Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
"Is everyone here?" Jiraiya asked, his face grim. Everyone nodded. "You can start the meeting now," Kakashi said lazily, his lone eye roaming over the entire squad. "Okay. The Sandaime's time is almost up meaning we have to find a new Hokage," the white-haired Sannin said. "Almost up?" Shikamaru questioned. Jiraiya nodded. "He's too old to be Hokage. With the Yondaime gone, we have to find a new Hokage fast otherwise I don't know what Orochimaru will do next if he discovers that the city is at it's weakest," he explained. "Whose gonna be the next Hokage then?" TenTen asked. Jiraiya almost smiled dreamily before composing himself. "Tsunade Senju," he replied. Several murmurs were heard in the room. "Yeah, she became Hokage after the Sandaime following the Konoha Crush," Lee said excitedly. "All thanks to me," Naruto said as he grinned proudly. "I'm the one who- Ow! What was that for teme?!" he yelled at his teammate who had smacked the back of his head. "Hn," the Uchiha replied. "N-Naruto-kun, now's not the time for that," Hinata said as she spared the blonde a glance. Said blonde pouted sourly.
"We have to find Tsunade before the old man dies. The fate of Konoha is in our hands," Jiraiya said. "Yes. I'm sure you all know of the fight at the Hokage Tower six months ago. Luckily, none of the civilians know of it otherwise it would have caused a ruckus," Kakashi said. By the fight at the Hokage Tower, they meant the fight between Hiruzen and Orochimaru with a small army of Sound Shinobi. They had been able to seal the Tower off from the rest of the city before putting several layers of genjutsu around it, courtesy of Kurenai. The whole of the rookies with the exception of Hinata and Neji had been there, fighting off the Sound nin and also trying to protect the Hokage and prevent the fight from getting out of control. "If we have to find Lady Tsunade, then what's stopping us?" Neji asked casually. Jiraiya smiled sheepishly. "The problem is we don't know where she is," he replied. "Didn't you say you talked to her a few months ago?" Kiba asked, Akamaru barking in return to emphasize his master's words. "I did. I asked her to take her position as the Godaime Hokage but she refused," he retorted. "That again? So troublesome," Shikamaru sighed as he rolled his eyes, remembering how Jiraiya and Naruto had hunted her down to force her to accept her position as Hokage in their past life. "Everything is always troublesome to you," Ino said in a matter of fact tone. Chouji nodded in return, munching on potato crisps.
"Ever since then, she has been in hiding. "I've haven't heard or seen her. My sources say she disappeared into the thin," he said with a humourous smile at the last part. "What are we going to do to find her then?" Asuma asked, smoking on a cigar. "Kurenai, haven't you talked to Shizune these last few months?" Kakashi asked the red-eyed beauty. "No. Come to think of it, we stopped talking a long time ago," she replied. Jiraiya grunted. "Probably Tsunade's doing. She knows that we'll be searching for her," the Sannin said. "Can't you become Hokage instead?" Kiba asked. Jiraiya shook his head. "She'll make a great Hokage as you all know. Besides I don't have the time," he replied. "Coz you'll be busy peeping at the bathhouses," Ino said with an eye roll which earned her a glare from the white-haired Sannin. "Don't the toads have any information on how we can get her?" Naruto asked. "We do. But there's just one tiny problem," Jiraiya said. "What is it?" Sasuke spoke for the first time. "It's her apprentice. We have to find Tsunade's apprentice. The only problem is that we don't know who she is. The toads were not able to identify her," he replied. "Her?" Ino asked questioningly. "She's a female and for now that's all we know," he spoke. He stared at them hard. "Your mission is to find Tsunade's apprentice. If we find her then we have found Tsunade," Jiraiya said. "And how are we supposed to find her?" Kiba asked with a raised eyebrow. "I don't know. Just make sure you find her before the old man's time is up," he replied. Everyone groaned in annoyance. How were they supposed to find someone they had no clue about?
"Just so you know," he added almost quietly. "If Danzo gets his Root on her first, we're done for. We have to make sure that he doesn't ever find Tsunade's apprentice. If he ever does, we just have to get to her first," he said. Everyone nodded. "Sai said that he's been getting dreams on the past. He knows about her apprentice except he doesn't know who is she," Kakashi spoke. Majority of them looked down at the ground. For all they knew, Danzo was a crazy war veteran hellbent on wanting to rule Konoha. "He's planning to remove the Sandaime as we speak. And while he's waiting, he's planning on eliminatimg the Godaime Hokage in secret. We're yet to find the Rokudaime Hokage so we can't be too sure," Asuma breathed out. Jiraiya took out a scroll and wrote down their names below the details of the mission.
Naruto Uzumaki.
Sasuke Uchiha.
Ino Yamanaka.
Shikamaru Nara.
Chouji Akimichi.
Hinata Hyuuga.
Kiba Inuzuka.
Akamaru.
Shino Aburame.
Rock Lee.
TenTen.
Neji Hyuuga.
Kurenai Yuuhi.
Kakashi Hatake.
Asuma Sarutobi.
Maito Gai.
Jiraiya.
"This is our new mission. Find Tsunade's apprentice." He stamped the Hokage's seal on it.
"You know, sometimes I feel like we're leaving Sakura out when we have these meetings," Ino said as she pouted sadly. The three girls were walking to the locker rooms to change for a tiring gym class with Gai-sensei. "Yeah me too," TenTen said. Hinata nodded with a sad smile on her lips. "Even though she wasn't our friend in our past lives, she still matters as much as you guys. I just wish we could do something about it," the blonde said as she adjusted her backpack on her shoulders. She sighed before adding quietly. "I wish we could just tell her so that she doesn't feel left out. Do you see the look in her eyes when we just get up and go?" Ino said sadly. "S-She looks so sad like she wants to go but she knows she can't," the Hyuuga heiress replied in a small voice. "Remember that one time when we were at her house and Kakashi-sensei called us for an emergency meeting," TenTen said. "Don't even remind me. I can't bear to see her face like that," Ino said as she pinched the bridge of her nose.
"There's nothing we can do about it. She can't know about us otherwise Kakashi will have our head," the brown-haired girl said. "Let's hurry up and get there before Gai-sensei comes and makes us do his youth speech," Ino said as she picked up her pace. The other girls nodded.
"Man, I'm so tired," the Nara heir said as he yawned loudly. "You're always tired," Kiba said. They were currently in the boys' locker room changing into their gym uniform. Naruto took off his short-sleeved white shirt with the forest green Konoha logo on the breast pocket and put it, scratch that, threw it into his locker. He moved on to remove his black pants and threw them into his locker followed by his white socks and school shoes. The black tie had been abandoned somewhere in his room. He put on a pair of white shorts and an orange t-shirt with the Konoha logo on it. He wore a pair of black socks and white trainers. "Man, it feels to be good out of that suffocating uniform, dattebayo," he said as he stretched. "You never wear your tie and leave your shirt unbuttoned, sometimes forgetting to tie your shoelaces. How is that suffocating?" Sasuke asked as he put on a black t-shirt with the same design. "Like you're one to talk. You're no better than me," the blonde snorted. "Hn," the Uchiha all but replied.
"Lady Tsunade's apprentice? Mmmhh, sounds troublesome," the lazy genius said. "Everything including women is always troublesome to you," Kiba said with smirk. Shikamaru opted to change out of his uniform into white shorts and an army green t-shirt, ignoring the loudmouth. "But I don't get you. Girls always my blood run. Especially Sakura," the dog-user said dreamily. Feeling a glare at the back of his head, Kiba snorted. "Don't glare at me like that Sasuke. I'm just joking," the brown-haired boy sighed. "Hn," Sasuke said as he walked out of the room. "Man, that glare gives me the creeps," Chouji said as he shivered sarcastically. "Just make sure he's not around when you talk about her. Last time I talked about how pretty she was, he literally put me under a genjutsu using his Mangekyo Sharingan," the Uzumaki blonde said with a slight shudder. He did not want a repeat of that. "Scared are we now?" Neji said with a faint smirk, tying his shoelaces. "I'm not scared of Sasuke!" he yelled. "But with Sakura included, he's even scarier than Madara," he replied with a pale face which earned him a few chuckles.
"Are you guys coming for our sleepover tonight?" Sakura asked as she pulled her short-sleeved white shirt over her head. She took a red t-shirt with the school logo and put it on before doning a pair of black shorts and trainers. The three girls shared a look. "We have a clan meeting in the evening," Ino lied as she removed her black flared skirt. "Oh, that's okay. We can do it next time," the pinkette replied. "Sorry Sakura," TenTen said as she removed her tie. "Don't worry about it," the said girl replied with a shrug. "Long hair is so annoying at times," Ino complained as she tied her hair into a messy bun. "Says the girl who wants to look sexy for Sasuke-kun," TenTen teased, halfway through wearing her maroon t-shirt. "You're so backward TenTen. She's going for Sai these days," Sakura piped in. "W-What?! That's absurd!" the blonde stammered, her face tinged red. "S-Sakura's just saying that coz she wants Sasuke all for herself," the Hyuuga heiress said with a smile which caused Sakura to bristle. "Hinata! That's my line," Ino said with a pout before her face broke into a wicked grin.
"Though it's true. Sakura has been giving Sasuke the cow eyes since we were kids," she said casually. Sakura groaned loudly. "I'm getting out of here," she said as she closed her locker and went out of the room, ignoring the friends' laughter which followed her out.
"Greetings my youthful students! I hope you had a lovely day!" Gai said his usual manner. "It's still morning sensei," piped in a random someone who was ignored. "I have decided on the most youthful game which shall showcase the beauty of my wonderful students during this youthful spring time!" he said with a million watt smile. "Yosh! That is wonderful idea Gai-sensei!" Lee exclaimed with tears in his eyes.
"Lee!"
"Gai-sensei!"
"Lee!"
"Gai-sensei!"
"Lee!"
"I can't believe I endured an entire lifetime with these two idiots," TenTen sighed tiredly causing Ino and Hinata to chuckle beside her. After a good two minutes, the"Gai-sensei!" and "Lee!" stopped. "What'll we be doing sensei?" a brown haired girl asked. Gai grinned almost scarily as he took ball from the ground beside him.
"Dodgeball."
Have you ever had an idea such that you can't keep it out of your head until you write it down, even though you have three unfinished stories? That's how I feel. Read and review.
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