Wait, what?
How?
What?
You?
How did you do that?
Jiraiya, Shizune, Jiraiya, and Tsunade were all walking towards the hidden leaf, incredibly mad about Naruto ditching them.
"Jiraiya I thought you said this kid made people want to be around him," she looked at the sage only to see two perfect copies of him. She stood frozen, staring at the two men. She reached out to tap Tsunade, but missed as the sannin kept walking.
"What's wrong Shizune," the two Jiraiyas asked, tilting their heads in confusion. Tsunade now looked back and cocked her head in confusion as well. One of the Jiraiyas went up in a poof of smoke to reveal Naruto rolling on the floor, "It took you guys that long to notice?" He said in between gasps for air. Tsunade walked over to the boy and stood over him, arms crossed. Naruto stopped laughing eventually and stared up at the sannin. Her eyes were glowing red.
"Woooah boo- OWF!" The boy exclaimed as he was now in a large, Naruto-shaped crater.
The group had been walking for a while. Jiraiya handed the young boy Icha Icha: The deluxe compendium, and Tsunade squinted, "Jiraiya why are you giving that pervy stuff to him?! He's a kid!"
"Oh no, granny, it's not for me," he held up the book, "I promised one of my friends dads that I would get him this if he let his daughter go with us on a field trip. It's been a couple of years and he's been pretty pissed about it."
Jiraiya interjected, "And so was I. There were only 10 copies of this baby released. So I had to track down my publisher and made him print me one more," he scowled at the boy, "Thanks a lot for that Naruto."
"It's actually the dad of that girl I showed you in my memories, granny."
She nodded. "Yeah. So what? And stop calling me granny!" She stood there confused for a second before the gears started turning in her head. She leaned over and punched Naruto's cheek, "Someone has a girlfriend," she said teasingly.
Naruto batted her hand away as Jiraiya spoke, "Really? This Naruto? He's about the last person I'd expect to be a ladies man," he paused for a second before laughing a big belly laugh, "One time," he kept interrupting himself by laughing, "One time, in the land of hot springs-"
"OKAY OKAY, Pervy Sage that's enough out of you!" Naruto shouted, blushing and planting his hand over the sages mouth, "The last person I'd expect to be a ladies man is Zabuza Momochi, but he's got one too," he said it as if it were common knowledge. It wasn't. Tsunade and Shizune looked at him in confusion. Shizune was just confused because she had never heard of Zabuza before.
"How do you know who any of the seven ninja swordsman are?"
"Well they are the Legendary seven ninja swordsman of the mist," Tsunade rolled her eyes, "And I figured, hey, since I'm one of them-"
"WHAT?!" Tsunade was now stuck in a fit of hysterical laughter. That was until Naruto pulled out Nuibari.
"She said you're the most inelegant woman she's ever seen," Tsunade abruptly stopped laughing and stood up slowly, her eyes glowing red once again.
"What did you say you twerp," she muttered, rolling up her sleeves.
Naruto attempted to explain, pointing to the blade, "It was- no granny I swear the swor-"
"STOP CALLING ME GRANNY!" She said as she pummeled the boy once again.
After another long stretch of walking, Tsunade had grown curious about the boy, "How did you get that thing anyway?"
"All of the mist blades are earned via one v. one duels."
"Yeah but... how?"
"You mean how did he win the duel?" Jiraiya interjected, "You'd be surprised, Tsunade, this kid is strong. Maybe even stronger than me at this point," he muttered as he stared ahead.
Tsunade stopped for a moment and tilted her head, "But he's, what, thirteen?"
"No I'm thirteen and a half," Naruto said smugly, "I'll be fourteen in October."
About all that Tsunade could say on the way back to Konoha was, "How?"
"I skipped directly to anbu at such a young age because I had the brain of an experienced anbu at age 2," he paused, "Well I wasn't born with it. Kurama and I thought that he had given me his experience when he healed me one time," he paused and looked at Tsunade, "after I 'fell'," she got the message, "but in reality, I used these," he flashed his fūinnome to the group, "to copy the mind of an experienced anbu, also acquiring wood release."
"So you can-" Naruto interrupted her by sprouting a flower from his hand, then placing it in Shizune's hair, much to her surprise. "What were those eyes?"
"Well I'm not supposed to tell anyone, but Pervy Sage trusts you. I call it the fūinnome. It lets me perfectly copy a persons knowledge and abilities, even kekkei genkai."
"Woah. Maybe you are stronger than Jiraiya."
The walk home was rather uneventful. There was small talk about the village going-ons, including the chūnin exams. "Speaking of which, Naruto don't you have a month of to train?" Said boy nodded in return, "I think you might be old enough to try to master Sage jutsu. And we can open up that seal and see how you handle Kurama's chakra," he said with a beaming smile.
Tsunade began to speak worriedly, "Jiraiya, I don't know if-"
"Kurama said he'd always be willing to lend me chakra."
"He wha?" The group asked dumbfounded.
"He told me. Kurama and I have been friends for a while," he fist bumped the fox inside his mind. "Hey Pervy Sage, can we stop somewhere I'm starv..." his voice seemed to fade away as Tsunade thought to herself.
'This kid just keeps on surprising me,'
They all stopped at a little bakery and bought sandwiches for the journey home. Naruto went back into the bakery and came back out holding a small box tied shut with twine. "What's in the box, pipsqueak."
"None of your business, granny," the two turned away from each other and 'hmphed.'
The travelers arrived at Konoha to be greeted by Shisui and Hinata.
"Hinata-chan," Naruto ran towards the girl, box in hand.
"Careful Naru-kun, broken leg remember?" The boy slowed down just a bit before colliding in a hug. He released and handed her the box before turning to Shisui,
"What are you doing here, Aniki?"
"I was just looking after your girlfriend while you were gone," he got a blush from Naruto. Hinata opened the box and lifted out a cinnamon bun, beaming with delight. Shisui laughed, "You can eat other foods too, kehiban." Her head snapped to the Uchiha and she activated her byakugan. Shisui shot up and looked away, "Right, sorry, nevermind," his voice cracked as he talked. He turned his attention towards Tsunade and relaxed, letting out a scoff, "Hmph, Senju," he said as he shook his head.
"Damn Uchiha," Tsunade growled awkwardly the two were now face to face, an inch apart. They sat there for a second. It was intense. Hinata didn't notice and continued to munch away. "Nah I'm just kidding," Tsunade let out a laugh as she pinched Shisui's cheek, "The Uchiha are okay in my book. Plus, you're friends with Naruto, right?"
"We're okay? Just okay?!" Shisui shouted, feigning anger, "I was just joking as well. If you're a friend of Naruto, then you're a friend of mine. You are welcome in the Uchiha compound anytime, Tsunade-sama," he bowed after he finished. He stood up and held out a hand and tilted his head with a smile, "Shisui Uchiha."
'My my,' she blushed and thought to herself. She stuck out her hand and shook the Shisui's, 'The Uchiha still are quite striking.'
Naruto introduced Jiraiya to Hinata and they all went their separate ways. Tsunade, having nowhere else to stay, followed Shisui to the Uchiha compound. It was evening and the sun was still up, but going down fast. "Hinata," Naruto picked her up bridal style, getting a yelp from the girl, "let's go watch the sunset."
Shisui showed Tsunade and Shizune to their room, "This was Naruto's room, so he'll just have to live in his apartment for a while."
"Hey why does he live here anyway? If he has his own apartment, why not just stay there?" It seemed like a simple question. But then again, nothing in the shinobi world was simple.
"He's uhh," he paused and looked down, "he's been through a lot of stuff."
Tsunade hung her head at this as well, "He showed me."
"Well then you probably know why he has to stay here better than I," he paused, "I'm sorry you had to see that."
"Shouldn't feel bad for me," Tsunade said coldly.
"I've known that kid for as long as you deserted the village," he retorted, "The last thing he wants is for people to feel bad for him just because he hurts inside," he shook his head and walked over to the open window. He leaned onto its side and spoke, "The only thing he wants is to love. And for others to be loved," he turned to her, "He doesn't give a damn about being loved. But that doesn't stop me or any of the countless people in the village who do." He stormed out of the silent room. He needed to cool off. Maybe watch the sunset.
Naruto lay Hinata down in front of the tree and sat next to her. She plopped her head on Naruto's lap. She could have fallen asleep right there. That was like her second home. "Naruto-kun?" The boy looked down to the back of her head, "Why do we always come here again?" She knew the answer, she just liked hearing it from Naruto.
"What was it that Sakura said? 'Good people are just naturally attracted to this tree'," he paused, "there's just some sort of aura that calls to them."
Shisui was walking through the village aimlessly. He had a rough idea on where he had to go and what he was going to do, but his mind was kinda all over. 'Who am I to say sorry to Tsunade for that? I should've just kept my mouth shut,' then he bumped into somebody. Somebody big. Scary. "Hey what's the- oh hey Shisui," it was Zabuza, "That's your one warning," he looked at Haku, who was beaming.
"That was so nice, Zabuza-kun," she looked at the Uchiha, "What's up Shisui?"
He forgot. Uh oh this was not good. Whenever he talked to a female his age he just froze up, "uh i it's uh," he muttered.
"Well spit it out Shisui," it was Zabuza this time, thank god.
"Oh right, uh, I was going to watch the sunset, would you two like to?"
Haku obliged before Zabuza could deny. She was becoming more assertive, doing more of what she wanted, not just following Zabuza.
The three found Naruto and Hinata sitting under the tree and joined them. The two couples sat on either side of Shisui. He wasn't jealous, he told himself. He was just happy to have their company, he also told himself.
Hey all!
Sorry if you were expecting chūnin exams. I realized that it probably wasn't going to happen so soon and I probably jumped the gun on saying they were coming up. There's probably a good 3 or maybe even 5 chapters of story I have to do before the chūnin exam finals.
Anyway~
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. It wasn't my favorite. Everything feels kinda like it's blending together at this point. I think I'm going to be putting more action in, or at least trying to, from now on. Have a good day/night (or else!). If you've read this far, then congrats! You have read through 20 chapters of my sappy fan fiction. This is a huge milestone for me as I have written close to 40,000 words in this book. Woah. Although this is my least favorite chapter so far, it still represents something big for me.
Jerry out!