu your teaching me?" The toad sage grinned as walked closer to a tree.

"Watch closely, I'm about to show you a technique invented by the Forth himself." Naruto saw that the older man held his hand out as chakra gathered and spun in countless directions as it formed a sphere. "Rasengan!" Naruto saw the Rasengan tear through the tree like paper as the tree fell, it was essentially ripped in half at the base.

'That's one nasty jutsu.' Thought Naruto as he imagined it being performed on a person

"That is what you are learning. There are three steps to learning the Rasengan and the water balloon is the first step. You can work on that while we walk to the next town, my contacts in Shukuba Town said that they spotted Tsunade heading there just two days ago so we're in luck. She usually stays in a town for at least two weeks and were 3 day's walk from there. The place is called Tanzaku Town, it's well known for its casinos." Naruto nodded and the two began their journey. Naruto would pin the chakra and saw how it would become an oval shape and he stopped spinning it.

'It doesn't look at all how Jiraiya did it.' Naruto thought as he remembered when he saw him form the Rasengan that it was spinning in many ways. 'That's right! It didn't just spin one way it was spinning in a bunch of directions.' With the new revelation, Naruto tried and noticed it became significantly harder to spin the water with it trying to move in many different ways and it would barely bubble. Naruto managed to pop the balloon by nightfall of the second day of traveling, he had spent every waking moment trying to perfect the speed of the spinning water.

"Good job. You managed to do that remarkably fast." Jiraiya praised the blond when he noticed he had completed the first step.

"Thanks, I had trouble spinning the water in multiple directions at first." Jiraiya nodded as he brought out a rubber ball.

"The next step is to pop the rubber ball using the same technique you learned popping the water balloon. This step is all about power where the last one was all about speed. Here you go." Naruto caught the ball Jiraiya tossed and he looked at it.

'Power huh, alright.' Naruto thought as he began to add more and more chakra as he began spinning it inside the balloon and after 10 seconds it exploded sending both Jiraiya and Naruto to their backs as they had been sitting on some log making camp. Jiraiya stood up with a look of shock as he pointed at the blond.

"How!? What!?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at the white-haired man.

"This step was all about power, power means chakra, and I have that in spades." After a minute of pointing Naruto began to develop a tick mark. "If you're done gawking what's the final step of the jutsu."

Jiraiya calmed down as he brought out a balloon. "You're lucky I came so prepared, though now I have about ten rubber balls I don't need." Jiraiya lamented as he blew air into the balloon. "This is the final step." Said the sage as he held the balloon out. Naruto didn't see anything wrong with the balloon until he remembered that the Rasengan fit the palm of Jiraiya's hand when he used it.

"I have to control the chakra into a sphere so it doesn't break the balloon." Jiraiya nodded with a smile.

"That's right, the final step is all about control. You combine the first two steps but instead of letting it run wild you contain it in a compact form. This is what makes the jutsu so deadly." Naruto saw Jiraiya form a second Rasengan in his other hand to show that the Rasengan had to reside in the balloon without damaging it. "This is going to be the toughest part of learning the jutsu. So here, get started." Naruto was handed a packet of 50 blow up balloons and he considered using shadow clones to speed up progress.

'No, once I run out of balloons I can't train until we reach town again.' So with that Naruto began the final step of learning the Rasengan. After an hour of trying he was told by Jiraiya to sleep as they would be heading out early tomorrow.

The two had reached Tanzaku Town by noon the next day and Naruto left the remaining balloons he had with him with clones in a clearing near the town as he and Jiraiya started their search for Tsunade. Naruto sent out ten clones to search the casinos and bars and after an hour of fruitless effort, they stopped at a random restaurant.

'Oh, you've got to be kidding me.' Thought an annoyed Naruto as he spotted Tsunade along with a dark-haired woman with a pig eating at one of the stalls. 'Out of all the places I checked she ends up being in not some bar or casino but a family restaurant.'

"Hey there princess, long time no see, and it's good to see you too Shizune." Jiraiya's remark brought the attention of the two ladies as Tsunade let out a small groan.

"Seems like today is full of nostalgia. First Orochimaru and now you." The two males frowned at the mention of the snake sannin. "What do you want Jiraiya you didn't track me down for old times' sake." Jiraiya sat in the booth directly in front of Tsunade as Naruto himself sat in front of the now identified Shizune.

"I'll cut to the chase then, the elders and the council want you to become the next Hokage." Naruto watched as the older blond took a sip of her drink.

"So then sensei really is dead." Naruto felt a pang of sadness at the mention of the Third.

"Yes, he is."

"Well, I refuse. That hat is a death trap." Naruto glared at the women as Jiraiya continued to talk.

"Tsunade we could really use you. Not only as a Hokage but as a medic, we have a lot of injuries that only you can heal." Jiraiya tried to plead to his old teammate.

"No, I swore I would never return to the village. So go back to the elders and tell them they can forget about me becoming Hokage. It's a fool's job anyway. Anyone who wears that hat will just throw their life away needlessly." Naruto started to leak some killing intent unknowingly as his anger started to rise. Tsunade noticed and raised a brow at the blond.

"What? Got something to say pipsqueak." Naruto took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"The Third risked his life so that others could continue living their lives in peace, just like all the other Hokages have done. They didn't throw their lives away for nothing they sacrificed them so others could have better futures. I don't know who the hell you think you are to belittle what they died for but you clearly have no idea why they fought." Tsunade looked pissed.

"I am the granddaughter of the First Hokage and the grandniece of the Second. I lost all my loved ones to that damn hat so don't go around thinking you know what I went through." Naruto's eyes darkened as he stared at the female sannin.

"You think you're the only person that lost loved ones? I would think you if all people would understand why they did what they did. Your just an old pathetic drunk who can't get over herself." Jiraiya put a hand on the chuunins shoulder to sit him back down as he had stood up in his rant.

"Watch your mouth brat or I'll put you in the hospital." Tsunade glared and Naruto returned the glare with equal vigor. That surprised both Jiraiya and Shizune.

"Make me." Tsunade stood up and pointed to the door.

"Alright, tough guy let's handle this outside." Naruto followed the woman outside as Jiraiya and Shizune got up to try and talk them out of it.

"Kid, are you sure about this she's no pushover. She may be rusty but she can still wipe the floor with you." Naruto kept walking as he didn't pay attention to his white-haired sensei.

"I'll be merciful. I'll only use one finger to beat you." Naruto said nothing as he nodded. "Fine, I'll start then." Tsunade slammed her finger into the ground and caused a big crack to run along the road that made the earth shake. The whiskered blond regained his balance and he rushed the older blond while channeling earth chakra into his fist, it turned black as the earth chakra concentrated in his arm and he swung. Tsunade raised a finger to block but let out a surprised yelp as she was sent skidding back. Naruto used the opening to summon three clones, one clone jumped up and brought an axe kick down on the blond sannin who flicked the clone away. The other two rushed her as the original Naruto jumped back as he took out some shuriken and threw them. The two clones popped and covered Tsunade's line of sight as she heard the younger blond shout.

"Ninja Arts: Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!" The Sannin quickly slammed her fist into the ground as a slab of earth rose up to block the dozens of shuriken that came at her. "So much for using a single finger huh." Tsunade turned her head as she heard the chuunin mock her as he stood off to the side.

"Tsk, you got lucky."

"No, You just suck." The whiskered blond responded as the blond sannin growled.

"Why do you even care so much." Tsunade said as she dashed at the blond.

"Because I'm going to be Hokage and protect the people of the Leaf." The blond exploded in a cloud of smoke showing he was a shadow clone. Tsunade saw a shadow above her and looked up ready to flick Naruto away only to freeze for second before she jumped back avoiding his attack. "Rasengan!" The Rasengan he used destabilized and caused a spiral to appear on the street. Tsunade seeing the jutsu turned to Jiraiya.

"I can't believe you taught that jutsu to this brat. You even taught him sensei's shuriken jutsu." Jiraiya simply shook his head.

"No, I didn't teach him sensei's jutsu to him. He did it himself before he died." Tsunade looked shocked. "And as for teaching him the Rasengan. I did it because I believe in his dream." Both Naruto and Tsunade were stunned for different reasons. Naruto felt touched that Jiraiya believed in him and Tsunade was reminded of the passion her loved ones had for being Hokage. But she was also reminded of the fire both her sensei and grandfather had when battling for the village.

"Fine, how about a bet then." Naruto looked back at the blond woman.

"What bet?"

"If you master the Rasengan by the end of the week I'll come back with you and at least hear out the council and deal with the injured. If you can't you can forget about me coming back." Jiraiya was about to speak but Naruto beat him to it.

"Deal." The blond sannin nodded before grabbing her green crystal necklace.

"To make things more interesting I'll throw in my grandfathers necklace and you'll throw in your wallet." Naruto just nodded again before Jiraiya stepped up.

"Alright, I think that's enough for one day. Go find a hotel for us Naruto, I'll find you later." Naruto nodded reluctantly remembering how things went last time he left with a busty blond.

"Shizune you go back too. Show the brat where the hotel is I need to catch up with Jiraiya." Shizune nodded.

"Of course lady Tsunade." The pairs split off as Shizune went to show Naruto where the hotel was. Naruto felt the last of his clones memories who had been working on perfecting the Rasengan come to him and he smirked as he followed the raven-haired woman to their destination.