"YEAAHHH! I DID IT! I DID IT!" Naruto shouted after finally managing to burst the rubber ball. "Ahhh, finally!" But his smile suddenly disappeared and was replaced with a grimace as he hissed at the pain the chakra burns on his hands were causing.

"Excellent. Now take a break and let your hands heal… cuz I don't want to have to feed you." Jiraiya commented taking another bite of the cooked fish.

Meow.

He looked down in confusion as the kitty nibbled on a piece of fish.

"She's still here?"

"She won't leave me alone, it's weird." Naruto slowly sat next to him groaning a bit. "Seems like she likes me, huh?" He looked at the cat in confusion.

"What's so strange about that?" Jiraiya asked equally confused but for a different reason.

"Usually cats would scratch the hell outta me as soon as I get close, but not this one."

"Hmmm?" Jiraiya looked at the cat and a bit of suspicion fell into his mind. His brows furrowed and he leaned towards the cat, getting closer to her face he squinted and examined the cat's eyes for any trace of a genjutsu or any kind of illusion, but all he got from his examination was a soft lick on the nose.

"Yeah, definitely a real cat…" He mumbled to himself. "I can't sense any excess chakra flow in her body."

"Whah?" Naruto asked with his mouth full of food as he cocked his head at the Toad Sage.

"Nothing, nothing… now finish eating and we'll move on to the next phase of the Rasengan."

"Allhrighh!" The blonde yelled gulping down a bowl of rise.

Jiraiya chuckled. "He's so easy to distract… I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing…"

A half an hour later Jiraiya got up from his seat on a nearby log and looked at his panting student. "Hey."

"What?" Naruto barked out sharply, annoyed at his inability to gather his chakra in a sphere in his palm just like the Sage had. He looked back at the large spiral crater on the tree next to him and sighed.

"I'm going back to town to investigate, you stay here and keep trying. If you could master the first two phases I'm confident you'll master this one as well." He turned and started walking. "He's a mess but he's making amazing progress…"

"Fine." The blonde looked at his hand and the spiral the Sage drew on his palm.

"And remember to concentrate your chakra and your mind solely on your palm."

"I know, I know…" He turned and looked at him. "Hey, Pervy Sage?"

Jiraiya stopped and turned back to his pupil. "Hm?"

"When you were training to master the first and second phase… did it take you as long as it took me?" He asked somewhat shyly.

"No." Jiraiya replied before turning away with a hidden smile and Naruto's head slumped down in disappointment.

"It took me way longer." Jiraiya added before walking away.

Naruto's head snapped back up in surprise and a slight blush appeared on his cheeks. He looked back at the crater in the tree before putting his hands on his hips and taking a deep breath with his eyes closed. Slowly opening his eyes and glancing towards the remains of the rubber balls on the ground he whispered to himself:

"I'm awesome…"

Meow.

"I've never seen such a loser…" The casino owner continued as Jiraiya was writing him a check to cover the lady's debt. "And after that I even heard that she visited every gambling place in town and didn't win a dime… what bad luck…"

"That's her alright… thank you for your help." He handed the man a signed check.

"I think I should be thanking you, this is a lot of money."

"It's alright." The Sage got up. "I'll be off now, have a nice day." With that he walked out onto the street and looked up and the soon setting sun. "I better go see how Naruto's doing."

After arriving onto the empty field he saw the blonde laying on the ground panting and the cat licking the burn on his hand. The field was a mess and based on a few holes in the ground the kid even missed the tree a couple of times.

"Still didn't make any progress?"

The blonde sprung up startled by his mentor's voice and yelled back. "I'm freakin' trying, OK?!"

Jiraiya chuckled a bit then after a few moments of silence he finally spoke up.

"I know where she is…"

…

"What?"

"I said… I found her."

Naruto sat up as his eyes widened. "You found her… you actually found her? Why didn't you bring her with you then?"

"Well, I didn't physically see her but…"

"Oh, you with that shit again!" Naruto snapped. "Did you… or did you not… find her?!" He pounded his fist against the ground in anger.

"I didn't see her but I know where she's been."

Naruto rolled his eyes and groaned and the cat sniffed his face in curiosity.

"Look, the sun is setting and your hands are way too burned, let's call it quits for today and go get something to eat. We'll go back to our room and search for her together in the morning."

"Fine…"

Meow.

Walking through the streets they noticed that they were crowded as usual and they were many drunk people tumbling around and singing. An attractive young woman with a skirt that was way too short, took a sip from her wine then waved at the Sage and blew him a kiss. Jiraiya giggled perversely and returned the cheesy finger wave with a slight blush.

Naruto punched his back in annoyance. "Can we go somewhere to eat now? I'd puke right now but my stomach is empty."

Jiraiya signed in frustration and looked around. "Fine, let's go in here."

Naruto looked at the suspicious bar the perv was pointing at. "Are you serious? I'm a minor! Can't we find a nice ramen shop or something?!"

Jiraiya groaned. "Listen kid, these kind of bars provide a good source of information! Plus, they do have food in here, now come on."

Naruto wasn't satisfied but he had had enough. Walking in, they started scoping out the place. At one point Jiraiya looked at a lady sitting at the farthest table. "Eehhh?" He squinted his eyes and cocked his head at her.

The blonde exchanged glances between the woman and him and scratched his head in confusion.

Suddenly, the Sage pointed at her and yelled out: "TSUNADE!"

"HUH?!" Naruto's eyes widened in shock.

The poor cat got startled by the scream and jumped up into Naruto's arms.

At that moment the woman stood up and yelled back. "JIRAIYA?!"

The woman sitting next to her squeaked along with her pig, the old man sitting on their left threw his cigarette in the air, startled by the sudden outburst, and some guy in the back choked on his sushi roll. After that the whole place grew silent.

"Finally." Jiraiya started walking towards the two women.

Naruto looked at the woman in awe and confusion. "An old lady in her fifties… huh, Pervy Sage…?" He shook his head and walked up to them.

Minutes later they were all seated at the table. Naruto was shoving fish in his mouth, the pig was neck deep in a bowl of rice, the other woman was sitting quietly at the table petting the cat in her lap, while Tsunade and Jiraiya were drinking sake.

Shizune glanced at the Sage. "To think of meeting the other two Sanin on the same exact day…"

"So…" Tsunade pulled a deck of cards out of her bosom and started shuffling them. "What are you doing here? And who's the brat you've got with you?" She gave him half the deck.

Jiraiya shuffled the cards and calmly answered. "Actually, I'm out here looking for you… and this brat is Naruto Uzumaki."

Tsunade blinked masking her shock and looked at the other blonde. "This kid… is the Nine-Tails? So he lives…"

Naruto took Jiraiya's empty plate and put it to the side and raised his brow at the lady staring at him.

Tsunade analyzed his face, secretly admiring his resemblance to his parents.

She wasn't the only one though… Shizune was also glancing at the boy. "It's really him?"

The pig sniffed the air and grunted as if it read his owners mind and confirming her thoughts by sensing the darker chakra inside the boy.

"And why exactly, were you looking for me?" Tsunade focused on Jiraiya once again.

"Because… the Village hidden in the Leaves has made a decision…"

Munch munch.

"… to name you as the Fifth Hokage."

Tsunade's breath got stuck in her throat.

Shizune's breath got stuck in her throat.

Naruto's breath and the fish got stuck in his throat.

Jiraiya looked at his fellow Sanin calmly as Naruto choked on the fish.

As if the people in the bar didn't get enough heart attacks, another fight ensued after Naruto got furious about the lady degrading and disrespecting the position of Hokage after declining it. Shizune gripped both the cat and the pig in disbelief after her mistress put her foot on the table and yelled out: "You wanna take this outside, kid?!"

She was red in the face and not just from the amount of sake she drank, but she couldn't be that drunk to challenge a kid to a fight.

Now standing outside the bar with an angry Naruto facing her, Tsunade put up her pointer finger showing it to the blonde who just looked at her confused.

"One finger… is all I'm going to need to beat you."

Naruto's gulped slightly and Jiraiya rolled his eyes.

"Please stop before you actually hurt him." Shizune begged.

"Please… he'll only be hurting himself... after he loses."

Naruto growled and charged her but as soon as he got near her she flicked her finger and sent his headband flying before flicking his forehead and sending him flying. He tumbled away from her and rubbed his red forehead. Shizune was by his side in seconds. "Naruto, are you alright?" She asked in worry but he just ignored her still angrily staring at the blonde woman.

"You think that's gonna stop me? I never go back on my word and I never give up! I'm gonna make you take back everything you said about the old man because someday I'm gonna be Hokage too! That is my dream! And I won't let anyone crush it!"

Tsunade gasped silently as an image of the deceased lover and younger brother flashed in front of her eyes as she could hear them repeat those words.

Naruto's heartbeat quickened. "That's it! She's distracted, now's my chance!"

He got up and quickly started focusing his chakra in his hand then charged her again. Tsunade popped back from her thoughts right before impact and blocked the ball of chakra before it hit her. The jutsu hit the ground beneath them making a large crack in it. She then pushed away the blonde who got stuck in the crack as she looked at the Sage.

"Jiraiya… are you the one who though this brat the Rasengan?! Are you out of your mind? He's going to kill himself with this jutsu!"

"I know he can take it."

"Hmph, he can't even spin the chakra properly."

Naruto jumped up right after Shizune helped him out of the crack. "Just you wait, I'm gonna master this jutsu in three days, believe it!" He stuck out three fingers towards her and she noticed the chakra burns on his hands, but she also noticed that they were already starting to heal.

"Let's make this interesting then, if you're so confident. Are you willing to make a bet on it?" She smirked.

"Hm?" The blonde raised an eyebrow.

"I'll give you a week. If you can master the jutsu by then I'll admit I'm wrong and that you're worthy of becoming Hokage… I'll even throw in my necklace."

"You wouldn't…" Shizune was shocked by her statement. "But Lady Tsunade that-"

"You really think he's gonna win? No chance."

"Why would I need your stupid necklace anyway?" Naruto pouted not pleased about what he's getting from the bet.

"That necklace is worth three mountains of gold mines." Jiraiya replied somewhat lamely.

Naruto's jaw dropped and his eyes sparkled.

Jiraiya rubbed his forehead. "It's all about money with this kid…"

"Fine, it's a deal. And… you have to go back to the Leaf with us!" He said picking up his headband from TonTon and tying it around his forehead.

"Fine… but if I win…" Tsunade smirked. "You have to give up on trying to become the Hokage… and… I get to keep all of this money." She said pulling out Naruto's almost overflowing frog shaped wallet from behind her back.

Naruto squeaked in shock and paled as he dug around his pockets realizing they're empty. "Hey! Give that back!" He squeaked.

"A deal is a deal." She put the wallet away and started walking back to the bar. "Let's go Shizune, I need more sake."

Shizune followed her mistress in frustration along with her pig.

Jiraiya patted his student's shoulder. "Relax, I trust you can win."

"I hope so…" He looked at the ground sadly. "And I was going to get Hinata something nice for when I got back to the village…"

Jiraiya blinked in surprise and smiled to his student. "And you will… let's g back to our room."

Back at the bar Shizune stopped the waiter from getting them another bottle of sake. "I cannot believe you did that… that was so low of you, he's just a kid…"

"You dare tell me what to do, Shizune?" She asked rhetorically glaring at her before getting up to leave. The wobble in her step suggesting that she's had more than enough to drink for tonight.

Naruto tossed and turned in his bed. Hinata, the old man Hokage and the Rasengan couldn't leave his mind and now he has to put his money and his precious Gama-chan on his list of worries too.

"I'll win… I'll win for sure…" He thought. "For Hinata… and the old man… and the village…"

"I'll win for all of you…"