Naruto is Extremely Mad. Not Nine-Tail's-Chakra-Leaking-Out Mad, but pretty darn mad. Who is this Masked Man, and how dare he dress like Rain? Naruto glares at the Masked Man, ignoring the pain in his forehead. The mask is coming off.
Naruto is so used to trying to make the Rasengan now that his hands are forming it before he knows what he's doing. The Masked Man tries to dodge backwards, but Naruto slams the incomplete rasengan into his stomach. The Masked Man hits Naruto over the head, unaffected by the incomplete rasengan. Naruto is sent flying to the left.
Naruto uses his antigravity seal to halt his wild flight towards a boulder. Naruto flies back towards the masked man at top speed, but the Masked Man turns to one side and slams his fist down on Naruto's back. Naruto crashes into the ground, and the Masked Man stops down hard on Naruto's back.
Naruto sees Tsunade, crouched on the ground, a look of pure terror on her face. What is she afraid of?
The Masked Man kicks Naruto into the boulder, then turns and walks towards Tsunade. It seems he does not consider Naruto a threat.
Naruto is sore all over. He is still exhausted from all the training, right off the back of the chunin exams and the month of intense training before the finals. But Naruto is going to break that mask and find out who has been impersonating Rain. Naruto pulls himself back to his feet, wincing in pain. There is half a plan in his brain.
Half a plan is enough, if he can act on it.
Naruto flies forward. Flying doesn't hurt. He lands in front of Tsunade, between her and the Masked Man.
The Masked Man whips out a kunai and charges.
Naruto makes a shadow clone. Naruto grabs the oncoming kunai, while the clone makes the Tiger seal. The kuni cuts a deep gash between Naruto's index and middle fingers, but he simply grabs the hand holding it, glaring into the shadows hiding the Masked Man's visible eye.
"Fuuin: Temporal Distortion!" says the clone, trapping the Masked Man in the Temporal distortion seal.
Naruto holds out his free hand. He can only hold the Temporal Distortion seal for a short time. He's working on it, though. The clone starts forming the rasengan in Naruto's free hand while Naruto holds it steady. One hand for each step.
"Rasengan!" yells Naruto, slamming the jutsu into the Masked Man's mask, just as the temporal distortion seal ends and the clone vanishes in a puff of smoke.
The Masked Man flies backwards, his hand and kunai pulling free of Naruto's left hand. Naruto walks towards him, panting.
The mask cracks, and pieces begin to fall to the ground. Naruto cannot see the Man's face yet. The Masked Man lifts his hand to the mask, feeling how cracked it is. Another piece falls away in the Man's hand.
"Who are you?" Naruto asks.
"That must remain a secret for a little while longer," says the Masked Man, shooting a pointed wooden branch out of the hand not covering the hole in his mask. The branch hits Naruto in the gut, piercing him right through. The Masked Man flees, pieces of his mask falling to the ground. The branch retracts and the Masked Man vanishes.
Naruto coughs up blood and falls to the ground. He shouldn't have flown off and left Shizune behind.
There is so much blood.
Just like when Nawaki died.
Just like when Dan died.
Tsunade couldn't save them. They are dead, never coming back…
...blood.
Naruto is not dead. Not yet. But he will be soon.
So much blood.
He won't die if you save him, says Tsunade's medic side.
But there is so much blood, says the fear. Just like with Dan and Nawaki!
I'm going to be Hokage! Naruto's voice rings through Tsunade's mind. Those words were the words her brother used to say. And then Nawaki died in battle while he was still a child. He never even had a girlfriend.
My dream is to be Hokage, Dan's calm voice cuts through Tsunade's fear. He agreed with Tsunade that they should have more medics among the shinobi. And then he died because she, as a medic, could not save him.
Blood is soaking the grass under Naruto.
Nawaki...
Dan…
Save him!
Tsunade gets up and walks over to Naruto. Then she falls to her knees at the sight of his wound. "So much blood…" Tsunade stammers.
"Sasuke's hurt worse," Naruto whispers, turning his head. "You lost the bet-" he chokes, coughing up blood.
That's right, Tsunade bet that if Naruto could master the Rasengan in a week, she would go back to the Leaf and heal his friend.
And she would give him the necklace. The necklace that she gave Dan and Nawaki just before each of them died.
And just after he won it in a bet, before he even claimed it, Naruto is fatally wounded.
It's only fatal if he dies from it! Snaps Tsunade's medical conscience.
Tsunade's hands are glowing with healing chakra before she has time to remember the blood. Tsunade starts to heal Naruto, slowly at first, but then the last of her fear fades and is replaced by determination. The wound heals faster and faster, knitting back together. It wasn't so bad after all. Tsunade looks at the blood soaked into Naruto's jacket and sees only blood. The bad memories are still there, but there is no fear anymore.
Shizune comes running, Tonton in his arms. "Lady Tsunade! Naruto!" he calls "What happened?"
"Where've you been?" Tsunade demands.
"Naruto flew on ahead!" explains Shizune. "I followed as fast as I could, but Naruto can fly really fast!"
"I practice every day," says Naruto, smiling weakly. "Grandma says you gotta practice if you wanna get good and stay good. 'Course, she was talking about music, but that's okay, 'tebayo."
Naruto's abdominal wound is healed now. Tsunade picks up Naruto's hand and heals the cut between his fingers.
Naruto sits up and grins. "So now that I won the bet, will you come back to the Leaf and heal Sasuke? We have to get back today, 'tebayo, and-"
Tsunade laughs. "Then let's get going, brat," she says. Then Tsunade takes off her necklace and tries to tie it around Naruto's neck. "You won this as well."
"Ew, no!" says Naruto, pulling a face. "Why would I want your crummy necklace?"
Tsunade glares at Naruto. "I'll have you know this necklace belonged to the First Hokage!"
Naruto's expression changes. "Okay, fine," he says, staring at the necklace. "I'll take it, then. I'm going to be Hokage one day."
Tsunade rolls her eyes and fastens her grandfather's necklace around Naruto's neck.
No sooner has Jiraiya touched the ground than vines wrap around him, trapping him in place once more.
"The food is trying to escape," says Zestsu's whiny voice. "Bad food!"
"It's more fun when the food puts up a fight," says Zetsu's deep voice. "Now how about marinating him in wild grass and olive oil, then frying him?"
"Mmm, that sounds yummy," says the whiny voice. "Do we leave the clothes on or off?"
"Leave them on," says the deep Zetsu. "They add flavour when cooking. Like an oven bag, but smellier."
"True, but this one's really dirty," whines the whiny voice. "It might taste awful!"
"Heeeeeeeeeelloooooooo!" a strange white being rises out of the ground.
"What?" asks Zetsu. "I'm trying to decide how to eat this human!"
"We're retreating," says the strange white creature. "The Nine Tails kid broke the mask. You can eat that some other time!"
"Very well," says Zetsu. "I have a snack stored away, anyways."
Zetsu and the strange white creature disappear into the ground and the vines entrapping Jiraiya retract.
Jiraiya has no time to ponder what just happened. He runs full speed through the village, hoping he will be in time to stop Tsunade from doing whatever she is planning on doing. What mask did Naruto break, Jiraiya wonders. Was it this mysterious Masked Man's mask? Or was it something else?
Jiraiya makes it a fair way through town before he sees Tsunade, Shizune and Naruto strolling along towards him.
"Hey!" Naruto yells, waving. "I mastered the Rasengan! Tsunade's gonna come back to the Leaf with us!"
"Oi!" snaps Tsunade. "That's Lady Tsunade to you!"
"Old Lady, More like," says Naruto, cheekily.
"Well, she is my age," says Jiraiya, joining them. "Even though she doesn't look it."
"Hah!" says Naruto, dodging an angry cuff over the ear from Tsunade. "Granny! Granny! Granny Tsunade!"
"Oi! I'm not that old!" growls Tsunade.
Naruto laughs and runs off like a graffiti artist who's been caught red-handed. Tsunade gives chase, followed closely by Shizune. Jiraiya rolls his eyes and heads to the inn to get their things. No doubt Naruto is making a break for the road back to Konoha. The kid keeps everything sealed into his jacket, so he's probably not worried about anyone else's stuff.