Forgive me for the wait

Ch. 31 Tsunade's Choice

The week was coming to a close and a lot had happened during it…

During their discussion, Jiraiya reveals that he's aware that Tsunade has some sort of deal with Orochimaru, though he doesn't know what it is. He goes on to say, however, that if Tsunade helps Orochimaru with whatever it is that he wants, he will kill her as a traitor of Konoha. She glared at him and looking to change the subject, Tsunade asked why Jiraiya brought the trio with him saying she thought he was done after what happened to the other 3 students.

He replied "Well he is my godson after all and I wanted to spend time with him kami knows I should have been there for him sooner…" he gave a small sad smile "…the other kid is his 'brother' the Yoto family took him in giving him a better life growing up and the Hyuga heiress is his girlfriend she's shy but growing strong thanks to her history with Naruto."

Hearing all this made her think about home, Minato and Kushina…which then brought up memories of Dan and Nawaki she then took another sip of her drink.

Elsewhere

Meanwhile, at the hotel, Shizune explained to the trio the history of Tsunade's necklace and how Tsunade had given it to each her brother and lover, Dan, in the hopes that it would help them achieve their goals of becoming Hokage. Soon after receiving the necklace however, each of them died a bloody death, giving Tsunade a fear of blood and leading many to believe that the necklace was cursed. After hearing the story, Naruto got up…

"Where are you going Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked

"Im gonna go for a walk Hina-chan I'll be back later"

Takeru had a feeling what was going through his mind "You want some company?"

Naruto shook his head "Nah I'll be alright guys honest!"

Naruto leaves he walks around and finds a spot close to the village to finish his training alone, determined to prove that when he wins the necklace, he really will become Hokage. The story he heard made him think about being more cautious but still spurred his determination.

During the week Naruto trained with Takeru to hone the skill, setting up seals on several objects trees, rocks and such. His progress was outstanding, while Hinata trained with Shizune learning the basics for Medical Ninjutsu. All the while, Tsunade watched them from the background, remembering her dead loved ones and contemplating the offer Orochimaru made her.

Now on the night before the final day, Naruto hasn't return home yet, and Shizune and Hinata are worried and were about to go see what happened to him but as they opened the door Takeru was standing their holding up his brother.

"Is he ok?" Hinata asked worriedly

"Yes just tired he's been up all night working on the Hirashin" Takeru answered Shizune takes to the bed and begins healing him up to the point where he can rest on his own.

Elsewhere

At the same time this was going on, Jiraiya and Tsunade had met up again for drinks to discuss Naruto's progress. While Jiraiya wasn't looking, Tsunade slipped a powder into his drink, and after drinking it he passed out. Tsunade returned to the hotel to see if Naruto had perfected the jutsu, but only finds him in bed, causing her to realize what a ridiculous bet it was that she had made with him. Naruto begins to stir and cringe his body in pain he reached up and grabbed her arm but quickly let it go.

Shizune pleads for Tsunade not to go through with Orochimaru's deal, willing to kill herself in order to stop Tsunade. Tsunade knocks her out. Soon Hinata and Takeru return to the room to see Tsunade putting Shizune in the bed and she quickly knocks them unconscious, and leaves to meet Orochimaru.

The Next Morning

As Orochimaru and Kabuto head towards the meeting place, Orochimaru comments that it may be easier to persuade Tsunade to heal his arms if Shizune weren't around, and so Kabuto heads off to kill her.

Meanwhile

Back at the hotel, Naruto awakens feeling refreshed and actually excited until he looks around and see his friends on the ground out cold…he hoped. "Hina-chan…" he yelled dashing out of the bed and holding her up, his yell was enough to cause everyone to stir and begin to wake up much to his delight "…what the hell happened guys?" he asked

Shizune was frantic asking what time it was wondering where Tsunade was while everyone was getting their barings together Shizune was about to dash out of the window in search of her master but a kunai stopped her from leaving she looked over to see a very ragged Jiraiya. Cursing Tsunade for drugging his drink, Jiraiya explains that the drug makes it difficult for him to move and that he can't control chakra very well.

Kabuto watches the conversation in the background and, knowing that he can't take on Shizune, Jiraiya, and, to his surprise, Naruto, Hinata and Takeru by himself, leaves to report to Orochimaru. Jiraiya and Naruto notices Kabuto's departure, and asks what deal Tsunade had made with Orochimaru. Along the way to the meeting spot Shizune explains the offer, and Jiraiya realizes that he may really need to kill Tsunade.

Tsunade and Orochimaru, meanwhile, meet at the site of their last conversation, and Tsunade agrees to heal Orochimaru's arms if he promises to leave Konoha alone. Orochimaru agrees to the stipulation, and Tsunade approaches him, preparing her healing jutsu. Before she can make contact with Orochimaru, Kabuto appears and throws a kunai between them, forcing the two to separate. Orochimaru, realizing what Kabuto has done, asks why after coming so far Tsunade was betraying him. Kabuto notes that because both he and Tsunade are medic-nin, he could notice the subtle amounts of killing intent within her jutsu.

Orochimaru laments Tsunade's decision, even saying that he really had intended to stay away from Konoha. Tsunade dismisses this as a lie, yet says she had been willing to believe it if it meant that she could see her loved ones again. Because of Naruto, however, the dreams of Nawaki and Dan returned to her, and thus she couldn't bring herself to turn a blind eye to Orochimaru's goals of effectively destroying the hopes that they had had. With that, Tsunade attempts to attack Orochimaru, though because of his timely dodge her attack misses, creating a large crater where he had been. As Orochimaru prepares to fight Tsunade, he comments that he had never battled her before.

"That's right" Tsunade says as she throws her jacket off and runs towards them

Kabuto smirked "Don't get your hopes up you still have to go through me first"

"No matter it'll be a pleasure killing you both RIGHT NOW!" she smashes her fist in the wall making them leap to another tree

"She hasn't lost any of the strength it won't go well for you if she connects" the snake master lamented

"I can see that though this isn't the place Id have chosen for a battle field

"A change of sceneary then?"

Kabuto informs Orochimaru of Jiraiya's presence and they proceed to lead Tsunade away, not wanting to fight in the city in case Jiraiya shows up.

After retreating to an empty field, Kabuto and Tsunade begin their fight. Because Kabuto isn't very good at taijutsu, Tsunade's specialty, he resorts to using his Mystical Palm Technique to give his attacks an extra boost in strength. Although Tsunade is initially able to avoid many of his attacks, her old age causes her to tire quickly, allowing Kabuto to catch her off guard and strike. Because of the nature of his Mystical Palm Technique, Kabuto is able to sever some of Tsunade's muscles upon contact, preventing her from moving. Using this to his advantage, Kabuto punches her in the chest, which also allows him to sever some of her respiratory muscles, making it difficult for her to breathe.

Thinking this should be enough to force Tsunade into submission, Kabuto begins to gloat at his success. Tsunade, her large breasts having weakened Kabuto's attack, uses his cockiness to her advantage by striking him in the neck, forcing him to the ground. As he attempts to get up, Kabuto discovers that Tsunade's attack disrupted the electric currents of his nervous system, causing his hand to move when he tries to stand up. With Kabuto unable to move, Tsunade heals her injuries. As she does so, Kabuto begins to compensate for Tsunade's last attack, learning what actions lead to what outcomes. After regaining the ability to move 80% of his body, Kabuto gets up, surprising Tsunade due to his rapid ability to adapt.

"Now then you fear the sight of blood do you well let put that to test shall we!"

Kabuto was about to attack a still healing Tsunade until Naruto, Hinata, Takeru, Jiraiya, and Shizune appear in between them blocking the way. Tsunade was shocked to see them there and to have appeared out of nowhere.

"H…how…why are you here?"

"Well I was going to use it as a surprise in our bet but do you remember when you came into the room to check on me last night and I touched your arm…" he paused as she flashed back and remembered "…I placed a seal on you and after we found your jacket at the castle I gathered enough chakra to bring everyone here and it looks like we were right on time"

"Na…Naruto…" Tsunade stared upon him with awe realizing she had lost the bet