Well guys, this chapter is a bit shorter than the other chapters. Partly because this mission is giving me a serious writer's block. I keep changing it and it's annoying. So anyways, let's go on with our next chapter!

Jiraiya took one last smell of the crisp, cold Konoha morning air. In his youth he would always take a stroll in the morning to start the day on a good mood. The forest provided moist air which soothed his lungs. But today was different. Yes, he was sure of it. Today, the air itself seemed hurtful, almost foreboding an ominous event. Gazing at the distant horizon, he noticed the red clouds. Chuckling, he thought of the ever so superstitious Tsunade. "Red clouds in the morning means blood with be shed today... It's an omen..." Tsunade always repeated that... Heh... He proudly stepped up to the gallows. Fighting? No, he wouldn't... couldn't. How could he harm any innocent Konoha ninjas? It was Danzo who was to die, yes... Not these ANBU's...

"You always were a fool, Jiraiya." Danzo remarked.

Jiraiya was pinned bye iron nails on each of his limbs to rusty iron poles; he would die soon from the loss of blood itself, if not from tetanus. They used chakra nullification jutsus to absorb all his chakra into the abyss of chaos that was the ground. He was barefoot on damp, wet mud, and earthworms danced in the moisture. Caged in a building, Jiraiya looked to the one source of hope... Danzo himself.

Yes, that was Jiraiya's ability. He could look the enemy himself and gain hope. Glaring at Danzo, he said, "Yes... A loyal fool..." Breaking the chains in an instant, he tore his limbs out of the pole. True, he could barely walk, true, if he ever survived he would be bed-ridden... But Jiraiya didn't care. He had hope... And he would eliminate the source of it...

Jumping above the ANBU, he landed in front of Danzo. Surprisingly, his prosecutor merely chuckled. "Like I said, a fool... A fool when it came to love... A fool when it came to understanding power... Having a fool for a sensei, and being a fool... What a waste of such power..." Danzo hissed 'power' like it was something sacred, something to be worshiped. Taking out a small dagger, he cleanly inserted into Jiraiya's lung, purposefully missing his heart.

"Danzo..." Jiraiya wheezed out. "I'll... I'll drag you --"

Danzo made a cut downwards, cleanly making his right lung disfunctional.

Jiraiya was beginning to turn red. "down... to hell --"
Another stab in the neck, causing blood to spray out from his jugular.

As he died, Jiraiya looked at Danzo in the eye with such passion, Danzo took a step back. "w-with me..." Upon completing it's final duty, Jiraiya's body fell to the ground, dead.

Danzo stared at the corpse for some moments... No, Jiraiya... I'm still here... You've failed this mission, as well... Heh... But despite the self-convincing ideas, that stare caught Danzo off guard. Something had gone awry when he killed Jiraiya, and he didn't like it. He had never seen such passion flaring those blue eyes of idiocy. Jiraiya seemed... Satisfied... As if he wanted this end, to be killed as a shinobi would, face to face with his predator... What a fool... As the small moments passed, Danzo moved on. "Burn his corpse."

"Danzo-sama, isn't it a sign of dis --" an ANBU began.

"I said burn it."

"... Yes, Danzo-sama..."

Naruto awoke to Tsunade crying over him.

"Baa-san? What's wrong?"

"He's gone... He's gone, he's gone, he's GONE!" She sobbed over him, losing all track of sense or the real world. Her most precious thing had just disappeared from the world... again.

FLASHBACK

"He's gone, Jiraiya... What do I do?"

"You love him don't you?"

"OF COURSE I DO!" Her sobs only increased at that.

Leaning over, Jiraiya brought an arm around Tsunade's waist and leaned in for a kiss. He gently kissed away her tears. "Well then, you complete his dreams for him. He wished to become hokage, right? Then he would've wanted someone he loved to become hokage... Someone like you."

Tsunade stared at her teammate, looking for comfort in his eyes. But all she found was the truth. Her tears had stopped just because of pure shock that he had kissed her. "Wh-What?"

"I can't help you get over him Tsunade. Acceptance is something that comes with time... But in the meantime, I suggest you fulfill his only dream. Become hokage. You're the first hokage's grand daughter. No one would oppose you..."

"Y-You... You think I can just accept Dan's death? Just like that say, 'Oh, okay. He died. Time to move on!' You... You wouldn't know anything about love!"

Jiraiya nodded. "That I don't... But I did all I could, Tsunade. I gave you my best suggestion..." And with that he left Tsunade to wallow in her sorrow.

Tsunade looked all around... The bleak the scenery of the snow seemed so uncompramising. There was no comfort to be found anywhere. She stood on that wooden bridge above the frozen stream, replaying all that had just happened. Looking at the dull, gray sky, she thought to herself, Dan... I'm so sorry... I can't... I just... can't...

END FLASHBACK

Now, he, too, was gone... All the times he had been there for her. Every time, it turned out he was right... Every time what he said about love applied to her... He was always right... And yet, he didn't have anyone. How could he understand so much without being love himself? It didn't make sense... But these questions were soon overridden by the sorrow in her heart. "Jiraiya... Jiraiya... Oh, Jiraiya..."

"Baa-san... I believe Jiraiya-sensei told you long ago, all you can really do is complete their dream for them. You completed Dan's and your brother's dream... May be it's time for one more... It'd be best not to wallow in you sorrow..."

She looked up at him... Yes, he was Jiraiya's student all right... Move on... Don't forget, but move on... Jiraiya... I... I loved you... I love you still... "Danzo killed him..." she said, finally getting back on her feet. "I think he had Jiraiya executed.

"Baa-san, I'm going to make a grave for him... I just need some time alone..."

Wiping up her tears, Tsunade nodded. "Hai..."

"Naruto, being hokage isn't about what you want... or what you need. It's about what Konoha needs... About what the fire country needs... And the fire country needs reform. It needs a strong leader people can trust, physically and emotionally. You cannot be like Tsunade, one death and you leave your village for decades... You have to carry on the strength of the Hokage's before you... And the strength of your loved ones who die for you. If someone dies, your motive to become hokage is for that person. That person gave up the only thing he or she really had, and that is their life, for you... I'm not going to stop you from becoming hokage, but know this, when a leader is weak, the nation is weak. You've got to be strong... For the sake of everyone else..." Naruto remembered Jiraiya's words as he walked through the forest. It was surprising how wise the Senin really was, and how little he let people know... Actually... He never really hid it... People never really bothered to get to know him... To... "To see underneath the underneath..." It all made sense. All his senseis were trying to teach him the same thing, and it took him so long to figure it out. "A shinobi's true strength is revealed when they want to protect someone dear to them..." If we see underneath the underneath we see how much love we really have for each other... If we really thought about it that way, there would be no reason for war, for fights... Because we're all so similar... It all made sense why "Old-Man Hokage" was so peaceful... Because love is the true power... Love is the true freedom with which we can soar to unimaginable heights.

Finishing up the engraving, he looked at his finished product and smiled sadly. Man, Ero-Senin... You were one hell of an awesome teacher... I... You were like a father to me... Kneeling in front of the grave, he prayed for a short moment before he broke down crying. Konoha needed to be rebuilt from scratch because of all this corruption. He had to strong for the sake of everyone else. Jiraiya just died... He repeated the mantra, Don't cry, Don't cry, Don't cry... over and over in his mind. Anger was flowing through him. Another piece of the kyuubi...

FLASHBACK

"Say, Ero-Senin?"

Jiraiya chuckled. "Yeah kid?"

"Why are you so perverted?"

"Hmmm..." Jiraiya's eyes seemed like they were in another world. "Well, a long time ago, when I was a kid, my family was massacred... And somehow, I didn't feel any pain... Partly because I was adopted, so may be they weren't really family... I didn't know. In any case, I knew I loved them... So why didn't I feel pain? So I questioned to myself... What is love? Is love sex? If you have sex does it mean you love them? If you really like them as more than a friend is that love? What is love? Why can't one be gay? I never saw a problem with it. People make so many issues about these things, I wanted to know for myself... And I kept going the whole time, just to know did I really love my family or not..."
"Well, if you like a person more than a friend, I think you'd really love them, right?"
"That's the problem. There are so many kinds of loves... You can love a father, a mother, a best friend, a spouse, a pet... You can love someone out of respect... I've felt all these personally, so I know. But are they really love? If you died, would I cry?"

"That's not really nice..."

"That's what bugged me... I loved my family, so why didn't I cry? So I researched and researched... Saw what philosophers said about it... And in all my years of research, I've only really discovered one thing... The paradox of freedom, is that freedom always comes with a limit: responsibility. There is no freedom without limitations... But I believe that true love is the only freedom without limitations... When you have that other person, that's all you need. You can do anything... last storms, weather the roughest times... At least, that's what it feels like... When they just touch you, it's like you can fly..." Jiraiya chuckled. "The wonder of love..."

"But that also has a limit, right? It's only as long as you have your loved one."

"Really? If my loved one died, I would do anything she wanted me to on her dying wish. It would still enable me to do great things. On the other hand, if you wallow in your sorrow, then it is your choice that you aren't exercising your freedom. You could choose to accept it and move on, but you don't." Jiraiya said sadly.

"I see..."

END FLASHBACK

Yes, the pervert was actually a very profound person... Naruto just wished he could see him one last time... Danzo must've burned his body as well... At least I was able to make a memorial for him... I will avenge you, Sensei... Danzo will go to hell...

"N-Naruto-kun?"

Naruto whirled around. "Hinata. What are you doing here?"
"Um, I-I heard the news, a-and I wanted t-to see i-if you were a-all right."
"I'm fine, so you didn't have to worry." he said sadly.

"A-And also, Kakashi-s-san called y-you."

"Hai." And Naruto rushed off. He didn't want to think about it... He just wanted to focus on his work. That way his mind wouldn't be on it... When he came back he could think...

Hinata looked at the inscription and smiled. Naruto-kun...

Opening the creaky door, Tsunade gently stepped in the wooden hut. Turning on the lamp, she saw it was rather small, but nevertheless tidy. She took out a crumpled piece of paper. Reading it for the thousandth time, she walked up to the only desk in the hut which was placed next to a bed. A window was overlooking it, but that was all there was to this hut. This is where he lived? He was Senin... He was offered to become hokage... He was world-renowned... And Jiraiya-kun lived in a thirty square foot house? Jiraiya... She stopped herself from sobbing. Walking up to the desk, there was a package, as promised in his letter... well, will. It was a red velvet box neatly tied with a ribbon. Opening the ribbon, Tsunade read the note.

Dear Tsunade-chan... Heh, I've always wanted to call you that. I love you... I really, really do. By the time you read this, one of three things will have happened – all ending in my death. In any case, I will be dead by now. Either by Danzo, or a mission I was about to leave on, or Orochimaru's seal not working on Sakura. Yes, I planned this as far back as then. I can imagine your face right now, pouting... Those lips I always imagined I would kiss... The anger in your face fading as I massaged your worries away... Heh... In any case, you never really got to read my book... Well, if you have the time, I know it may be perverse, but it's not really as bad as you think. :P Who knows, you might like it... In any case, I wrote that book to keep me within the limits of my duty, to distract my love. All the things that happen to the main character, was what I imagined happening to you... The main characters are you and I... in my imagination... So perhaps you never really loved me back... I was too much of a coward to really find that out, even in the end... Ah, well. Inside is my life savings... If we ever got married I was going to give it as your wedding present, or for our kids... Or something of the sort. Heh... I'm really sorry, Tsunade... I never told you... All those times... Anyways, open the box... What's left of me is already with you. Icha Icha Paradise is pretty much my diary. I was rather amazed it became a best seller. So if you read it, you may find many of the same instances... Anyways, that is all I have to say. Whatever is mine is yours... This hut, this box... And my heart. I was always yours, Tsunade. You could've come to me anytime and for any problem... I would've gladly listened. You were the best thing that ever happened to me... My life, my liberty, and my soul.

Love,

Jiraiya.

Jiraiya... Oh, Jiraiya! Tsunade fell down crying. She cried her eyes out just remembering all the things they did together, thinking about all the things they could've done... What they should've done... Jiraiya... I love you, too... I love you Jiraiya... Tsunade hugged what she had left of him – Jiraiya's pen which he used to write his book. It still smelled of him – and it always would. Jiraiya used a jutsu to make sure of that. It was all she had left of him... And it wasn't enough... It just wasn't enough.

Opening the box she found one large, perfectly cut diamond. What ever space the diamond didn't occupy, gold did. 22 carat gold. It was enough to support three families for two generations. And Jiraiya was giving her this... He had given everything to her... Jiraiya... I'm so stupid... Now you've died, too... But not in vain... It took me a while to realize it, you had to wait for me... But not anymore... I'll make your dreams come true, Jiraiya... I will... And I'll join you after... Just wait a little bit... Just a couple years, Jiraiya... I'm coming, Love...

The village was indeed affected by Jiraiya's loss... The Council had ordered an execution, but no one believed that he would actually face his trial. No one wanted to believe it. Jiraiya was a man of power and humility. Many elders spoke with him. He participated in the regular shogi matches which were now canceled. He entertained many women by peeping. Today, all the hot springs were empty. He gave confidence to the children by passing by, much like his sensei. Thus, there was no school today. The council may have killed him, they may have banned his name from the village... But a little piece of him still existed in everyone of them, still affecting their daily lives.

"Kakashi-sensei." Naruto came.

"Naruto... I'm sorry for your loss..."

"Hai..."

Things were very gloomy. It seemed the news had spread throughout Konoha that a Senin was punished with the death sentence. In any case, Kakashi continued. "Now that you're a Jounin, you will need to lead a mission. For this, I've given two more team mates. I won't be involved. You will lead and conduct the Chuunin in an A Class mission, understood?"

"Hai. Who will be the extra two Chuunin?"

"Sakura will remain, and the two additions will be Hinata Chouji."

"I see... When will this mission take place?"

"Immediately. You leave in an hour."

"Understood. May I have the specs?"

Kakashi gave him a scroll.

Naruto dressed in his black uniform. During the nights, he had managed to make Yondaime's seal work. The seal would originally be placed on a kunai, but Naruto had so much chakra he shape kunais and weapons out of pure chakra. In them, he could form seal with his chakra as well. That is how he 'got weapons out of nowhere.' With his latest addition of kyuubi chakra which occurred during his prayer at Jiraiya's memorial, Naruto was certain he could pull of his new jutsu a couple times. With that, he also made seals on his clothes as well.

"M-M-Me?" Hinata eeped.

"Hai. You will go with Naruto." Kurenei sighed. "I'm sorry about the unannounced decision, but I had not choice. I'm sorry Hinata."

"Ugh... How troublesome..." Shikamaru stated. "My mission tactics will be screwed up without Chouji to beat the crap out of them..."

"Chouji do you have to go? I mean is it safe? You don't even know who will lead this A Class mission! I mean think about --" Ino was interrupted.

"Relax. I'm sure Ino can pound, as can you, Shikamaru. I've done A Class missions before. And while this leader may not be as smart as Shikamaru, you can't say he's a bad leader. Besides, I have no choice. Asuma-sensei said I have to. Well, I'm off!" And he was gone...

"You love him don't you..." It was more a statement.

Ino nodded. "Yeah..." A choked voice came out.

Shikamaru put a hand on her shoulder. "Relax. He's strong. He'll come through." Who is this leader... They haven't made many Jounin promotions... Naruto was promoted, but Kakashi wouldn't be stupid enough to put him on a mission already... Would he? Not after what just happened to Jiraiya-sama...

"Man... This new leader guy must be some sort of idiot we've never met... I mean come on! Who shows up late for their own mission?" Chouji grumbled.

Naruto now came, dragging his feet across the dirt. His team was appalled. No one had ever seen Naruto like this. He looked like he had just come from hell. His hair hung down, his eyes had bags underneath... Naruto was literally falling apart. Just hanging on by a thread. "All right team. We have an A Class Mission. In this mission, stealth is key. We are to retrieve a document for the kazekage from Orochimaru. Also, we are to kill him if possible. Otherwise, just retrieve the document. Although it is not in his lair, it is in the heart of Sound Village, meaning our side quest from Tsunade-sama would be --"

"To damage Sound as much as possible." Chouji filled in. "Not bad."

"All right. Remember this is a stealth mission, and that we may face Orochimaru. I want you all to meet back here in three hours with all you emergency kits packed. There is no holding back on this mission. We will regroup with a team from Mist as well. We're taking down Sound here and now. It's the final ending of a long war. I suggest you get your weapons."

Three hours later they met at the gates of Konoha.

"All right. I think the plan will be pretty obvious. We keep Hinata in the middle because she can warn us. Chouji is the front as he is the muscle of this team, and any obstacle will be crushed. Then comes Sakura-chan, then Hinata, and then me. We can't let Sakura-chan be hurt at all. She is our main medic with Hinata as our back up, but we don't want to be in a situation where we are forced to rely on Hinata 100. Remember, if any sound nin sees you, kill him. We have authorization to kill. Yes, we are killing innocent lives, but it's for the sake of 40,000 other innocent lives at home. So from here we will go to mist. We should go to the border of sound. It should be roughly a week journey. Let's get started."

No one had ever seen Naruto like this. It was like he thought about this for a long time, despite the fact that he only had three hours. Naruto was clear and crisp in every decision. There was no question in their minds about authority; he was the boss – and he made that clear enough. It seemed he was postponing thinking about the Senin until they finished the mission. And with a booming start they rushed off.

With Hinata guiding him, Naruto managed to maintain the four on the right track.

"All right... This looks like a good place to set up camp." Naruto said, landing.

"We have enough food to last us the week. By then we will have gone to another town and we can fill our rations up again." Sakura reported studiously.

Briskly nodding, he continued, "Okay guys. Tonight I'll get the whole night. We're still inside Konoha borders for now. Tomorrow we won't have this chance. So get some rest. Tomorrow you three will be doing shifts. The day after all four of us and so on." Naruto said, sitting on a tree stump.

Once everyone else was asleep, Naruto began meditating to see just how much of the kyuubi he had absorbed. He had absorbed quite a bit with Jiraiya's death, but only meditation would make a proper estimate. Little did he notice the pink-haired kunoichi sneaking up on him.

Wrapping her arms around him, she said, "I love you."

They shared one small, loving kiss and that was it. "After this mission, okay? I promise."

She kissed him on the cheek. "Sure..."

"Good night."

"Good night... Oh, and, Naruto? This time, we'll get Sasuke-kun back."

Naruto smiled and nodded.

"Say, Naruto's really improved, ne Hinata?" Chouji whispered.

"Y-Yes. He seems m-more determined n-now."

"I can imagine why. He's been trained by a powerful Senin for three years... Phew. I mean man! I'd love to be able to kick ass hard."

"Y-You yourself are a t-talented shinobie, Ch-Chouji-kun."

"Oh, ya think?" Chouji turned pink. "Thanks Hinata, but not like him... I mean all I have is power. Naruto's got power, speed, and stamina. Sakura's got her medical thing going on. You've mastered your byakungan to a much better degree by now, ne? You must be awesome, too. All in all, I think we'll pown this Orochimaru down. We've got you, me, Sakura, Naruto, and those four guys from Mist. This is going to be cake."

Hinata's cheeks turned slightly pink. "Y-Yeah... I believe we may w-win."

"May? Come on, Hinata, say it with me, we will school those guys' asses!"

"W-We will d-defeat --"

"No, no, no. School."

"W-We will s-school those guys'," she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Letting it out, she said, "asses..." She looked liked she was anticipating someone to hit her.

Instead, Chouji cheered her on. "Yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about." Taking out a bag of chips, Chouji began munching.

Hinata felt... she felt confident. She never really got to know Chouji or what a great guy he was. It was... It was a nice feeling inside. "U-Um, Chouji-kun... Do you really think you should e-eat so m-much?" she asked lightly.

Chouji sighed. "You think I'm fat, too, don't you?" he asked sadly.

"N-No... No not at a-all. I w-was just concerned i-if you would run out b-before seven days..." she said, turning away.

Chouji turned her back to facing him. "Hey, thanks Hinata-chan. But it's no problem. I always pack extra food. What I really need to learn is how to cook though..."

"I-I-I've taken c-cooking classes b-before..." she said softly.

"Really! Will you cook for me sometime?"

Hinata saw a ray of hope. "W-Would you try my c-cooking?"

"Definitely!"

"Chouji-kun I will most definitely cook for you." Hinata said, smiling.

"Hey, thanks Hinata-chan."

Chan... Hinata felt warm inside. She thought about the Hyuuga.

"You call this cooking? A dog cooks better!"

"I-I am s-sorry O-Otou-san. I-I'll do better n-next time."

"Next time? You will be lucky if I'm not dead by next time."

Chouji wasn't brought up royally... He wasn't educated properly... But even still, he had something the proud Hyuugas didn't... Compassion. Hinata would definitely cook for Chouji when they got back...

So, the pairings have been set. And I absolutely, positutely the mission will be done by next chapter. So I'm a chapter behind schedule. Ah, well. In any case, Naruto will come back, mission over, some fluff to cheer things up, and get started on that Rock Mission with our beloved Kira-chan, ne? Pairings have been set. ChoujiHina (bet you haven't read one of these yet, huh?) NaruSaku, KakashiOC, JiraiyaTsunade. Bet you all thought I wouldn't kill off Jiraiya, huh? You should read my other story. Believe me, I kill many main characters. B) I'm cool like that. '' anyways, hope you enjoyed.