"Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or this story idea
Chapter 19- Rasengan and Tsunade
The traveling pair made it to the next town in the midst of their festival celebrations. Both men were still thinking about the conversation they had before, but upon seeing how lively the town was even Naruto began to forget and focus more on what was going on around him. It was impressive even coming from a hidden village the size of Konoha Naruto had to admit this was nice.
'If this is what traveling is like I see why he stays on the road, a little' Naruto thinks.
There were all kinds of people and things, he wasn't sure where to start. Then again it had been awhile since they had lunch and despite it being at a snail's pace, in his opinion, they had walked a good deal away from where they started at the village not to mention the business with those Akatsuki jerks. He can smell the okonomiyaki already.
"This is kinda cool, it's my first time at a festival like this one" Naruto says excited.
"Down time is important! Now you go have some fun before your real training begins. The festival should continue for some time. We'll stay here for the duration and of course train here too!" Jiraiya says.
Naruto nods, happy he get's to experience the festival but also that Jiraiya is keeping his promise and he'll actually get some training. Although in the back of his mind he wondered exactly how much he'd be able to do here.
"Alright, I'll find you later Jiraiya-san" Naruto says as he moves to leave.
"Wait a minute Naruto!" Jiraiya says getting his attention.
"Huh?" Naruto questions.
"I think you should give me your wallet so I can hold onto it for you" Jiraiya says.
"Why should I do that?" Naruto asks.
"You shouldn't go around flashing a lot of cash in these places. Plus, shinobi should remember and honor the 'shinobi's three taboo's'" Jiraiya says earnestly.
"'Shinobi's three taboo's'?" Naruto questions.
"What you don't know?" Jiraiya mocks.
"The 'three taboo's' are the three temptations that will bring shinobi to ruin!" Jiraiya tells him.
"The three temptations are money, women, and booze..." Jiraiya explains.
"Then you shouldn't worry I'm too young for alcohol and I've lived on my own since I was 3 so I know how to control my spending, and I call bullshit on the women thing because that's all you do!" Naruto retorts.
"You fool! Don't you understimate the desire for money! Once you start using it goes really fast!" Jiraiya shout's with a shocked expression on his face.
"I know, that's why I'm saying not too worry about what I do with MY money! I worked hard saving the amount I have, there's no way I would blow it all now" Naruto responds.
Naruto had a goal and he was no where near the amount of money he needed to achieve that goal.
"Money has a frightful power. This Tsunade we are going to be looking for has ruined herself over it!" Jiraiya continues as if he never heard him.
"Huh...your desire for women is always getting the better of you too" Naruto remarks reminding Jiraiya of his fault.
"I'm going on an information gathering mission! Here hold my bag and give me the wallet" Jiraiya say once again ignoring him.
"Why?" Naruto asks.
"So my toad tracking summons can follow my scent should I need to find you" Jiraiya explains.
"No need" Naruto says.
"What if the Akatsuki come back, aren't you afraid?" Jiraiya questions.
"Nah, I found you that time and besides as far as I know there is nobody who can move faster than me" Naruto boasts.
"What if they stop you from using hand seals?" Jiraiya questions.
His answer to that question as he tried to hand Naruto his bag was for Naruto to disappear from site. After a few minutes Jiraiya calmly slung his back back across his shoulder.
'He's not coming back' Jiraiya realised.
Meanwhile Naruto was already at his first stop.
"One order of octopus dumplings, sir!" Naruto calls out.
"Coming up!" was the quick response.
"Potatoes with butter, please!" Naruto calls out at a second stand a minute later.
"You got it!" another stall owner responds.
"Chocolate bananas please!" He orders at another.
"Right away!" came the response.
Naruto hit several more stands before finding a quiet out of the way place to sit and eat it all. An hour later.
"Woah... I think I over did it" Naruto realises as he holds his fat tummy.
'Oh well, a few laps and I'll be hungry again' he thinks.
"Man, I bet Tomaru and Chōji would have loved this" Naruto thinks of his friends.
"Fuki too" Remembering how much the girl could eat when it came to certain foods she loved.
Naruto lays back for a moment and pictures his friends and sensei.
'I wonder how everyone is doing?' he thinks.
'I'm going to train hard every day and come back stronger' Naruto promises himself.
But before that.
'It won't hurt just to goof around a little today. Tomaru would never forgive me if I didn't. Maybe I'll win something to bring back to the village' Naruto thinks with a grin.
After dumping his trash he tried his hand at a baseball throwing game which he totally killed it with a perfect score. Then he tried the goldfish scooping booth, which was totally rigged in his opinion. He could have used a few tricks, but that old stall operator was a sharp one and watched him like a hawk. Then he bought several masks that a guy was selling. He bought a bear, owl, alien, and an dog mask and quickly used Fūinjutsu to seal them in a scroll.
Thinking about what to do next he almost tripped on a rock that was laying around and figured he should hit up one more stall and go find Jiraiya.
"Two grilled squids please, sir. One adult and one child's size please" Naruto orders from a man grilling squid.
"Okay!" The vendor says.
"Someone sent you to buy some squid, eh!" The dark grayish older man says.
"I'll throw in a child size for free!" The older man says cheerfully.
"Order coming up!" He says.
"Hurray for you, sir!" Naruto cheers.
"Your a man among men!" Naruto exclaims.
"Oh, you can tell, eh?!" The man responds.
"Alright! I'll give you the adult one for half price!" The vendor says.
"Thank you!" Naruto says.
Naruto then walks around the festival looking for Jiraiya until he hears his voice coming from a pink colored building. He looks up at the sign above the door.
'Should have known' Naruto thinks.
Naruto walks into the place to find Jiraiya sitting on a love sofa/chair with a busty black haired girl sitting on one side of him and a brunette on the other.
"Young ladies are so nice!" Jiraiya cackles as he spots Naruto.
"Oh, Naruto! You've already had your fill of the festival?" Jiraiya questions.
"It was nice and all, but I didn't join you on this trip to sight see and have fun" Naruto comments.
The stench of cheap booze and perfume was almost enough to knock him back out onto the street.
"Who's this little cutie, Lord Jiraiya?" The dark haired girl asked as she sizes Naruto up.
"Is he your kid?" The brunette asks with a not so motherly smile on her face.
"No way lady! He's just the jerk that's supposed to be teaching me instead of trying to cop a feel here on the two of you" Naruto responds.
"Calm down Naruto, why don't you run along and I'll find you when I'm done here" Jiraiya says as he oggles the boobs on the dark haired girl.
Naruto was about to respond when someone bumped into him from behind and made him drop one of the squids he was holding, luckily it was Jiraiya's.
"Hey kid, scram. This place is only for adults" a man in cheap suit says.
Naruto turns to look at the jerk and takes a bite out of his suid before responding.
"Yeah, well I have business with that man over there" Naruto says pointing at Jiraiya with his free hand "So why don't you sit down and mind your business" Naruto says as he takes another bite of the squid.
"Hey do you know who your talking to!" Says some flunky and a cheap suit.
"He's a former chūnin from the Hidden Village of Stones, the legendary dark ninja feared by all!" The flunky proudly states.
Naruto looks at him and then the other one and then back to the flunky.
"Never heard of him" Naruto says as he finishes off the last of the squid.
"Come again?" Jiraiya mocks.
"The legendary what?" He questions.
"You seem to want to get hurt, old man!" The leader barks.
"Naruto" Jiraiya says getting his attention.
"Perfect timing. I'll show you a jutsu now... Watch very carefully" Jiraiya tells him.
Naruto watched as a ball of chakra forms in the palm of Jiraiya's hand.
"Now you've done it!" The white suited thug says as he charges Jiraiya.
Only for Jiraiya to plant the spinning ball of chakra right in the thug's midsection. Naruto watched as the force of the chakra ball seemed to pick up the thug slowly driving him back until all of a sudden it sent him and his lackeye flying into a booth several or more feet from the building.
"Wow" Naruto exclaims simply impressed by the jutsu.
Naruto walks over with Jiraiya and looks at the damage caused by the jutsu.
'It ripped through the jacket and left these marks on the shirt underneath. And Jiraiya says he didn't use it's full strength... what kind of jutsu is this ... and he's going to teach it to me ... definitely worth it' Naruto thinks.
"Naruto" Jiraiya says getting his attention.
"Come with me! It's training time!" Jiraiya says.
"Yes, sir" Naruto responds.
They move to an area up above the village in a forested area away from crowds and people. Jiraiya tosses Naruto a balloon.
"What am I going to do with this?" Naruto questions.
"You saw the jutsu I just used didn't you?" Jiraiya asks
Naruto nods.
"What did it look like to you?" Jiraiya questions.
"You smashed it into the guy and it picked him up before spinning him around violently before it blasted him into the steet" Naruto answers.
'His perspective is a bit off... but I guess that is to be expected' Jiraiya thinks.
Instead of telling him Jiraiya decided to show him as he took the balloon he held in his hand and started swirling his chakra around in it.
"Right, okay... yes it's spinning!"
Naruto noted how the water was moving inside the balloon without any phsyical movement from his hand at all. The water was spinning until it popped the balloon.
"You learned the tree climbing practice that taught you how to gather and maintain chakra in neccessary places... the water surface walking practice taught you how to release a set amount of chakra. You did both of these, right?" Jiraiya says.
Naruto just nods since chakra control was one of the first things Hayama-sensei drilled into them.
"And now with this water balloon exercise, you will learn how to create a stream of chakra... in other words, spinning" Jiraiya tells him.
Naruto manipulates the ball of water a bit in his hand tossing it and throwing it up and down.
"Once you get these first steps down, I will explain the jutsu in detail..." Jiraiya says, but he's surprised when...
*Pop*
"What!?" Jiraiya questions.
"I practice chakra control daily, did you forget?" Naruto asks.
"Ughh... do it again" Jiraiya responds tossing Naruto another ball only for the same thing to happen.
*Pop*
"That streaming thing is new, but not that hard" Naruto says.
"Okay, then let's leave today's training here for now and I'll show you the next step tomorrow" Jiraiya says eager to get back to the ladies.
"Wait a second" Naruto says stopping him.
"You also promised to tell me about the Akatsuki" Naruto reminds him.
"What about them?" Jiraiya asks.
"Why are they after me?" Naruto asks.
"Why do you think they are after you?" Jiraiya asks.
"I don't know, but they obviously think I have something they need or want. I just can't figure out what that would be and why shark bait said something about the Kyūbi" Naruto says.
"Because Naruto, when you were born the Kyūbi was sealed inside of you by the Yondaime Hokage" Jiraiya tells him plainly.
Naruto just stands there listening, but half in shock.
'The Kyūbi's inside of me' Naruto thinks.
"I don't know why the Akatsuki want that 'thing' exactly, but I do know for them to get it... you'd have to die" Jiraiya says bluntly shocking Naruto more.
"That's why it's vital you get stronger and learn some new techniques, strong techniques" Jiraiya says earnestly.
"Why wasn't I told before now?" Naruto asks.
"I don't know kid, the old man was supposed to be the one to tell you but I guess ... he never found the right time" Jiraiya says honestly.
'The right time, what's that supposed to mean? He had years to tell me' Naruto thinks.
"So why are you telling me now?" Naruto asks.
"Cause... you asked" Jiraiya says simply.
"That's it?" Naruto asks not believing that was the whole reason.
"I want you to become my apprentice" Jiraiya says truthfully.
"Apprentice... after you teach me this jutsu, what else is there for you to teach me?" Naruto questions.
"Plenty, I am the man who taught the Fourth Hokage after all and I could do the same for you" Jiraiya offers.
"Thanks, but no thanks. I have no desire to be Hokage" Naruto tells him.
"What? Come on kid, don't you want to be recognized as the most powerful ninja in the village?" Jiraiya asks.
"That might be true as a requirement of the job, but it requires a lot more than that" Naruto states.
"And what would you know about it?" Jiraiya argues.
"Enough to know, it's not my goal in life" Naruto answers.
"Then what is?" Jiraiya asks curious on the answer.
"Nothing special, like most orphans I just want to have a family of my own" Naruto answers.
"That's it, you don't want to be Hokage, or be the strongest ninja ever, or have a harem full of hot chicks that'll do anything you ask?" Jiraiya questions.
"What can I say. I learned a long time ago dreaming big only lasts a second and often leaves you wanting more" Naruto answers.
"But as Hokage the whole village becomes like your family... wouldn't you like that instead of having to be with one woman and a couple of brats all the time having them depend on you, sucking you dry and taking everything you have all the time?" Jiraiya says.
"I guess it makes sense that a guy like you would see it that way. Anyway if your really not going to show me anything else then I'll take this time to finish my training from the morning" Naruto tells him.
"Sure kid, but be ready because the next step is guaranteed to take a while to get down" Jiraiya says trying to redirect the energy of the conversation.
Naruto nods expecting the older man to leave him be and probably go staight back to that brothel or whatever that was.
"Say what are you working on?" Jiraiya asks.
"Well thanks for teaching me this jutsu, but I need to learn more jutsu and stronger than the ones I currently know" Naruto says.
"Trust me kid, once you learn the rasengan it's the only jutsu you'll need because it can be a very versitaile jutsu" Jiraiya tells him.
"Yes, but it's not a defensive jutsu" Naruto says.
"Defensive, I thought you were all about faster, quicker, more speed. Why would you ever need a defensive jutsu?" Jiraiya asks.
"For times when even my speed isn't enough" Naruto answers.
"Okay... what jutsu are you working on" Jiraiya asks.
"I'll just show you" Naruto says.
Naruto quickly goes through the hand seal sequence Tiger - Snake - Rat - Snake - Tiger
"Suiton: Suijinheki - Water Release: Water Formation Wall Technique" Naruto calls out.
Converting his chakra to water Naruto expells a huge amount of water that slowly forms into a giant wall of water that nearly reached the top of the tree behind them.
"Whoa, I don't know what needs working on. That's the most impressive water wall I've seen since I saw the old man do it. Not bad, how long did it take you to get it down?" Jiraiya quieries.
"Actually I started learning it during the Exam Finals, but never had a chance to use it" Naruto admits.
"More like show it off" Jiraiya needles.
"Whatever, besides I'm not done. I've lately been using it to create a powerful offensive move" Naruto says.
"That's impossible kid, you have to be a whole lot stronger to pull off moves of that level. That's something few ninja like Sarutobi sensei or ..." Jiraiya starts.
"His sensei perhaps" Naruto interjects.
Jiraiya just nods.
"Where do you think I got the idea. In the library they have mission records of all the hokage's and other famous Leaf ninja. Of course as a genin I didn't have excess to everything, but Hayama-sensei helped me out" Naruto reveals.
"Alright, show me" Jiraiya says.
Naruto goes through a long hand seal sequence while spurting out more water from his mouth increasing the size of the water wall until it started to resemble something different. Tiger - Ox - Monkey - Rabbit - Ram - Boar - Ox - Horse - Monkey - Tiger - Dog - Tiger - Snake - Tiger -Ox - Monkey - Rabbit - Bird. Pouring more chakra into the technique. Taking hold of it Naruto directs the spinning vortex towards a copse of tree's. Unfortunately as he tried to direct the jutsu it fell apart resulting in a huge deluge of water falling to the ground near the trees covering the area.
Jiraiya quickly took out another scroll and used it to suck up the excess water that was threatening to drop over the wall and onto the unsuspecting citizen still in the middle of the festival.
"Nice try kid" Jiraiya tells him and pats him on the back.
Naruto is left panting with his hands on his knees and doesn't respond.
"Why don't you find some place to rest. I have more 'research to do'" Jiraiya says as he leaves.
Of course Naruto wasn't done after taking a few minutes to gather himself he created several shadow clones who then took out their swords. Naruto fought his clones working on his sword play until night fall. The next day Jiraiya took him to the same spot.
"Alright... honestly you got the first step down in record time. I really didn't think you would be able to do the first step before the festival ended after all this is an A-rank ninjutsu I'm teaching you. A jutsu created by the Fourth Hokage and it took him three years to develop this jutsu" Jiraiya tells him.
"Three years?" Naruto asks surprised.
Jiraiya nods. He then tosses Naruto a white rubber ball bigger than the balloon from yesterday. Naruto squeezed and felt the ball and unlike the balloon this was firm sturdy if the exercise was what he figured it would be, this might be tough to complete right away.
"Am I supposed to pop this like I did the balloon?" Naruto questions.
"Break, not pop" Jiraiya says.
He then holds up another ball and Naruto watches as a swirl of chakra envelops the ball and tears it apart.
"This is one hundred times harder than the water balloon" Jiraiya says confident the kid would struggle.
"The first step was to teach you how to rotate your chakra, figure out the proper spin to pop the balloon. The second step is force. Since there is no water inside this ball, it'll be more difficult for you to imagine the rotation of chakra, so it becomes more difficult to rotate your chakra as well" Jiraiya says.
Naruto holds the ball in his right hand and rotates his chakra slowly adding more chakra to it when it.
*phfffttt*
Naruto managed to puncture the ball, which resulted in a slow leak of air forming.
"Nice try. Well,I need to go... gather some information" Jiraiya tells him.
"Huh, your leaving already. What if I finish with this step?" Naruto asks.
"Then continue training on your own. Don't depend on me for all of your training. You must have some kind of misunderstanding. I agreed to show you the jutsu, but I'm not here to guide you along every step of the way. If you can't figure out what to do on your own, that's your problem" Jiraiya says and takes off.
'What the hell was that about. It must be about refusing to become his apprentice... but somehow I think he'd act that way even if I was his so called 'apprentice'' Naruto thinks.
'I bet he's going back to that cheap brothel' Naruto thinks.
He wasn't wrong, but he wasn't exactly right either as Jiraiya did actually search around a bit for Tsunade's where abouts before spending more time and money at that brothel. Meanwhile Naruto spent a couple of hours on fully breaking the ball as Jiraiya at least left him with a bag of them. He was close to breaking it he felt, but decided to not focus on completing the second step and instead spent the rest of morning on his usual training. In the afternoon he went looking around the town when he found a strange shop.
*ring* *ring*
The bells on the shop door sounded as Naruto walking.
"Well hello young man, welcome to Das weapon emporium. My name is Dev, how may I help you?" A dark haired man with a brown skin tone in his early to mid thirties asks him.
"I was hoping to look around a bit if you don't mind, sir" Naruto says politely.
"Go right ahead, call me if something in particular catches your eye" Dev says as he goes to the back.
Naruto looks around and see's many blades with all different kinds of shapes and metal colorings. He saw a huge sword with a gold base with an uneven looking edge called a buster sword. There was a red colored katana with a dragon going down the middle in black with a red jewel where it's eye would be. There was similar one beside it only blue in color and jewel. He saw staffs, maces, hammers, nunchucks, knives, more katana's, bow w/arrows, daggers, and other kind of strange weapons. He spent a couple of hours looking around.
"See anything you like?" Dev asks him.
"Actually I was wondering about those weapons in that glass case" Naruto tells him.
"Good eye sir, those weapons are from my homeland and won't be found anywhere else" Dev says with a smile.
"What are they?" Naruto asks intrigued.
"They are called chakrams, there are a few variations but they are primarily used as ranged throwing weapons but can also be used in close hand to hand combat. However, their main purpose originally was to protect the head from other bladed weapons" Dev explains.
"Wow, how would they do that?" Naruto questions.
"Well as I said they come in different variations and sizes. Some are small enough that men with long hair would wear them on top of their head like a woman would wear a hair band or large enough to fit over the head and around the neck area" Dev says.
"I'll take two that can be used in hand to hand combat" Naruto says.
"And what type of metal would you like them to be made of" Dev asks.
Naruto looks at him curiusly.
"They are weapons like the sword you have at your side there. A chakram normally is made of either steel or brass metal now the steel is better for hand to hand combat but the brass actually is better for flying chakrams's. However, with the use of chakra metal obviously size nor shape really matters as chakra can be used to overcome any minor design flaws but they are more expensive a lot more depending on any modifications you would like added on" Dev tells him.
Naruto didn't have to think hard since he knew what he wanted to do with them.
"Chakra metal on both please... uhhh... does it matter what type of chakra is used?" Naruto questions.
"Not really although I would say wind or fire would have the best results normally" Dev answers.
Naruto nods expecting that.
"Alright, how about you look at some pictures of designs to pick out how you want them to look like.
Naruto flipped through the book and came upon one that looked like the symbol for yin and yang.
"I'd like them to look like this one, but with one side darker than the other please" Naruto orders.
"Alright I think that can be done, anything else?" Dev asks.
"Actually... could you make a set of smaller ones that can be made to look like a spinning leaves?" Naruto asks.
"I don't know, come back in a few days and I'll have an answer for you" Dev says.
Naruto nods in appreciation.
"How long will you be here for, these could take awhile" Dev asks.
"Probably until the festival ends, will that be enough time?" Naruto asks.
"I think so, but I'll have a better answer in a few days. So how will you be paying for this?" Dev asks.
"How much is it?" Naruto asks.
Dev frowns, but answers anyway.
"For a custom order like this ...50,000 ryo and that's just for the combat models, depending on the cost of the modifications for those and the number of smaller ones you want made since I'm assuming you'd also like those to be made from chakra metal... the total cost could be two to three times more" Dev answers.
Naruto had to stop himself from shouting at that cost for some metal rings that he'd probably have to replace continuously, but it was clear to Dev he probably wasn't going to make a sell today. Naruto checked his money glad he tossed that old toad one someone had left for him out for a more practicle business looking wallet, only to find he was short ... by about half and that's if he didn't get the smaller set. Still he had to buy these weapons, because in his mind they would be epic weapons to add to his arsenal.
"Look, how about I ask our smith about the design and mods you asked for on the smaller ones and give you a definite price when you come back but right now put a down payment on the combat chakrams" Dev says.
"Okay" Naruto quickly agrees.
"That'll be 10,000 ryo" Dev says.
Naruto nods handing over the money.
"Alright, that does it I'll see you in three days. However, if you see anything else you might like that's in the shop I'll give you a discount. How about it?" Dev asks.
"Thanks, but I think that's all for now" Naruto says.
"Alright, but the offer stands don't be a stranger" Dev says as he heads into the back.
'Damn, where am I going to come up with 40,000 ryo. At least I have time' Naruto thinks as he exits the shop.
Naruto is walking past a row of booths when one calls out to him.
"Hey kid, want to try your luck?" A man at a booth asks him.
"Huh?" Naruto asks caught off guard and not paying attention.
"Pull on the string win a prize. Top prize is five nights at the top inn in town" The man says.
"And all I have to do is pull on a string?" Naruto questions.
"That's how you play Senbonhiki!" "To play is five hundred ryo" The guy says.
"Five hundred for one pull?" Naruto questions.
"Think about what you could win. 5 night stay at the best Inn in town complete with complimentary breakfast and dinner, and hot springs!" The booth operator responds.
"Okay, one pull" Naruto plunks down the ryo and takes hold of a yellow string.
He pulls only for...
"Sorry kid, no luck. Try again?" The booth operator asks.
Naruto nods and this times goes for a royal blue string. He pulls...
"Too bad kid, no luck again. Another pull?" The man asks.
Putting down the cash Naruto closes his eyes confusing the booth operator and those watching close by. He fumbles around for a string and finds one, opening his eyes he pulls on the string.
"Congratulations kid, you picked a winner but it wasn't the grand prize" The booth operator reveals.
"Huh, then what did I win?" Naruto asks.
"Keep tugging on the string to find out" The man says.
Naruto tuggs on the string until a golden ryo coin comes out from behind the game board. The operator places it back behind the board and reaches into his pocket.
"Congratulations kiddo, you just won 100,000 ryo!" The booth operator says.
The man hands Naruto a wad of cash.
"Alright, anyboy else willing to try their luck!" The man calls out to the crowd.
The booth was suddenly packed with those seeking to win money or the grand prize. Meanwhile, Naruto couldn't believe his luck as he walked away before the booth got to crowded.
"Wow, I can't believe I won!" Naruto yells forgetting himself for a moment.
Quickly pocketing the extra cash before anyone can steal it Naruto calmly walks away as he noticed several eyes on him and he knew what they were thinking. He kept walking until he felt safe and that no one was following him. Making sure his money was secure Naruto decided to turn in for the night and rest up for tomorrow. However, before he could.
"Hey kid!" A middle aged man wearing a a black kimono top and dark pants called out to him.
Naruto stops eyeing the man warily.
"Oh man, your a quick one kid. I almost lost you back there" The man says.
"What do you want?" Naruto asks tersely.
"Woah, calm down. I don't mean you any harm, but I saw you win all that money and wanted to know if you would like to double your money" The strange man says.
"Double?" Naruto questions.
"Maybe even triple your money" The guy responds with a big smile.
"How would I do that?" Naruto asks curiously.
He may not be loose with his money like Jiraiya falsely tried to accuse him of being, but he also wasn't going to turn down easy money ...
"Follow me" The man says.
Naruto thought about walking away and going back to the room he shared with Jiraiya, but the lure of more money got him. They walked for awhile until they came to a gambling den.
"Gambling, look I might be young but I'm not a sucker" Naruto says not wanting to lose all of his money.
"Come on kid, give it a shot. The buy-in might be a little high but if you win..." The guy starts.
"What's the buy-in?" Naruto questions.
"Actually kid, you just happened to win the exact amount needed to play" The guy tells him with a suspicious grin.
"Look thanks, but I'm going back to the Inn" Naruto says as he starts to walk away.
"Too bad kid, because I was going to let you in on a little secret" The man says stoping Naruto from completely walking away.
"There's someone playing right now and when I says we're making a small fortune off them I am not even telling you the half of it" The man says.
"Okay, but how does you finding a sucker willing to throw away their money help me exactly?" Naruto questions.
"Isn't it obvious kid, we're making a killing bettting against her. It's a simple game you bet on evens or odds if you bet on even numbers 2, 4, or 6 and the dice rolls even you win regardless of the number it hits on" The man explains.
"That's it?" Naruto questions.
"Yeah kid that's it and this lady is so unlucky she even has a famous nickname known throughout the gambling world" The man tells him.
"What's that?" Naruto asks.
"The Legendary Sucker" The man tells him.
'If she's so bad... wait... it couldn't be' Naruto thinks.
"You know her real name?" Naruto asks.
"Umm... I hear she's one of those... shota's...seme's..." The guy tries to recall.
"Sannin?" Naruto questions.
"Yeah that's the one... although if she was into ..." The guys starts only to be cut off.
"Thanks, I get the picture" Naruto says.
"But isn't she like ... really old? Naruto questions.
At this the guy smirks.
"Come check her out, I guarantee your going to want a piece of the action" The guy says leading Naruto inside.
They walk inside and Naruto can see a bunch of guys lined up money in their hands as a blonde woman was throwing down a pair of dice.
"It's... Odds!" A guy announced to the crowd of men and one woman.
Actually Naruto can now see there is another woman and ...
'Is that a pig wearing pearls?' Naruto thinks.
"Damn it!" The blonde curses obviously having lost.
The blonde throws down a wad of cash larger than Naruto has ever seen.
"Lady Tsunade please, let's call it a night you've already lost 225,000 ryo and your down to your last..." The black haired woman beside her tries to stop her.
"Shizune, shut up. I'm close just one more time!" Tsunade shouts.
The men at the hall inwardly cheer.
"Then give someone else a turn, just one roll ... please Lady Tsunade" The black haired woman begs.
"Fine!" Tsunade relents.
Now the men were disappointed but upon seeing the blond haired boy one of their runners had found they perked up a bit.
"Hey kid, your up" The leader of the gambling den says.
"Huh?" Naruto questions.
However, instead of answering a flunky in a slate blue Yukata places two dice in his hand and said roll kid and slaps him on the back which caused Naruto to make an involuntary roll of the dice.
"Wait I didn't m..."
"6!" a man shouts.
The dice rolled 6 an even number. Instantly the hall became silent.
"Hey I didn't even pick before he made me drop the dice!" Naruto complains.
"Kid, shut up! You won" Tsunade tells him.
"Huh... I won?" Naruto questions.
"No, no, no... you heard the kid he didn't even place a proper bet. He has to roll again and this time declare sides" The den boss says.
"What? I didn't want to play in the first place" Naruto complains.
"Too late kid, you have to bet now" Tsunade says as she glares at the kid.
"Lady Tsunade..." Shizune goes to admonish her master only to receive the glare instead.
"So what's it going to be kid, run away and leave all your money with us or roll and have a shot at doubling your money" The man that brought him there says.
Naruto thought about running. It wasn't like any of these guys could catch him, but the thought of doubling his money simply throwing a pair of dice... it was just too easy to pass up. So he plunked down all the money he had and took the dice.
"Odds" Naruto calls.
Tsunade getting a hunch placed her money on odds as well. Everybody else bet on even once they saw her place her bet on the kid. The boss nods for Naruto to roll the dice and he does.
"Odds!" the spotter calls out.
"No!" shouted some of the men losing some of the ill gotten wealth.
"Again!" Tsunade shouts.
Naruto looks towards the den hall leader. Who nods for Naruto to roll again. So he takes the dice and calls...
"Odds" Naruto repeats.
Everyone in the hall smirks thinking there was no way he rolls odds twice. Tsunade doubled her bet. And he rolls again.
"Odds!" the spotter calls out again.
"Again!" Tsunade cheers.
Naruto rolls twice more each time betting on odds and winning. He had won 576,000 ryo in a handful of rolls but it was getting late and he had won more than enough so he decided to cash out.
"Wait! Where are you going kid!" Tsunade asks.
"Back to the town. Not that I have to explain myself to you, but I have to train in the morning" Naruto says collecting his money.
"Are you coming back?" Tsunade asks.
"In a couple of days" Naruto says as he exits the hall.
"Lady Tsunade, do you know that boy?" Shizune asks.
"No..." She responds also cashing out and leaving.
It was mid-morning the next day when Jiraiya shows up at the spot where Naruto is training. Only to find him once again throwing around water jutsu.
"Hey kid, what's up? Did you give up?" Jiraiya calls out.
Naruto's response was to stop what he was doing and hold out his hand. In his hand was a Rasengan. But just to show Jiraiya that he had actually completed the jutsu he runs and smashes it into a tree, which topples over after being grinded all the way through.
"How... I didn't show you the final step" Jiraiya says genuinly surprised.
"You told me about the first two steps; first spinning my chakra enough that it ruptures the balloon; the second step power was easy enough once I got the hang of just how much power was necessary. I mean it's an A-rank jutsu and I saw what a 'weak' one did to those two goons so I knew I couldn't skimp and save my chakra for other jutsu. I just figured add the first and second step together and you probably get to the third step, which should be containment. I needed to contain all that power into a sphere of chakra like it was solid... am I wrong?" Naruto asks.
"Well..." Jiraiya starts.
"Thanks to this trip I know my chakra is dense, because of the Kyūbi but I have trained every day and yeah this jutsu probably should have taken me a lot longer to complete but your not half bad as a teacher despite your lazy and off putting attitude" Naruto says.
"Whatever kid, you should still continue to practice that jutsu daily. It's a good chakra exercise and as I said it's a really versatile jutsu and it's not even finished" Jiraiya says with a smirk.
"Huh?" Naruto questions.
"You don't think if you could complete the jutsu in a couple of days that the Fourth Hokage spent three years just on that, do you?" Jiraiya teases.
"Then what else was he trying to do?" Naruto questions.
"Make it an S-rank jutsu of course!" Jiraiya laughs.
"What? How?" Naruto asks.
"Come on kid, think how would you amplify the power of the rasengan beyond what it already does?" Jiraiya questions.
"...make it bigger?" Naruto speculates.
"Uhhh...yes, but no" Jiraiya says as he thinks about it.
Naruto thinks on it for a while longer.
"Tell you what, why don't you go down into town and get us some lunch" Jiraiya says.
"And why should I do that?" Naruto questions.
"I'm teaching you right, then be a good boy and get lunch as a thank you to me" Jiraiya says.
"What? I'm not your errand boy and you brought me on this trip to teach me the jutsu and you have so as far as I'm concerned we're done. Plus, I even did your actual job for you" Naruto says.
Now it was Jiraiya's turn to look clueless.
"I bumped into Tsunade last night while I was out around town" Naruto tells him.
"What? Where?" Jiraiya questions.
"At a gambling den outside of town" Naruto informs him.
"What? Why didn't you tell me last night!?" Jiraiya roars.
"Relax old man, she's expecting to meet me there tomorrow night" Naruto tells him.
"Tomorrow... alright, then I need to go!" Jiraiya announces walking off.
"What where are you going?" Naruto questions.
"I need to spend more time with the ladies if we're packing up tomorrow night!" Jiraiya calls as he keeps walking.
"What about the jutsu!?" Naruto yells.
"You'll figure it out. Your a smart boy" Jiraiya calls having disappeared.
"Great, I knew I should have waited to tell him, jerk" Naruto thinks out loud.
2 Nights later
Naruto stood outside the gambling den. He was wearing a red and black jinbei outfit he bought at a shop in town, a two piece outfit with black sandals. He had been waiting for the female sannin for a few hours when she finally arrived, entourage in toe.
"Lady Tsunade" Naruto greeted her casually.
"Cut the formal crap kid. I half expected that you wouldn't show" Tsunade says.
"Yeah, well... there is a reason I am waiting for you..." Naruto says.
"Tsunade, it's been awhile" Jiraiya greets his old teammate.
"Jiraiya, what are you doing here?" Tsunade says angrily.
She knew something was wrong today. She had won a lottery that gifted her a hundred thousand ryo, she won at the slot machines a lot of money no matter what machine she used which is why she was late as she kept winning and it made her fear what awaited her if she chose to come back.
"Maybe we can go somewhere and have a few drinks... for old times sake" Jiraiya offers.
Tsunade seemed to mull over his offer and relented, which led to them walking to a nearby restraunt. But before they would do so she wanted answers.
"So who's the kid Jiraiya, did you take on another apprentice?" Tsunade questions.
"It's not like that Tsunade. I just took an interest in the kid. He has a lot of potential" Jiraiya says.
Tsunade looked over at Naruto.
"Yeah, well he's a lot different from your other one..." Tsunade remarks.
"Maybe although you have to admit there are some intriguing similarities" Jiraiya comments.
Any further chit chat stalled until they arrived at the establishment, which of course was a bar. When they got there drinks were ordered and several bar snacks that they offered. Tsunade waited until she consumed several saucers and cups of sake before getting down to business. She placed a deck of cards on the table after she shuffled them expertly.
"Why have you come looking for me?" She asks.
Jiraiya takes the cards and starts fiddling with them.
"I'll cut to the chase. Tsunade, in it's wisdom the village has decided to name you as the Godaime (Fifth) Hokage" Jiraiya tells her.
He places the deck back on the table in front of her. The eyes of everyone at the table widened in shock, including Naruto who had not known why exactly he was on this seemingly pointless trip.
'So...she's replacing the old man...' Naruto thinks.
After a moment Tsunade picks up the playing deck and takes a few cards.
"You heard about the Sandaime (Third) Hokage" Jiraiya starts.
"Just rumors and idle gossip. It was Orochimaru, right?" She questions as she plays with the cards.
Jiraiya nods confirming what she heard. Naruto looked around the table unsure what exactly was transpiring, but the look that seemed to permanetly etch itself on the blonde woman's companion's face was telling him a lot. He watches as instead of answering the woman continues to play with those cards. Jiraiya himself then takes five cards and looks at them before continuing.
"I'll say it once again... The Leaf Village has made it's decision and chose you to be the Fifth Hokage" He reiterates.
"So... what's your answer?" He asks after a long pause.
"Do you accept it, Tsunade?" He continues when she still doesn't answer.
"Well... I'm waiting, what do you say?" He presses onwards when she still won't answer.
She throws her cards face down onto the table.
"Impossible. I decline" She finally answers.
"You know that's kind of funny, that rings a bell. I remember you saying those very words the first and only time I ever asked you out" Jiraiya responds.
"As nice at that is for you Jiraiya, I have to ask. Are you also declining to come back to the village with us and taking a look at some people who were hurt real bad and beyond the current hospital doctors abilities to treat?" Naruto asks.
For the first time since they sat down Tsunade focuses on Naruto.
"Don't worry about it Naruto. There is no one who contributed more to the Leaf's victory in the war. She combines unrival skill as a warrior along with the ability to heal others. What's more she's the granddaughter of the very first Hokage. So in heritage and ability she is the clear and only choice to be the Fifth Hokage and once she accepts her destiny, which she will. Then she'll have to come back with us to the village and there heal your friends. You see it's all been very carefully thought out by the highest councils of the village" Jiraiya assures him while eyeing the older blonde woman.
"Your slipping Jiraiya... this apprentice isn't at all like the last one after all" Tsunade remarks.
"I'm not his apprentice" Naruto states clearly and is ignored.
"Well, to be fair by that standard the Fourth Hokage it would be hard for anyone to meassure up. The Fourth Hokage showed all the signs of becoming the greatest ninja in generations. He was brimming with talent, and natural ability, brilliant, popular, and to top it off he was nearly as handsome as his teacher" Jiraiya boasts.
"Sure but all that didn't save him from dying young. From throwing his life away all for the sake of the village" Tsunade retorts.
The air at the table instantly grew harder to breathe.
"Money is one thing, but a life is another. To risk your life against all the odds... that's a suckers bet" She remarks.
"My grandfather and his successors they were all so willing to die for the village. Well they're all dead alright and the village is no safer than it ever was" She says coldly.
"Sounds to me like you changed Tsunade. I don't know what's happened to make you like this, but to say such things out loud..." Jiraiya responds.
"Don't forget I'm not as young as I look. The years have taught me a great deal..." Tsunade responds.
"Sarutobi-sensei too, he should have known better. What did he expect trying to be a hero at his age" She mocks.
"Playing at Hokage. I'll pass, it's a fools game" Tsunade says continuing to play with her cards.
"Well... you are the Legendary Sucker" Naruto comments shocking Tsunade and everyone at the table.
"What did you say brat" Tsunade responds with edge to her voice.
"Those guys at the gambling den the other night called you The Legendary Sucker... you said it's fools game, and you just seem like the kind of fool who was made for it if what Jiraiya says is true" Naruto elaborates.
Tsunade instantly stood up her hazel brown eyes bore holes through the young genin.
"Do you want to fight brat!" She yells at him.
"What sense would that make lady. I'm just a genin, why would I fight someone like you who has seen decades of combat" Naruto responds.
"Oh Naruto" Shizune comments under her breathe.
If there was one thing Tsunade hated, it was any insinuation that she was old.
"That's it punk! Outside! You and me" Tsunade yells as she makes her way out of the bar.
"What did I say?" Naruto asks.
Shizune just shook her head while the pig gave him a sad sounding 'oink' as they walked past him towards their master. Jiraiya grasped Naruto by the shoulder.
"Buck up kiddo, she won't hurt you too bad" Jiraiya comments with a laugh as he stears Naruto out of the bar.
Jiraiya shoves him out of the booth and out of the bar to where Tsunade is waiting for him.
"Alright, I'll only use one finger to teach you some manners brat" Tsunade mocks as she points at him with one finger in a come get it manner.
"Tsunade don't" Shizune tries to urge.
"One finger..." Naruto asks.
"One... little... finger" Tsunade mocks the boy.
Naruto shrugs.
"I didn't want to do this, but I hope after this is over there will be no hard feelings" Naruto says.
"Whatever kid, are you coming or do I have to come to you.." Tsunade says in a way that makes certain he won't like it if she comes to him.
"Fine" Naruto relents.
Naruto slowly starts to run at her, which because she is understimating the kid and a bit tipsy doesn't raise any alarm bells as he slowly gets closer. Well slow for him.
"Wow Jiraiya, I thought the kid was a bit fugly looking and stupid, but if this what he's ca..." Tsunade didn't get to say anymore before.
*SMACK*
Naruto whacks her on her ass.
"Ouch!" Tsunade shouts she rubs her butt.
She was unprepared for Naruto's rear assault. Shizune, Tonton, and Jiraiya could only stare at Naruto who had instantly returned to where he started his run.
"What the hell Jiraiya!" Tsunade yells marching over to her fellow Sannin.
"I smacked you on your butt, because your acting like a child instead of the Sannin and village royalty Jiraiya claims you to be" Naruto says stoping her in her tracks.
"Lady Tsunade, maybe we should just go" Shizune says a bit embarrassed for her master.
"That does it, brat your dead!" Tsunade roars.
Tsunade charges at Naruto full speed, but Naruto calmly forms the Boar handseal with his hands Swift Release: Shadowless Flight - Jinton: Mueishō and vanishes from where she last saw him.
"You'll never hit me at that speed" Naruto calls from behind her.
Tsunade turns to punch his smug face in only to swing at air. She turned to see his back in front of her albeit several hundred feet from where he stood when started her charge.
"Jiraiya! What's going on here?" Tsunade questions.
'A genin shouldn't be this fast' Tsunade and Shizune think.
"Oh, some times I forget the kid has a bloodline and that he's already taken out several jōnin and a rogue jinchūriki during the Invasion" Jiraiya says as he thinks it over.
"What!? How?" Shizune questions sparing Tsunade from asking.
"How what exactly?" Naruto asks.
"Did I forget to mention that first order of business when you return to the village with us is handing out promotions to some of the deserving participants and fights from the Chūnin Exam" Jiraiya says.
"And the brat won his match?" Tsunade questions.
Jiraiya nods.
"Faced off against Might Guy's sophomore genin Rock Lee" Jiraiya recounts.
"Look if we're done here. I'm going to head back to the hotel" Naruto comments.
"Wait! I need to hit you once and then it'll be over" Tsunade says.
"To bad, maybe if you accept the offer you'll be able to force me to stand in place while you get your payback. However, until then..." Naruto vanishes.
Tsunade, Shizune, and Tonton looked for the genin.
"You might as well stop. When he does that he's gone and he's not coming back" Jiraiya tells them.
"Jiraiya how is this even possible. I know who his parents were and neither of them had any bloodline" Tsunade says.
"I don't know. Some times I wondered about Minato and while not technically a kekkei genkai some of Kushina's abilities bordered on being considered that" Jiraiya says.
"Hmm..."
"Anyway, it's been a long day and the kid had the right idea. We'll be in the town holding the month long festival if you reconsider becoming Hokage" Jiraiya says as he leaves.
"Lady Tsunade?" Shizune questions.
"Pack our bags, Shizune" Tsunade orders before going back inside the bar.
Shizune watched her master leave unsure of what was going on, but knowing Tsunade she had better get their things ready.
'I was really hoping to go back to the village. It's been too long since I last saw home' Shizune laments.
Hello again, I hope everyone enjoyed the newest chapter of Speed. Next chapter probably won't be until Christmas. Sorry for the long wait between chapters. I also want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving :-) I hope your all safe, healthy, happy, and stuffing your face with a lot of delicious food
Until next time dear reader :-)