Sasuke was confused. The last thing he had known, the Sand kid was trying to kill him, claiming that killing someone that was lonely as Sasuke would somehow prove his existence. Naruto had come right in the nick of time for Sasuke to collapse from chakra exhaustion. He'd assumed Naruto had either taken care of the Sand kid in some non-lethal way and the Sand kid had been captured, or Naruto had been eviscerated and the Sand kid was roaming free, most likely having been taken down by a higher level ninja than themselves.
When he'd woken in the ever familiar hospital these thoughts had run through his head quickly and he hoped for the prior option if only because finding a new member for team seven would be difficult. Then he'd turned his head and all thoughts had gone out of his mind. "Hn," he grunted in absolute horror at the sight of Gaara sleeping right next to his own bed without restraints or guards.
It had to be some sort of plot to kill him, why would they leave him in there with that monster? He tried to move but found himself too exhausted to move. With a grunt that signaled his displeasure at not being able to move.
He craned his neck and was able to make out Naruto on the bed next to Gaara, sitting up and enthusiastically speaking to Sakura. He grunted to get their attention, hoping that he wouldn't wake up the demon child sleeping next to him.
Naruto looked around confusedly before focusing on Sasuke and brightening. "Sasuke, you'll never guess what happened," he exclaimed.
Sasuke grunted a concurrence that he was already too confused.
"Sakura won the finals," Naruto explained.
"By default," Sakura coughed from her bed. She also seemed to have trouble getting up. Getting attacked by a Hyuga would do that.
"Yeah but you totally kicked Neji's butt. Did you see her Sasuke?" Naruto said. "That's why you're our leader," he affirmed to Sakura. "Cause you're awesome."
Sakura blushed. "Th. . .thanks," she mumbled.
'You were also awesome Sasuke. I'm sure you could have taken Gaara if his stepsister hadn't gotten involved."
Sasuke grunted that he wasn't so sure about that and that he needed to get stronger.
"Yeah. She's not his real sister. It's obvious if you think about it, they look nothing alike and he's obviously an Uzumaki."
Sasuke stared at Naruto, wondering if he was dense before grunting that he was too tired and laying back down. He hoped that someone brought something for Naruto to do so that he would shut up. He would ask about Gaara later, but he was put at ease. If Naruto was able to act so casually around the Sand boy then it meant he had nothing to be worried about.
Closing his eyes he went over his fight with Gaara critically. He could've been faster and he needed to exercise more control with his Chidori. Cutting the Sand boy had been a mistake, one that the fight may have hinged on. He had been sloppy, overconfident. He had thought that his new power would suddenly make him invincible instead of just a little better. Of course he had improved greatly over the past month but that meant he hadn't been practicing as hard beforehand. Maybe now that they were chunin they would be entitled to B ranks and his experience would grow.
His breath caught in his throat, a bad feeling spreading through his body. Had they even made chunin? Maybe they were all still genin, that would be awful and all that work for nothing.
"Hn?" he grunted desperately.
Naruto sent him a cheeky grin. "Fine, I'll tell you. Yeah we made chunin and Gaara's safe, don't worry. I was just messing with you earlier. Don't push yourself too hard. Team Seven wouldn't be the same without you. I'm just saying, strength isn't everything."
Sasuke looked at him weirdly before grunting contentedly to which Naruto nodded his head in response and started trying to stick the hospital blankets to his arms with chakra, making them bunch up to look like dragon wings. Sasuke looked away, closing his eyes. He would never tell it to Naruto's face but he was wrong. Strength was everything and he would do anything to get it. Opening his eyes again he saw Naruto pretending to fly about the room with his makeshift wings, sending Sakura into coughing fits of laughter.
Well, almost anything.
(O_O)
Naruto woke early, brushing his teeth and showering efficiently. When he donned his clothing he made sure to leave off the jacket as he was hoping that today would be the day he would be replacing it. A week had passed since the end of the exams and all of his teammates had finally been released from the hospital the night before. In truth most of the wait had been Sakura's fault, the Hyuga's gentle fist was not easily recovered from, especially for one such as Sakura who had dismal amounts of chakra. But she was finally out, having fully recovered allowing the team to go out and celebrate, now including Gaara.
It had been difficult to explain that one. Gaara had chosen to stay in the Hidden Leaf after his half siblings had left because he believed that Naruto would somehow prove his existence. Jiraiya, having been made Hokage only minutes before this revelation had assigned Gaara to Naruto's team as it was Naruto's fault. He couldn't argue with that logic, if only because he wasn't entirely sure of Gaara's motivations either. On the positive side of things he had found a brother, making him one of the last of the Uzumaki as opposed to the actual last. He made sure not to boast about it though as he knew that it would have most likely hurt Sasuke, sending him into a week of silence and angry glares.
Naruto made sure to move around their apartment silently, channeling chakra to his feet to mask his footsteps while he took care of his morning preparations, filling his pack and neatening up his bed. Sasuke was still sleeping and wouldn't be for much longer. He would probably even wish to be awake already but Naruto wanted to let him sleep. If they were going to be starting B and A rank missions that day Sasuke would need to be fully rested.
Gaara was staying at the opposite end of the apartment, having gotten used to sleeping alone. The constant presence of assassins in his life wouldn't have helped him with his paranoia. Naruto was hoping that they would be able to reintegrate him into society soon. Since waking in the hospital he had been quieter, almost as if he wasn't around as much, and he was sleeping soundly which he had apparently been unable to do beforehand.
Naruto wasn't an idiot. He realized that Gaara had some murderous tendencies and was likely a psychopath in some form. He hadn't missed the desire to kill that shone in his eyes and the muttering about wanting to please his mother with blood was pretty hard to miss. He had no doubts that Gaara was a murderer and would've killed Sasuke and himself if given the chance, but just like with Haku and Zabuza he had to give him a chance, a way out of the killing.
Sasuke's alarm finally went off, waking him and Gaara, both who appeared quickly in their small kitchen looking disgruntled and tired. They eyed each other carefully before splitting off in opposite directions without a single word. Naruto sighed and tried not to let his face hit his bowl, the two least conversational ninja in the known universe were his roommates, as if he didn't have enough on his plate already. His metaphorical plate that is, he had very little on his actual plate due to the exams taking up all of his time and having spent the remainder of his money on their celebration at Ichiraku's the previous night. Even though he had been reluctant to be starting B ranks so soon in his life the starkness of their cupboards had been enough to make him look forward to the payout. Unfortunately they hadn't actually received their chunin designation which made things a little more complicated. Which was why team seven was going to be confronting the Hokage that morning.
Team seven met up in their usual training ground next to the memorial stone, Kakashi having gone missing since the exams, wasn't present, instead the morning presented a chilly Naruto who was regretting not having brought his jacket, the disgruntled looking Sasuke and Gaara and an energetic Sakura who had far too much cheer for the early morning. "So do we have it clear what we're going to say?" Sakura asked her team, eyeing them up and down distastefully.
Naruto nodded, keeping his arms wrapped around his body in a sad attempt to keep the warmth in. "We get it, you do all the talking, we just stand behind you and say nothing."
Sakura gave him a satisfied smile. "Naruto understands. How about the rest of you? Sasuke? Gaara?"
"Hn."
"Hm."
Sakura beamed at the responses. "Great, let's go then. I've already booked an appointment for us in less than an hour. We don't want to be late."
Naruto looked at her strangely. "Why can't we just barge in like we used to?"
"We don't want to annoy him with our unannounced presence," Sakura said.
Naruto couldn't argue with that. Because they still had time before the appointment, Sakura ran them through some signs that she had made up for team seven's sign language. The exams had awoken her to the importance of having a nonverbal secret way to talk and she'd had them practicing basic commands ever since gaining consciousness. Sasuke still insisted they incorporate their old codes into the mix, making the new language an odd mix of body posture, expression and hand movement. It was enough to confuse the members of team seven, never mind those trying to figure it out. Still, Sakura insisted and whatever team leader wanted, team leader got.
Making their way to the Hokage's tower they had to wait in the lobby an extra hour before being allowed in, although that may have had something to do with Naruto trying to shove his way past the anbu guards when the time of their appointment had arrived. They didn't take kindly to his attempt, which was understandable after the events of the chunin exams.
When they were finally allowed in it was to be met with piles of paperwork that rose from the floor, somehow managing to conceal the Hokage from their line of sight.
"Lord Sannin Hokage Jiraiya Sir," Naruto exclaimed upon entering. "We have arrived."
A snore sounded from behind the paperwork, prompting the members of team seven to fan out and converge on the desk where they found Jiraiya curled up in a fortress of paperwork, sleeping soundly. Naruto glared at the old man, hoping that some inborn ninja senses would make him aware of people watching him sleep, when that didn't work he looked Sakura's way only to be met by a shrug. Sasuke mimed screaming at him while Gaara's sand had started inching towards Jiraiya. Maybe it was something born out of habit or of sheer curiosity, but Naruto couldn't stop his finger moving right towards Jiraiya's face to poke him in the cheek. When there was no reaction he started poking around, opening his mouth and closing it, all in a lost sense of fascination at the old man's skin. He got so lost in his work that he didn't notice Jiraiya looking at him with what at first looked to be a questioning gaze but which quickly turned angry.
"Brat," he shouted, shoving Naruto's hand away while he pushed himself up. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked, noticing the surrounding team seven in what may have appeared to be attack stances from a different perspective.
"Uh, fall back," Sakura stuttered, backing away slowly.
Sasuke and Gaara stood to attention, relaxing their stances but keeping their eyes on Jiraiya.
"Morning sense," Naruto said, blushing slightly and backing away. "I was just making sure you were still alive. It would be really tragic to have our new Hokage suddenly die just as soon as we got him."
Jiraiya eyed him suspiciously. "Is that a threat?"
Sakura coughed, drawing Naruto's attention as well as Jiraiya's. "I think what my teammate was trying to say is that we hope we haven't offended the Lord Hokage with our callous actions and would be infinitely grateful if the Lord Hokage didn't judge us based on a bad situation."
Jiraiya eyed her carefully then turned to look at Naruto quizzically. "Alright, what's this about?" he directed to the red-haired boy.
"Can you make us chunin so that we can go on scary missions and make bank?" Naruto asked before he could stop himself.
Sakura glared at him. "What my esteemed teammate is trying to say is that we are eagerly awaiting the Lord Hokage's decision on the matters of chunin designations after the sudden events of the final exam."
"Do you mean when I was forced into the seat by the old man and Orochimaru got to leave scot free?"
Sakura grimaced. "Yes."
Jiraiya turned back to Naruto. "Is she always like this?"
"Only on weekends," was the prompt response.
"Uh huh."
"Yeah."
"I'll tell you kids what," Jiraiya started, rubbing his eyes and yawning. "I've got a very important A rank mission for the three of you. Show me you can complete it and I'll make you chunin immediately."
Team seven nodded eagerly.
Jiraiya smiled slightly. "I need you to find Sannin Tsunade, convince her to return to the village and become Hokage."
Naruto's face fell. "We're not getting paid for this, are we?"
"I'll treat you to Ichiraku's," Jiraiya countered.
Naruto eyed his teammates and groaned. "Fine. But you also have to keep team seven together."
"Done. But Gaara doesn't become a chunin until he takes the exams again."
"Why not?" Naruto asked frowning.
"Gaara showed a callous disinterest for the rules, a lack of self-control and was also the key part of a plot to take over the Hidden Leaf. You'll excuse me if I don't make him a chunin after considering those points."
"Will he still get to do missions with us?" Naruto asked hopefully.
"Make it worth my while."
Naruto growled. "Deal," he said and extended his hand to shake.
Jiraiya took his hand in his own and almost crushed Naruto's fingers. "One other thing. "Only the three of you are going. Gaara has to stay in the village for his own security. After the other villages hear that the Hidden Leaf has a tailed beast host they'll be targeting him day and night. Not to mention the Akatsuki."
Naruto chuckled. "That's funny sensei. Gaara doesn't have a tailed beast inside him. It's just some old priest."
Jiraiya squinted at Naruto. "No. It's a tailed beast. The one tail to be specific."
"But he said his name was Shukaku," Naruto argued. "I thought tailed beasts didn't have names."
Jiraiya scratched his head. "I don't know what you want me to tell you. Shukaku is most likely its name. The tailed beasts aren't necessarily mindless beasts with no cause. The ancient texts describe the sage conversing with them. They probably had some form of personality before they became mindless beasts," he said.
Naruto shrugged. "If you say so. Does that mean Gaara's always going to be in danger? Because if that's the case then maybe it's be better to find a way to hide his presence when he leaves the village. We can't keep him cooped up here forever. He should see the world, do stuff, you know?"
Jiraiya raised an eyebrow and eyed Gaara who was looking at them disinterestedly. "We'll talk about it when you get back," he said. "Now get going. I have paperwork."
"Do you mean a nap?" Naruto asked innocently.
"Get out."
(O_O)
Sakura stormed out of the Hokage tower, shooting Naruto a dirty look before heading straight for the village archives. Sasuke followed along, sending Naruto a shrug as he went, leaving Naruto alone with Gaara outside the tower who was kicking around a ball of sand. Naruto watched the ball of sand, entranced as it would roll away and return just as Gaara was readying another kick.
"Sorry about all that," Naruto said, managing to snap his attention back to Gaara. "They'll come around. You'll see."
Gaara looked at him strangely then looked back at his ball, his shoulders slumping slightly. "Mother has stopped talking to me," he said.
Naruto raised an eyebrow which went unnoticed by Gaara. "Do you mean Shukaku? The tailed beast?"
Gaara nodded slowly then kicked his sand ball viciously, letting it explode into a small dust cloud then resettle into a ball.
"So that's a good thing," Naruto said. "Right?"
"I don't know," said Gaara dryly.
Naruto waited for an explanation but when there wasn't one forthcoming, he let it drop. The one thing he'd learned about dealing with Gaara was that there was no sense in pushing him. He moved where he wanted to go and nobody would be able to push him where he didn't want to go. "How do you feel about staying here?" he asked, quickly changing topic.
Gaara shrugged. "I don't care."
"That's good," Naruto said, his voice wavering. "If you're bored you should ask Gai to let you train with his team while we're gone. They've got so much youth there they'll be happy for the challenge. Who knows, maybe you'll even get Gai himself to beat you up."
Gaara looked hopeful for a moment. "Do you think so?"
"Sure. Maybe. Probably. You might want to ask Sakura for more details, but I'm pretty sure you just have to explain to him that your youth needs to explode or something."
Gaara's face fell back to it's original calm. "Okay."
Naruto groaned. That was all the conversation he was getting out of Gaara. Maybe he should have gone with Sakura to the archives. It was a good thing that he didn't have to wait long. Sakura returned a few minutes later, speaking to Sasuke about something that must have been unimportant if it wasn't being shared with the team as a whole.
"This is her," Sakura said upon arriving in front of them and proffering an old file with a photo on the front.
Naruto winced. "That's great Sakura, but is there anything more recent? There's no way she still looks like this. This must have been taken before we were born."
"It was the only photo they had," Sakura said through her teeth. "Which means it's all we have to go on. Besides, there's a reason this is an A rank mission. If it was easy they would have given it to genin."
"We are genin," Sasuke pointed out.
Sakura, in a rare moment of self control, ignored him. "The point is that this is all we have to go on. So before we formulate our plan I would like to hear suggestions about how we should proceed."
"She must have some family, someone she's in touch with. They could point us to her or at least give us a more recent photo," Sasuke suggested.
"There aren't many ninja still alive that would be the same age as herself and from what I understand all of her immediate relatives are deceased," Sakura said grimly. "But it's a good suggestion. We'll start here at least, ask our senseis what they know about her." She turned to Naruto who was frowning with his mouth open. "What's on your mind?" she directed to him.
"I might be able to solve the searching problem with my clones. But it's going to suck," Naruto said uncomfortably.
"Your clones?" Sasuke asked quizzically. "What can your clones do? You can barely make a clone."
Naruto started laughing uncomfortably while scratching his head. "I might have forgotten to tell you this but Jiraiya taught me to create shadow clones which take a lot more chakra than a normal clone but are perfect for me."
"I've heard of these," Sakura said excitedly. "They're mainly for reconnaissance because they share memories. That's brilliant. How many can you make and for how long?"
Naruto started looking sick at the thought. "I've only ever created ten at one time. That wasn't fun."
"Ten?" Sakura asked, gaping at him. "And you're still alive?"
"I have a lot of chakra."
"Do you think you could create more than ten? We could be done with this mission so quickly. You could just spread out through the village today, getting information then tomorrow you'll spread them to the villages and-,"
Naruto held his hand up, cutting her off. "It's not going to work that way. I could probably create hundreds of clones, but the more I create the larger feedback I'm going to get when they complete their mission. The information overload would damage me badly and I know I can heal but I don't want to risk my head if that's alright. I'll do ten clones at most, if you need them."
Sakura looked to Sasuke who shook his head slowly and she smiled. "I guess we don't need them just yet, but if we don't find anything in the village we'll be taking you up on that."
Naruto nodded. This wasn't a conversation he wanted to continue. "Well on the plus side Gaara gets to join us for the first part of the mission," he said, brightening.
Gaara looked at him miserably, going back to kicking his sand ball.
Naruto started flipping through the file, skimming over her skill scheme and help in the war efforts, finally arriving at the section of family and known associates he gasped. "No ways."
"Hn?" Sasuke asked.
"Tsunade is the daughter of the first Hokage and Mito Uzumaki. She's basically my aunt."
Sakura gave him a pitying look. "That's not exactly how it works. I doubt that most of the Uzumaki were very closely related."
"I know Sakura. I'm not an idiot," Naruto replied.
"Could've fooled me," Sasuke said under his breath.
Naruto ignored him and carried on. "I'm just saying that she obviously has some relation to the Uzumaki clan. She could probably tell me more about them and their jutsu. I wonder if she knows any sealing jutsu," he rambled.
"Focus. Naruto, is there anything in there about her known associates?" Sakura asked.
Naruto looked back down at the file and found himself grimacing. "It's not looking good. Any known family is dead already, either from the war or old age and it seems that besides for the other two Sannin the rest of her academy died in the war. She never trained a team and left the village specifically with the purpose of staying away from any social connections. She did make the medic track important though so we might be able to find something out if we ask around at the hospital. Otherwise I'm out of ideas," he said.
Sasuke grabbed the file out of his hands to have a look for himself and growled almost immediately. "She's registered as a missing nin. Why are we trying to recruit her to be Hokage? We should be hunting her down."
Naruto sighed. "Missing nin doesn't mean evil."
"She betrayed her village," Sasuke retorted.
"I'm sure she had a good reason," Naruto said. "You can go ask the Hokage about it if you want, but until you do we have our mission and we'll follow it."
Sasuke met his eyes, activating his sharingan and tensing. Naruto stared back defiantly, taking a fighting stance while Gaara formed his sand ball into a series of spears that hovered in place, ready to impale both boys at the drop of a hat.
"That's enough," Sakura exclaimed. "If you want out Sasuke, just say so, but I won't have my team fighting over something like this," she said sternly.
The three members of team seven turned their heads to look at her, making her blush under their scrutinization. "Fine," Sasuke said finally, deactivating his sharingan and relaxing his body. Naruto followed in tandem as did Gaara disappointedly.
"Good," Sakura said, expelling a long held breath. "Sasuke, you and I will go ask around the hospital. Naruto will make five clones which will be leaving the village at top speed, going to the nearest towns and asking around as soon as you've made enough copies of the picture. We'll investigate here and if we find out anything useful you can make another five clones to inform the others."
"Sounds good," Naruto said.
"Great. In the meantime you might want to help Gaara get ready for staying in your place by himself if we have to leave suddenly. Any questions?"
A collective shake of the heads later and Sasuke and Sakura moved out to make copies of the photo, leaving Naruto and Gaara standing alone.
"So uh, Gaara. Have you ever bought anything, you know, from a store?"
"No," Gaara deadpanned.
"How good is your henge?" Naruto asked, changing tack.
"I have never needed to use it. I can make a disguise with my sand."
"Uh huh. Can you show me?"
Gaara did so, letting the sand that normally covered his body form into a mirror image of Naruto. Naruto looked the disguise up and down and nodded in satisfaction until he saw the eyes. "Do you think you could maybe make the eyes a little less murdery, you know?"
Gaara stared at him for a long while, most likely ruminating over the task. "No," he said simply, making Naruto groan. This was going to take a while.
(O_O)
Two days later, in the midst of a spar with Sasuke, Naruto received their target's location just as Sasuke's fist was making its way towards his face. As a result, Naruto faltered while trying to process the images he was receiving and got himself a face full of fist. Flying across the training ground, blood streaming from his mouth, he felt the other clones shut down as well, having served their purposes and went through the information quickly, discarding most of it as unimportant.
Sasuke moved in to end the fight, prompting Naruto to raise his hand in surrender from the ground. "I give," he yelled. "Fight's over. Go pack your stuff and find Sakura. Meet up at the front gate in an hour." Pushing himself up he wiped the blood from his face. "Might be best to take your tent scroll that I gave you and whatever money you still have left over."
"What are you going to do for the next hour?" Sasuke asked.
"I need to clean up," he said indicating the blood. "Then I'll pack and get Gaara up to speed, wherever he is."
Sasuke nodded and darted off, Naruto doing the same. An hour later found team seven minus one running through the forests surrounding the Hidden Leaf and top speed. This was their second time leaving the village and the excitement was still there. They were acting like grown shinobi now, able to go on missions without their instructors, already being chunin theoretically. There had been some confusion at the front gate when they tried to sign out but it was cleared up quickly. The Hokage had apparently sent word ahead to them a day earlier informing the guards of their mission.
"This is so much easier than it used to be," Sakura shouted eagerly while leaping from tree to tree. She was moving much faster than she used to and while Sasuke was matching her pace easily, Naruto found himself struggling to do the same. Had his two teammates improved so much in just the one month before the exam? Their growth seemed incredible. It was slightly disheartening in fact. He had always been comfortable with his place in the middle of the team's power scale, being almost as good as Sasuke. Now it seemed that he was falling behind quickly and he would need to do something about it if he didn't want to be abandoned. If they didn't make chunin he had no doubt that Sasuke would find somewhere else to go, probably anbu, and even if they did become chunin he might find a new training partner or move to a more specialized team. Naruto could understand him wanting to do that but at the same time didn't want it to happen, he wasn't ready for Sasuke to leave him just yet, even though he suspected it was going to happen soon. To add salt to the wound wherever Sasuke went Sakura followed.
Speaking of which. "Did you set Gaara up with Gai?" Naruto directed to Sakura while doing his best to keep up.
"Yeah. He didn't seem very happy about it. I think Gai tried to make him wear one of those jumpsuits," she said, laughing.
Naruto joined in when imagining Gaara wearing the horrid green leotard. "Do you still have those weights you were using to train?" he asked after the laughter died down.
"They're in my pack. Why?"
"I wanna use them. Do you mind?"
"No," she said, shouldering her pack in mid air and retrieving a scroll while landing on a branch, then handing it to Naruto in the middle of the next leap while repositioning her pack.
"Thanks," Naruto mumbled, taking the scroll. He tried to remind himself that chakra control wasn't everything as he watched Sakura's perfect jumps and landings. If they were on land he could overtake her and Sasuke in seconds just by channeling chakra to his legs. It was only up in the air where he was at a disadvantage as doing so would likely send him plowing through a tree from the force alone.
While he nursed his wounded pride, he applied the bandage shaped weights which were weightless at the moment. He hadn't covered the theory for them in his sealing lessons but he had a basic idea of how they worked. They were essentially gravity seals, whatever that meant. When wearing them the user channeled chakra into them creating a field of higher gravity making it harder for them to move. The gravity field only extended to what they were wrapped around, thus preventing someone like Rock Lee from creating holes in the ground wherever he walked. They could be dangerous if activated in the wrong place though and as a result were supposed to be handled with care and not flung around like some ninja liked doing to show off their prowess.
Idiots.
The academy had outsourced the repairs to a genin team for the damage no doubt but Naruto felt that Rock should have helped with the reparations himself. Then again Naruto hadn't helped out with moving the giant snake so maybe he wasn't one to talk.
Regardless, he wrapped the bandages around securely then activated the first threshold, taking the weight slowly. After an hour of moving with the slightly increased weight, he channeled the second threshold. He continued like this as they travelled, his ability to heal making it easier for him to take more weight without faltering, although it did force him to go through his chakra reserves quickly. He could only hope that there wouldn't be a fight for them upon arrival.
When they finally arrived in the town known as Tanzaku the sun was already lowering and they set up camp on the outskirts, where Naruto promptly collapsed against the sweet ground, not even bothering to deactivate the weights.
On the following morning team seven set out to find their target and were surprisingly successful. For their track record so far this mission was surprisingly easy, which only made Naruto dread what came next.
Tsunade looked almost as young as her picture, most likely henge, that had to be it. Which meant that she didn't mind being recognized, she wasn't hiding from anyone. In conclusion she was either very stupid or very dangerous and he really didn't want to find out firsthand.
She locked eyes with each of them as they came into the den, her mouth curving into a smirk upon seeing Naruto. "Aren't you kids a little young to be gambling?" she asked from across the room, her voice only a whisper yet powerful enough to reach them, attracting attention from everyone else around them. Suddenly the den that had previously been bustling with jovial chatter was now eerily silent as every head turned to regard the three 'kids' coming to gamble. Naruto was sure that they could have pulled out their headbands to show they were working but they had hidden any shinobi indicators so as not to spook the Sannin.
'Eh heh," Sakura laughed uneasily. "Gambling? We must be lost. We'll be going now," she said, then signaled for her teammates to follow her. Naruto put on the same awkward expression while Sasuke just wore his angry look which seemed to do the job. Sakura didn't stop until they rounded a corner and were out of sight.
"Henge," she said, forming a hand-seal. Naruto and Sasuke complied until they were once again strangers in an alleyway. "Let's try this again."
When they entered the gambling den this time nobody even gave them a second glance. It wasn't until Naruto was standing right in front of Tsunade that her eyes widened and her muscles tensed. Her eyes rose rapidly to meet Naruto's own, not his actual eyes of course, more just that of his henge so it wasn't quite as terrifying. It was in that moment that he realized he was dealing with a Sannin. Jiraiya had never really given off the Sannin vibes but Tsunade radiated power.
Naruto flinched under his henge but sat down in front of her, trying a friendly smile. There was nothing she could do to him, not in public at least. "May I have this game?" Sakura asked, taking the lead.
Tsunade nodded absentmindedly, shifting into a position that would allow for easier movement. "I don't think children should be playing an adult's game," she said slowly, the underlying message being clear. She thoughts they didn't deserve to be shinobi and were playing a dangerous game.
"Children have to play the game when the adults fail to clean up their own mess," Sakura replied coolly.
"Maybe those adults left a mess because they were forced to play as children."
"Maybe those adults should own up to their mistakes instead of blaming everyone around them."
"Maybe children should learn to respect their elders."
"Maybe adults should-,"
"Can we maybe just talk like normal people?" Naruto suggested, cutting off their conversation. "Not that I don't love the subterfuge and all but the metaphor's going to become pretty hard to use soon." Tsunade and Sakura both turned on Naruto, their glares making him shrink down into himself. "Or you know, you could carry on," he said quietly, turning to look anywhere else.
Tsunade straightened. "He's right. I doubt your mission is S rank. What do you brats want from me? Are you trying to recruit me? Where are you from? Kumo? Kiri? It doesn't matter. I'm not coming so you can shove it," she said coldly, ending her statement with a loud click of her teeth that brought a few gazes around to their section.
"Actually we're from the Leaf. We need a new Hokage and your name was on the top of the list of potential replacements," Sakura affirmed. "We're not here to fight."
Tsunade's eyes widened. "The old man is finally dead?"
Sakura shook her head. "He retired, appointing Sannin Jiraiya as his replacement."
"Jiraiya?" Tsunade snorted. "Running the village?"
Sakura nodded morosely. "I think we can all agree that the sooner you take over the better."
Tsunade continued to laugh, leaning forward until her face was inches from Sakura's own before shifting to a frown. "I'm never going back to that hellhole," she whispered and leaned back to regard them. "Anything else you kids want to talk about or can I get back to my game?"
Sakura's mouth opened and closed, seemingly at a lack for anything to say. "Perhaps we could convince you otherwise?" she started but was cut off immediately.
"No. Now get out or I'll throw you out."
Sasuke stood with his fists clenched, ready to throw some abuse, physical and verbal.
"Fine," Sakura sighed, standing slowly and reaching to Sasuke's arm, brushing it gently until he calmed. "We'll be here for the rest of the week. If you change your mind I assume you're a good enough shinobi to find us." With that she turned and left by which point Tsunade wasn't even looking at them anymore.
"We're just giving up?" Sasuke asked angrily, once they were out of sight and had dropped their henges. "Just like that?"
"No. We're changing tactics," Sakura said shaking her head. "Lucky for us, the Sannin has a weak link and her name is Shizune." She proffered a photo of a young black-haired girl. "She's confirmed to have been travelling with Tsunade and is in Tanzaku."
Naruto looked at the picture finding it unfamiliar. "She was there," Sasuke said, the realization dawning on him. "She was sitting at the front by herself and holding a pig."
"That sounds like her," Sakura said. "Now we just need to watch her until she's nowhere near the Sannin then we pounce."
"And what if that doesn't work?" Naruto asked.
Sakura took a deep breath, grimacing slightly. "Then we fail."
They didn't have to wait long for an opportunity to present itself. Almost an hour after their departure, the woman known as Shizune left the gambling den and headed towards the market. They trailed her, keeping a safe distance and watching her as she went, waiting for a good place to confront her without too many eyes.
The opportunity came in the form of a hotel room, big enough for two and a pet pig it seemed. Sakura signaled and Sasuke led the charge, being the quietest of the three. He snuck through the window, using his chakra to dampen any noise he might be making while also sticking to the walls. Sakura was next and finally Naruto being the loudest of the three.
The pig spotted them before Shizune, letting out a squeal while Shizune was rummaging through some bags. Without any form of hesitation, Shizune spun, flinging her arms out.
Naruto raised his arms instinctively, feeling three small pinpricks enter his arm. Lowering them he saw three small needles sticking out of his jacket, apparently having pierced the cloth easily. He had been expecting a kunai, needles were tricky, they were only used if-
He felt his body seize up, he couldn't move, he couldn't scream and so he fell, his chakra no longer sticking him to the ceiling. He felt his head hit the floor and his body follow to leave him lying on his back. He waited for the sound of two more thumps but they never came. Glancing at Sasuke he saw that his sharingan was active, probably having aided him in avoiding the projectiles. Sakura on the other hand was picking the needles out of her skin absentmindedly.
Drawing more needles from her pack, Shizune held her arm ready to throw again while the other arm was held protectively over the pig. "What do you want from me?" she asked furiously.
Sakura raised her arms in surrender, or rather lowered them. How was she making her hair stay down while hanging upside down? "We're not here to fight," she said, slowly reaching for her belt where her headband was concealed and brandishing it.
Shizune visibly relaxed at the sight of the headband but didn't put away her weapons. "How do I know I can trust you? Maybe you stole that headband."
"Shinobi Id?" Sakura asked, pulling out a small card.
"Those can be faked."
Sakura frowned. "We could disarm, give you all our weapons," she suggested.
Shizune shook her head. "You could always conceal them. I have a better plan." She grabbed Naruto by the foot and pulled him towards her, then propped him up. "If you care about your teammate's life you won't do anything to harm myself or the pig." She held one of her needles close to Naruto's neck. "Deal," Sasuke said smirking.
Sakura frowned at Naruto but didn't say anything. "Maybe after you hear us out you'll trust us more." With that she disengaged from the ceiling, landing with her hands and flipping to her feet. "I'm Sakura Haruno," she said, bowing. "We're actually here to recruit Tsunade for the Leaf."
Shizune snorted. "Don't you mean arrest?"
Sakura shook her head. "It would be a prison of sorts. We want her to be our Hokage."
Shizune looked at her oddly for a moment then burst out laughing. "No seriously. What do you want with her?"
"I'm being serious," Sakura said.
Shizune moved the needle closer to Naruto's neck, prompting no reaction from his teammates. "Okay, let's say I believe you. Why does the Leaf want Tsunade to be their Hokage?"
"The previous Hokage retired and now Jiraiya of the Sannin is Hokage, but he doesn't want to be, so he sent us to recruit Tsunade. I honestly don't see why all of this is so unbelievable."
Shizune thought about it for a minute, her smile fading. "That actually makes a lot of sense. Good luck getting her to go with you though."
"That's actually why we're talking to you," Sakura said. "We attempted to broach the subject with her and she didn't like the idea so much. We were hoping you could give us some insight on how we could convince her to come back with us."
"Insight huh?" Shizune mumbled looking around thoughtfully. "I guess you have to understand where Tsunade is coming from. She lost all of her loved ones to war. It's why she left the village. She hasn't moved on from them. I think she's. . .scared to."
Sakura looked more visibly depressed as Shizune spoke. "That sounds pretty hopeless actually."
"Yeah," Shizune said, hanging her head sadly. By this point the needle near Naruto's neck was gone. "If I could just convince her so easily I would have done so a long time ago."
Sakura sighed. "Is there anything else you could tell me? Maybe what motivates her? What she enjoys? Can we buy her off?"
Shizune smirked slightly. "She likes gambling and alcohol. Maybe if you got her drunk enough you could kidnap her. Or you could cover all of her debts, that might work, but I doubt there's enough money in the Hidden Leaf to cover that. I would tell you to give up, but I'm hoping you think of something that I didn't."
Sakura nodded. "Thank you for the help. We'll be going now. I hope we're able to think of something."
Then they left, leaving Naruto still propped up against Shizune. She watched them go and turned slowly to regard Naruto and wince. "I guess your friends don't care about you that much. Don't worry. We'll take good care of you while we wait for them to remember you're here, won't we Tonton?"
The pig squealed and Naruto felt misery overtake him. It was going to be a long day.
(O_O)
Sakura and Sasuke headed back to camp, both of them deep in thought. "What are we going to do about this?" Sasuke asked finally.
Sakura frowned. "We could look into jutsu for raising the dead? I heard the second Hokage was able to do something like it, but I'm pretty sure it's forbidden."
Sasuke grunted. "If it was easy then everyone would use it."
Sakura's frown deepened. "I don't know what it is, but something feels off. I feel like I'm missing something."
Sasuke's eyes widened. "I have the same feeling. Like I've forgotten something. We should spend the night, try to get our affairs in order."
Sakura smiled. Sasuke was so level headed and cool even in the worst of times. "That sounds good. I guess I'll head into town to buy some supplies."
Sasuke nodded, then headed to the surrounding forests to train.
Still the feeling bothered Sakura throughout the day, even as she went to bed that night, she had the horrible feeling that she had forgotten something really important.
(O_O)
Naruto was draped onto one of the beds in the empty apartment. Then as day turned to night Shizune returned from whatever it was that she was doing to regard Naruto with an amused expression. Naruto was fuming on the inside, but the last straw was when she placed the pig on his stomach to sleep while she went off and cooked.
His stomach began to growl after a bit, until it was so loud that Shizune tried propping him up and feeding him. It didn't go so well, needless to say. At least the soup wasn't a disaster. The pig cleaned up the remainder of the dinner from his face, making his nose itch furiously. This was officially the worst night ever.
Then Shizune retired to her own bed, having changed in another room, and hitting the lights before going to sleep. Naruto remained on the other bed, surprised and offended that his team hadn't come to get him yet. At least he wouldn't be stuck here much longer. Shizune said that he would be fine by the morning and he could leave then. Naruto had to resolve himself to staying in the bed and sleeping the night. It would be the longest he'd slept in a while. At least that had been the plan.
About three hours into his sleep, he was woken suddenly by the front door slamming open. Neither Shizune or the pig reacted to the sound, apparently used to it by now, but Naruto slept in the same apartment as two of the scariest shinobi he knew and was easily woken in case of surprise attacks which were a more common occurrence than he liked.
Through the open door stumbled in Tsunade holding a bottle of what appeared to be sake by her side. She downed the bottle, dropping it on a table then slammed the door shut, plunging them back into darkness save for the light of the moon. She turned to stare at him, her eyes glinting in the moonlight.
With a sickening realization Naruto realized that there were in fact only two beds in the hotel room. Any second now she was going to end him for sleeping on her bed. He held his breath as she approached slowly.
He felt his heart race, this was it, this was the end.
She leaned forward, her arms outstretched then collapsed against the bed and against Naruto, then shoved him to the side while she got comfortable. She faced Naruto, her sizeable assets pressing him against the wall like giant warm pillows. She was going to notice him any second now. He was so dead.
She started snoring, her warm breath in his face stank of alcohol assaulting his enhanced ability to smell. He had to restrain himself from throwing up. He hadn't thought the night could get worse, but it had apparently. Doing everything in his power to breath only through his mouth he fell into a fitful sleep, wishing the morning would come already.
(O_O)
In the dead of the night two figures slipped into the Hidden Leaf. Nobody saw them, nobody heard them. Even if they did see them their minds would have convinced them otherwise.
They wore black cloaks adorned with red clouds and moved like the night. Even the highest level of ninja would have been hard pressed to see them coming before it was too late. Their mission that night was to locate a certain tailed beast host with red hair. It should have been easy to track him, after all, there must have been someone that knew and after finding him it would be easy to get the information.
That task was however proving to be difficult. The two cloaked figures had greatly overestimated the village, thinking that in a time of peace such as this and after a victory so great against the Hidden Sand, the level of organization should have been top notch. The truth was quite different. Half of the ninja didn't have any jobs to do and the other half were assigned two jobs at once. The guards weren't sure what they were guarding and the paperwork kept on piling higher.
When the two cloaked figures began their interrogations, it was to their utter surprise that nobody really knew where the tailed beast host was. Some thought he was in prison, some thought he was away on a mission, some thought they had seen him the other day. One even claimed that he was staying in the abandoned Uchiha compound, having broken the taboo of going there, but that would have been ridiculous, the village would never allow it.
The cloaked figures did investigate nonetheless but didn't find any sign of life. Being about to leave the compound one of the cloaked figures noticed that one house was in better shape than the others. He entered silently, sniffing the air and looking around.
The house appeared lived in, clean, with beds set up near the wall. They went through the house without finding anything else of worth, some dark clothes and a few weapons but that didn't mean anything. Whoever stayed in the house didn't have anything of worth or they carried it with them wherever they went. There was one indication of who stayed there, however. In between the two beds was a small table with a photo depicting three young ninja. Picking it up, the cloaked figure stared at it for a very long time, etching it into his memory.
Several miles away on the floor of the dense forest lay a boy with a green leotard and red hair, fast asleep next to two other figures in the same clothing.
(O_O)
Naruto woke up to screams of bloody murder, then to his body being tossed through a wall, then more screaming, then a few broken ribs. It seemed that Tsunade had finally woken and realized who she was sharing a bed with.
At least he was able to move, or at least more than before. The Sannin landed in front of him, having leaped from her apartment, and was shaking with rage. "You-," she started but was cut off by Shizune landing in front of her.
"Wait, stop. Don't kill him. It's my fault," Shizune said, blushing. "I paralyzed him and accidentally left him in your bed."
Tsunade looked at her strangely then at Naruto. "So we didn't-?"
Shizune shook her head. "He was paralyzed until this morning."
Tsunade let out a breath, relieved and rubbed her temples, suddenly going from murderous Sannin to hungover middle-aged woman. "I drank too much," she moaned.
Naruto channeled chakra to his broken ribs, realigning them before it was too late and letting the bones mend as he pushed himself up. While Shizune started healing Tsunade's headache with glowing hands, Naruto attempted to make a stealthy getaway only to find a hand gripping the collar of his shirt. The hand attached to a very grumpy looking Sannin.
"Leaving without saying goodbye?" she asked with a grim smile.
"Goodbye?" Naruto tried, attempting to walk away and failing.
"Mind telling me what you were doing in my hotel room?" she asked.
Naruto forced a smile. "I was uh. . .hoping to get your autograph."
She didn't seem to buy it. "Uh huh. Well why don't you come inside and I'll find something to sign with."
"No, that's okay. I really must be going," Naruto said, struggling against the arm. Still no budging.
"Oh I insist," she said and started dragging Naruto into the hotel, taking the stairs this time. She sat him down in a chair and faced him. "Now tell me little ninja, what were you actually doing in my room. Every time you lie to me I will break a finger. If I run out of fingers I'll heal them and break them again. Do we have an understanding?"
Naruto nodded hurriedly, not even daring to speak.
"Out with it then."
"I wanted to sleep with the Sannin Tsunade," Naruto said, then, "Ow!"
Tsunade smirked. "Try again. Please, I can do this all day."
Naruto growled. "Fine. We wanted to figure out how to convince you to become Hokage. We were talking to your protégé over there," he said, nodding to Shizune.
"Oh," she said sweetly. "Did she tell you anything?"
"No- ouch, damnit, you're worse than Sasuke," he said, moaning with the pain of two broken fingers.
Shizune rose quickly. "Lady Tsunade. Please, it's not-,"
"She didn't tell us anything of worth," Naruto affirmed through gritted teeth. "All she told us was that it was useless to try."
Tsunade regarded him then let go of his hand. "Good. So you're giving up?"
Naruto smiled evilly. "Sure. I figure the Hidden Leaf would be better off without some woman that couldn't even protect those she loves. I'll be sure to tell my teammates how much better off we are with Jiraiya in charge."
Naruto suddenly felt himself being pulled up out of his seat to face Tsunade's raged breathing. "You don't know anything," she whispered.
Naruto smirked. "I know plenty. I know you went to war, I know you loved people, I know you failed to save them and I know that you're being a massive baby about it."
Shizune's mouth dropped open and Tsunade's chakra flared. "Do you want to die, little boy?" Tsunade asked, her voice wavering.
Naruto nodded. "Sure. It's just a matter of time anyways. My team won't mind if I die and I don't have any loved ones that will mourn me for very long. So do it. Because obviously the only people that matter are those that are loved. Right? That's why you have the right to wallow in self pity while the rest of the world dies around you." he spat.
Tsunade was shaking with fury, her chakra forming to such a degree that the room shook slightly, her widened eyes stared into Naruto's own for a very long time, before she finally put him down and turned away. "Get out," she said quietly.
Naruto stood slowly, trying not to make any sudden moves.
"I said get out," she screamed and Naruto fled.
Once at a safe distance, he let himself catch his breath and consider how close to death he had been. It had been a mistake to mouth off to her. He wished there was a jutsu that allowed one to control their words. Now she definitely wouldn't be joining them. He hadn't been thinking straight, what with Sasuke drifting away and Sakura following he felt like he was being left behind and he hated it. Sasuke would join anbu, Sakura would follow and Naruto wouldn't make the cut. He would be all alone, sealing, by himself.
It was a funny thing. Originally living a life of sealing had been all that he wanted, now nothing depressed him more if it didn't include those ninja he cared about. He supposed that he could understand Tsunade now, what with her having lost her loved ones, she was sort of like him, but he still had his loved ones, could still fight for them while she had nothing to fight for.
With a sigh, Naruto stopped in his tracks and turned around, heading back to the hotel. He had an apology to make and something that might work, if only she didn't crush his head in before he got a chance to speak.
"What?" Tsunade asked without even a shred of politeness as he knocked on the door.
Naruto opened the door slowly and held his hands up. "I came to apologize," he said as Tsunade opened her mouth to scream at him. She closed her mouth then and looked at Naruto expectantly. "I'm sorry for what I said. I realized that if I lost my loved ones I don't think I would be able to do much either."
She watched him and nodded when he was done. "Thank you. You may go now."
"I'm not finished," Naruto snapped. "I'm going to say this once and you can do with it what you want. I understand you lost your loved ones, I understand how difficult it is for you to go on, to fight every day when you have nothing to fight for. But if you don't come to the village I'm probably going to lose my loved ones. Maybe not immediately and maybe not to death, but day by day they'll grow more distant until I'm just like you. So please," he pleaded, falling to his knees and bowing to her. "Please save me, Lady Tsunade."
He heard Tsunade sigh. "Get up," she groaned. "I don't want you dirtying my floors with your tears."
Naruto stood, sniffing slightly. "I'm not crying," he said wiping his eyes.
"Sure. Listen, I think you're a good kid, so I'll tell you what. I'll come to the Hidden Leaf, maybe even stay for a little bit, talk to Jiraiya and see if it's worth it. I'm not promising anything, but if I like it then maybe I'll consider staying on as the Hokage."
"Thank you," Naruto said, bowing again.
"But," she said quickly. "I have a condition that you have to fulfill before I do come back with you."
Naruto nodded wearily.
"I want to see how good you are at gambling."
Naruto blanched. "Seriously?"
She nodded. "Meet me tonight at the same place you first met me. Don't bring your friends, bring your cash."
Naruto scratched his head. "I don't actually have any cash."
She shrugged. "Borrow some then, I don't care, but you better give me a challenge tonight or I'm not coming."
Naruto nodded hurriedly and left. Now he just needed to find a way to make some money quick because he knew that his miserly teammates wouldn't lend him a thing. Also, very importantly, he needed to learn how to gamble.
(O_O)
Team seven made the trip back to the Hidden Leaf with two drunk passengers. Shizune was surprisingly strong for such a small girl but then again, it made sense what with her being apprenticed to Tsunade.
It had been an odd day. Naruto had stumbled into their tent as the day was nearing its end, claiming that he had solved their problem and that they should get ready to leave as soon as possible. Then he'd promptly fallen flat on his face. Sasuke had volunteered to carry him if only because he was the stronger and faster out of the two of them. Shortly afterwards they met at the exit to Tanzaku, finding that Shizune was much in the same situation as Sasuke and thus relegated Sakura to carry the pig. As a result their team looked more like a troupe of circus performers than actual ninja, which Naruto would have been proud of but just irked Sasuke. The worst part being that he didn't even know how Naruto had done it or why he was drunk off his face. It was so absolutely typical and maybe he was to be blamed a little bit for forgetting about him at Tsunade's place but then again Sakura had also forgotten.
"Naruto," A very red faced Tsunade shouted from Shizune's back. "I'm gambling on you. Don't lose."
Naruto woke suddenly and snorted. "I never lose," he mumbled lazily then fell back to sleep, drooling onto Sasuke's shoulder.
With a sigh Sasuke continued on, eager to hear the story but not eager enough to wake Naruto. Not nearly eager enough. He would get him back for the drooling though, that he could promise.
They made good time and arrived at the gates Konoha as the sun was about to rise, treating them to a rare view. They were signed in by two flabbergasted chunin on watch and showed up in the Hokage's office to inform him of their success, or at least what seemed to be a success.
"What happened?" Jiraiya asked, looking slightly confused but mostly relieved.
Both Naruto and Tsunade were still fast asleep and as such there wasn't anyone to answer the question besides for Shizune who was keeping quiet. "We're not entirely sure, Lord Hokage Sir," Sakura said. "To be honest this success goes almost entirely to Naruto."
Jiraiya looked at them thoughtfully for a moment then clapped his hands together. "Yeah alright. I hereby appoint you three chunin. Good job. Now get them out of here before they throw up on something."
Sakura turned to beam at Sasuke. He nodded his head, a small smile on his face at finally reaching chunin status. They both bowed, giving their thanks and colleting their chunin jackets, draping a third around Naruto's sleeping form. Then Sasuke loaded Naruto up again and started heading down.
"We made it," Sakura whispered. "We actually made it. This is incredible."
Sasuke grunted. It really was.
Sakura shook her head, brushing some leaves from her hair. "I need to clean up. Let's meet back up at noon at our regular training ground. Naruto should be up by then. Then we'll get some Ichirakus. Sound good?"
Sasuke grunted an affirmative.
"Great. Bye Sasuke. See you later," she called and headed home, leaving Sasuke with his luggage.
Sasuke made his way back to the Uchiha compound, staying silent as he went. Even if Naruto had been conscious Sasuke wouldn't have been talking much. Naruto did enough of that for both of them. He managed to open the front door with his leg, entering backwards with Naruto making sure to 'accidentally' hit his head on the door frame once or twice then drop him to the ground.
Smirking, he turned to regard his friend and met red eyes. The sharingan.
"Sasuke. It has been a while."
Then the pain started.
