AN: This is really just filler, but it is longer than most chapters to make up for how late it is. I'm almost done with the next chapter, but I thought I'd give you all a glimpse at what Tsunade and the others have been up to. I'll respond to all of your reviews next time; thank you so much for all of your encouragements and suggestions.
This story is AU (Sasuke's still there) starting after about chapter 177 of the manga that means there will be spoilers if you haven't gotten that far. Information about the past five years will be told throughout the story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
B regular stuff
B internal thoughts and such.
This takes place after chapter 9.
Picture Day
"So you're sure Tsunade-sama won't mind us joining them?" Ino asked, as Team 10 walked towards Hokage Tower alongside Anko.
"Of course she won't," Anko replied. "She practically handed out invitations to anyone involved in Picture Day," she added reassuringly.
"Okay," Ino chirped happily, as they stopped outside Tsunade's door. Anko knocked on the door twice, waited a moment, and then knocked four more times. A minute later, the door was cracked open and all five were pulled into the room. Ino turned to see Shizune quickly closing the door behind them.
"This is a party," Ino muttered, as she looked around the room. A large table had been placed in the center of the room – Tsunade's desk had been shoved against the far wall still piled with paper work. The windows were all closed and their curtains pulled tightly shut, leaving the room rather dark and mysterious. Around the table, a number of various shinobi were seated. Tsunade, Jiraiya, and the two elders were seated at the head of the table, and she noticed Shizune take a seat near them once the door had been secured. Seated along one side of the table were Kurenai, Gai, Genma, and… "A frog?"
"Yo!" Gamakichi said from his perch near Gai. "You here to watch bro get tortured too?" he said a little too happily.
"Bro?" Chouji asked.
"He means Naruto," Jiraiya answered for Gamakichi.
Ino nodded in response and mutely followed her teammates to several seats across from the senseis, as she continued to stare at the little frog in amusement.
"What have we missed?" Anko asked happily from her seat next to Gai.
"Nothing much. The most interesting thing that happened since this morning was you convincing Naruto to turn into Shikamaru's mother," Kurenai responded. Anko cackled a bit before calming down and grinning at the others.
Ino and the others were too busy watching Naruto and Sasuke run through the streets. Gamakichi lightly jumped over to sit near the younger shinobi. Their company should be much more fun than these old people, he thought, maybe they'll have snacks for me. "How is this possible?" Ino whispered to Shizune, as Naruto and Sasuke dodged seizure and once more got away.
"Konoha's most prized possession," Tsunade answered, smiling at the young blond.
Ino looked at her inquisitively, but her attention was taken up by the scene in front of her. "How long can they run?" Ino finally asked.
"Oh, they've spent most of the morning moving non-stop. My guess is that they'll start looking for a place to hide permanently in a few hours," Tsunade responded.
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"Any more snacks?" Gamakichi asked Chouji several hours later. Chouji swiftly pulled out another bag of chips and offered some to the small frog. "You give out way better snacks than bro," the tiny toad said happily, from his perch on the Akimichi's shoulder.
Ino glanced over at the two and fought the urge to laugh. She had only caught glimpses of the younger summons once or twice, but those were always slugs. Gamakichi strongly reminded her of Naruto; if the other toads were anything like him, it was no wonder that they got along so well with the blond.
"Did she really yell?" Kurenai asked, causing Ino to jump back to attention. Naruto and Sasuke were sitting in an empty room of the academy building with Iruka-sensei. She could barely see Neji, Kiba, and TenTen through the door. The group continued to watch in amusement as Iruka-sensei proved just how similar to Naruto he truly was. Within an hour, the three had a solid plan that would most likely keep Kakashi and the others from finding them for at least a day. Naruto and Sasuke both used henge and followed Iruka out onto to the street. Anyone who saw them would think Iruka was just taking a walk with two of his young students. After enjoying a bowl of ramen together, he told the two that they could hide in his house that night to avoid be woken early.
"Well that takes the fun out of it," Jiraiya said, as the three made their way to Iruka's house. "I didn't think they'd actually seek help to avoid shopping," he added after a moment.
"Why exactly are they trying to avoid it anyway?" Shikamaru asked. "As much trouble as shopping is, it's much more troublesome to waste time running away." When the room fell silent, Shikamaru glanced up in confusion. Despite the darkness, Tsunade's maniacal grin was obvious to the even the most unobservant of observers. "Never mind," he mumbled quickly.
"Men never understand the intricacies of one's own appearance," Tsunade stated cryptically. Her utterance was met with blank stares from the majority of the male audience, but Shikamaru noticed that Jiraiya and Genma seemed to understand, as did every female in the room.
"Feh, too troublesome," he muttered again, causing Asuma to chuckle lightly.
Several minutes later Naruto, Sasuke, and Iruka arrived at Iruka's house, and Tsunade sighed heavily. "Well I guess we're done for today. That was really rather boring," she said grumpily. After a moment, her face brightened significantly and she turned to Jiraiya. "You owe me money," she stated, shocking several of the rooms younger occupants.
Ino watched in amusement as Jiraiya, Tsunade, and several of the room's other occupants sorted out a number of different bets. I can't believe they already have bets going on this. It's only been happening for four days; don't they have anything better to do? She thought. A moment later she had to stop herself from laughing out loud. There are over twenty different things being bet on, and our Hokage has only won once – the entire week. She thought shaking her head. I can't believe I'm saying… well thinking this: Naruto was right; Tsunade really should not gamble.
She glanced back at the projection that was still displayed above the table. "So how does this actually work?" Chouji asked beside her. She and Shikamaru shrugged in response, but Gamakichi tapped Chouji's shoulder and pointed. The three teammates followed his instructions and noticed a small, round object.
"Is that a crystal ball?" Ino asked skeptically.
Tsunade looked up and smiled. "As I said, Konoha's Most Prized Possession: the Hokage's Looking Glass," she stated proudly. "How else is the Hokage supposed to know everything going on in the village?" she questioned happily.
"So you can see anything on this?" Chouji asked.
"Anything," Tsunade responded happily. "However, it has always been the practice of the Hokage's to practice discretion when using it," she added seriously. With the flick of her wrist the projection ended, and the crystal ball clouded over.
"So you've been using it to spy on your successor and his best friend…as they run from their teammate and sensei…in order to avoid a task that you set up for them…because you forgot to do something," Ino stated.
"Essentially," Tsunade responded nonchalantly. Ino shrugged; at least she doesn't pretend this is a serious matter. A moment later Tsunade sighed once more. "I suppose that's it for tonight. You're all welcome to come back tomorrow. From the looks of things, they'll be at the academy in the morning so we won't miss anything particularly funny if we start a bit later," she said with a shrug, "see you all then."
The last thing the group heard as they left the room was Shizune pleading the Hokage to get some work done.
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By noon the next day, Tsunade's office was full. The same group as the day before was settled comfortably around the table, and it wasn't uncommon for the occasional stray shinobi to wander in and catch a glimpse of the action for a minute or two before going back to their work. The poor souls, Ino thought gleefully as another poor schmuck was forced to return to his desk. It's just getting to the good part, too.
"Hmmm, I'm surprised she hasn't figured it out yet," Kurenai said as Hinata left on her lunch break.
"Naruto was practically taunting her that entire time," Anko stated.
The two little boys, who were obviously Naruto and Sasuke, waited until Hinata had left the room before the smaller one, Naruto, began cracking up. "You just blushed when you answered her," he giggled out in a squeaky little voice.
Sasuke glared back at him, and the women watching in Tsunade's office fought the urge to coo. "She knows," he said.
"Neh, she's just confused," Naruto responded. "Although, she will figure it out by the end of the day," he added as an afterthought.
"Especially, if you keep randomly winking at her," Sasuke added.
"Wow, I didn't think six years old could look that jealous," Ino said.
"Jiraiya, you will owe me a great deal of money at the end of the day," Tsunade said to the Toad Sennin. Kami, they're even betting on that, Ino thought.
About half an hour later, the little boys' bickering was cut off when Hinata burst back in the room. The group watched in amusement as Naruto and Sasuke calmed Hinata down. "That reminds me," Tsunade said when Hinata mentioned how adorable the two ANBU captains looked; "I need to find pictures of chibi Naruto and Sasuke. Do you think anyone would have any?" she asked absentmindedly.
"Why, do you need pictures of them when they're younger?" Genma asked looking at her suspiciously. Somehow I'm going to get in trouble for this, he thought as Tsunade turned to him in alarm.
"Nothing," she replied unconvincingly. He was about to push for answers when Tsunade spoke again, "Hush, the class is coming back in."
Genma sighed and turned back to the projection. It wasn't very surprising that the class hadn't even had to time to sit down before Kiba came in - looking far too smug not to know what was going on. "About time," Kurenai muttered.
"Now for a little action," Anko said next to her.
A moment later Naruto and Sasuke were out the window and the chase was on. For those in Hokage tower it was a bit unfortunate that Tsunade chose to observe Hinata's class for several more minutes. Although, hearing the entire class doubt Naruto's ability to be Hokage was rather amusing. "That little brat!" Tsunade shouted. Wow, Naruto was right again. Tsunade doesn't take well to criticism, Ino thought, lightly touching her ears. I'm going to be deaf for a week.
Tsunade attempted to soothe her ire by quickly catching up to Naruto and Sasuke. The group was entertained for several hours by the game of cat and mouse going on. When Naruto and Sasuke managed to ditch their attackers it was quite a remarkable feat. "How is it they're able to hide from Kiba and Akamaru's noses and Neji's byakugan? Not to mention that Kakashi is a very good tracker," Kurenai asked.
Instead of an answer she was greeted by laughter from the doorway. Iruka stood in the doorway laughing at the gathered shinobi. "You do know that when Naruto and Sasuke catch you, Konoha's second massacre will occur," he said after a moment.
"Ah, Iruka-kun," Tsunade said sweetly to the young academy director. "Why don't you join us?" she asked.
"No thank you," he said politely. "I was just on my way to the mission room; I figured I'd just stop by and see if you were all enjoying yourselves," he added smiling.
As Naruto had aged, he had slowly brought out Iruka's prankster side. For those that had known the formerly demure sensei, the change was rather interesting.
"Come on Iruka, don't you want to have a little fun at their expense, pay Naruto back for all that ramen?" Anko said grinning.
"Or all the time he snuck out of your classes," Chouji added.
"All the times-" whatever Ino was going to say was cut off by Iruka's refusal.
"No thank you. I'd like to remain alive long enough to see the outcome of whatever it is you planned," he said looking at Tsunade. "Enjoy it while you can," he said turning to go, "the fun will be over when Naruto catches you."
"Poppycock," Tsunade responded, causing the entire room to look at her in amusement. "I mean…" she said looking a bit confused herself. "They'll never catch us," she finally said, ignoring her earlier response.
"Sure they won't," Iruka said as he walked away. "Just like Naruto never caught Genma and Kakashi in the-" whatever he was going to say was cut off when Genma rocketed out of his seat and clamped a hand over the Chuunin's grinning mouth. Without another word he quickly escorted a laughing Iruka down the hall, leaving the rest of the room wondering just what Naruto had stumbled across. I'll have to get the story from the runt later, Jiraiya thought blushing slightly. It's just what my female readers have been clamoring for.
Genma returned several minutes later; he was just in time to hear Tsunade mutter, "Wow, I didn't think their spirits would break like this." He was almost fooled into believing the Hokage may have felt regretful about torturing the two, until she added, "This is more fun than I thought it would be."
When Naruto raised an eyebrow at Sasuke, the entire room turned to see Tsunade smirking in amusement. The smirk fell slightly at Sasuke's question and successive statements. "So when did you teach him that?" Jiraiya asked, turning to look at Tsunade.
"When I was training with him before the Chuunin exam," she responded smiling.
"Why on earth did you choose to teach it at that time?" Homura asked.
"It can unhinge opponents, especially with Naruto's eyes. He always looks mischievous, so that just makes him look like he knows something you don't know and it is going to cause you a great deal of pain," she said grinning a bit sadistically. "Plus it makes him look at least a bit intelligent," she added after a moment.
By the time Tsunade and the elders began paying attention again; Naruto and Sasuke were hiding in the alley way behind Ichiraku. "Wow, Sakura was right," Ino mumbled.
"About what?" Anko asked, turning to her in confusion.
Ino simply pointed up and, after a moment, Anko grinned. "I really didn't believe it when she told me, but now…" Ino said trailing off.
"What?" Chouji asked in confusion.
"You see how Naruto is obviously paying attention to the conversation inside," she said, causing Chouji to nod.
"Yeah, and from the sound of it Kakashi needs new excuses," Asuma said, causing the adults to chuckle.
"Forget about that for a moment," Ino said looking back up. She turned to Chouji and grinned. "Now, what is Sasuke paying attention to?" she asked, causing many of those in the room – excluding herself, Anko, and Tsunade – to look up and study the scene.
Not surprisingly Shikamaru was the first to figure out what she showing. "Too troublesome," he muttered and turned away. TenTen will never let them live it down if they hook up, he thought smirking slightly.
A moment later, Ino was getting slightly impatient when she noticed Jiraiya start blushing and giggling slightly. Please tell me he isn't going to get inspired by this, she thought. Although if he does, I'd probably buy it, she admitted to the recesses of her mind.
As the two boys stood up and began walking down the street, the rest of the room caught on.
"Wow, how did he know that?" Chouji asked, when Naruto responded to the boy's question.
"Hm, apparently some of the lessons actually sank into his head," Jiraiya muttered. When Kiba spotted the two, the chase was on again. Naruto and Sasuke spent the rest of the day running around like chickens with their heads cut off.
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The next morning Tsunade's office was filled quite early. Kakashi was running out of time, and Naruto and Sasuke were getting desperate. This should be very fun, Anko thought sadistically.
The fun of the early morning chase was dampened slightly when Iruka stopped by. "They're going to catch you," he muttered smirking, before turning away and walking down the hall.
"Yeah right," Anko muttered disdainfully in response.
The two boys joined up just as the village streets began filling up. Luckily this worked to their advantage and made it slightly easier to escape.
Or it would have if Neji hadn't been working with their pursuers. "I almost feel sorry for them. Both Naruto and Sasuke have very distinctive chakra, Neji's byakugan can spot it almost instantly," Kurenai muttered.
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An hour later, the day was turning out to be just like the week's early days. "This will most likely just be another day wasted running around," Koharu said.
"At this rate, Kakashi might not catch them," Jiraiya responded happily.
"He'd better," Tsunade muttered darkly, "and not just because I have money riding on it."
"Damn it," Naruto muttered, catching the group's attention. "We're supposed to be on vacation," he said angrily.
"It's your own damn fault, kid," Jiraiya responded, even though the irate blond couldn't hear him.
"Weren't we supposed to spend this week training?" Naruto asked Sasuke.
"If we can lose them, we might be able to fit in a short spar before they catch up again," Sasuke responded not missing a beat.
"Right, a 'spar'," Ino said laughing. Several others in the room broke out in perverted giggles, and the others just rolled their eyes.
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Instead of breaking for lunch that day, Tsunade ordered in. The chase was the closest it had been all week. Kakashi and Sakura weren't close enough to catch the two boys, but they were never out of sight either. "It'll be over soon," Shikamaru said sluggishly.
Surprisingly he was wrong.
"There wasn't supposed to be a parade today," Tsunade stated, as the procession made its way down the street, preventing the pursuers from following Naruto and Sasuke. "You don't think…no; they couldn't have," she said after a moment.
"Are you sure?" Anko asked.
"They're good, but that's out of their league," Jiraiya said.
"Is that parade ramen themed?" Chouji asked, looking at the others.
Several minutes later they watched Naruto and Sasuke duck into a building from an alleyway. They ran through semi-crowded halls, but no one paid them much attention. As they ran on Shikamaru slowly sat up and looked closer at the image. As the two began ascending some stairs, the others in the room began looking at the scene suspiciously. When the two exited the stairwell and took off down another hallway, dread appeared on many faces. "Hey isn't that…" Ino said, turning to the others in dismay.
"Oh, shit!" Tsunade said. She had just managed to shut off the projection when the door creaked open.
AN: Okay like I said this was mainly just a filler chapter. Hopefully the next chapter will be up in a few days.
Secondly, I'd just like to take a moment to get something off my mind. I've been bored lately and trying to fight writers' block, so I've been visiting random Naruto forums and such. I've noticed a lot of people really angry about Naruto being licensed, and recently, I've even seen a petition being started.
Do Not Sign a Petition. This petition will not be taken seriously, especially when all the names on it are internet aliases. All any one who signs it is going to do is look stupid, and make the rest of the Naruto fans out their look stupid and pathetic.
Just because the show is being dubbed, and most likely geared towards a slightly younger than average audience, does not mean it is ruined. If you're currently a Naruto fan, it means that you either read the manga or get a fan sub of the anime. Just keep doing what you're doing and ignore the dubbed show on Cartoon Network if it annoys you so much. Yes, the changes they make will be stupid, but they don't have to affect you if you don't want them to.
Okay so you didn't really have to read that but seriously people it isn't the end of the world. Don't let this ruin the show for you.