AN: Alrighty, here's chapter two! I hope I don't disappoint :D
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; it is the property of Masashi Kishimoto
–
Naruto was scared. More so than he had ever been at any point in his life. Waking up earlier that morning, he thought that by now he would be sporting a brand new chuunin jacket, in front of a large cheering crowd screaming praises to his name. Instead, here he was, running to stop his idiot of a team mate from getting himself killed.
It was only minutes earlier that the tournament was still under way. Sasuke and Gaara were in the arena kicking each other's butts, while he was having a great time in the competitor's stand reveling in his victory over Neji. Thanks to Tsunade's avoidance training, the Hyuuga prodigy was barely able to lay a finger on Naruto. In the end, it became a war of attrition, and let's just be honest- when it comes down to stamina, no genin could match Naruto. To say that everyone in the stadium was shocked at the outcome was an understatement. Up until that genjutsu hit, Naruto was having a very good day indeed.
Even now, Naruto didn't know how exactly it happened. One moment he was watching Sasuke charging up his Chidori, and in the next he found himself being prodded awake by Sakura and a grumbling Shikamaru. Apparently they found themselves in the midst of an invasion. Before they could ready themselves for battle, however, Kakashi had appeared before them and assigned them a mission to bring Sasuke back. The genin took it upon himself to chase Gaara out of the arena without any back up, so it was up to them to make sure he didn't die. On the way out, they ran into Shino, who appeared to have been able to break the genjutsu as well. It was in this situation that Naruto now found himself in. Led by Kakashi's own ninja dog, Pakkun, the four closely followed the scent trail left behind by the sand siblings and Konoha's last Uchiha.
In his distraction, Naruto failed to notice a small slug crawl out from under his hitai-ate until it spoke to him. "Naruto-san."
"What the-" in his surprise, Naruto ran straight into a tree.
"Keep up, baka!" screamed Sakura as she jumped over him.
Naruto stood up and continued tree-hopping. Looking at the slug, he asked, "Katsuyu-sama, how long have you been there!"
"One week, Naruto-san. Since you never take off your forehead protector, I found it to be a convenient hiding place." Naruto made a mental note to shower more often. "But that's besides the point. I have a message from Tsunade-san. She says to remember your training, don't die, and that if you should die, she'll bring you back to life just to kill you again."
In his head, Naruto was trying to remember the three* laws of medic ninja that Tsunade taught him during their month of training.
Rule one- No medic ninja shall ever stop medical treatment until the lives of their party members have come to and end. Damn it Baa-chan, you didn't teach me any medical techniques. What the hell am I gonna do? Rule two- No medic ninja something something lines. Damn it, I should have paid more attention to that one. Oh well. If I make it out of this one alive, I'll ask her later. Rule three- No medic ninja shall ever die until they are the last of their platoon. Ugh. I just hope no one dies, period. How am I supposed to fight by these rules? I'm not a medic nin like the old lady!
As if reading his mind, the slug was quick to quash the doubt in his mind. "Do not worry, Naruto-san. Remember, we slugs are proficient at utilizing basic healing jutsu. Just feed us chakra, and we'll do the rest."
Naruto nodded, feeling more confident about the upcoming battle.
"Behind us," said Pakkun. "Nine."
"I'll take care of them," Shikamaru volunteered. "You guys keep going." Sakura and Shino nodded at him, and continued with the chase. Naruto, however, remained where he was. "What are you waiting for, idiot. Go! I'll keep them busy."
Naruto threw out some hand seals and summoned two slugs the size of his fore-arm. "Take this," he said, throwing it at Shikamaru. The shadow-user caught it and gave Naruto a questioning look. "Just trust me."
Shikamaru nodded to Naruto as the blonde dashed off to catch up to Sakura and Shino. He didn't exactly know what to do with the slug, but if Naruto said it would help, he wouldn't ignore it. Placing it on his shoulder, he found that it automatically attached itself to him using chakra. "You wouldn't happen to know what to do in this situation, do you?"
"I do not, Shikamaru-san," replied the striped blue creature on his shoulder. "But good luck." At hearing this, Shikamaru sighed. Leave it to Naruto to give him something troublesome. With that thought, he turned his sharp mind to the task ahead of him. Nine enemy ninja were headed his direction, and he had but a few minutes to think of some way to slow them down.
–
Shikamaru didn't have to wait long. As soon as the enemy ninja stepped into the clearing, he triggered the exposive tags he had placed earlier. This forced the sound ninja to collapse into a group where he could easily reach all of them with his shadows.
"Damn it," he cursed. He only counted eight caught in the jutsu. The ninth one had been fast enough to jump out of the way. From his left, he could see the last Sound ninja making his way towards him with a kunai in hand. I don't have enough Chakra to move all eight of these guys with me. I'm either gonna have to let go, or get stabbed
Just as he was about to let the technique go, Shikamaru felt a huge influx of chakra coming from the slug on his shoulder. In less than a second, he felt his own reserves jump back to full. With a reaction time only a genius of his caliber could pull off, the young Nara reinforced his shadow imitation technique and jumped out of the way of the Sound ninja's attack. Before his attacker could recover, he pulled out his own kunai from his pocket and threw it.
Much to the Sound nin's surprise, the attack missed by a huge margin. What he didn't expect, however, were the eight projectiles headed his way coming from his allies. Within seconds he was torn to shreds as he was hit by his own teammates' attack. Shikamaru felt a satisfying sense of accomplishment at the Sound nin's death, and turned his attention to the remaining eight still stuck in his jutsu. "Now, what do I do with you guys?"
Their screams could be heard from miles away.
–
When Asuma arrived, at the clearing, he had expected some action. But to his surprise, he saw his lazy student standing in the middle of a pile of dead enemy ninja.
"Damn, kid. I didn't know you had it in you. Good job. Of course, you owe it all to your awesome teacher," he said smugly.
"You wish, Asuma-sensei," the young genius replied lazily.
"Haha, whatever you say, kid. Let's catch up to the other guys. You can give me a report on the way." Shikamaru nodded to his sensei and started off in the direction Naruto, Sakura, and Shino went. As he was giving Asuma a situation update, he couldn't help but be amazed at how he felt. For lack of a better word, it was absolutely amazing. Despite using most of his chakra in his fight against Temari during the exams, and again with that squad of Sound ninja, he felt like he was on top of the world. Sparing a glance at the slug on his shoulder, he gave it a questioning look.
"I am transferring Naruto-san's chakra to you, Shikamaru-san." replied the creature. "Do not worry. He is still at 73 percent capacity, but please use it sparingly." Shikamaru's eyes widened in surprise. Naruto, what kind of a chakra monster are you?
"Ahead," said Asuma. "Two more chakra signatures."
They arrived at another clearing, where lo' and behold, another one of his team mates was waiting. A quick glance told Shikamaru all he needed to know about what happened. It seemed that Shino had triumphed against Kankuro, the puppet-user, as the Aburame was standing over the unconscious body of his opponent.
"Oy, Shino. You alright?" he asked.
"I am fine, Shikamaru-kun. In fact, I feel fantastic," said the Aburame, pointing to the slug on his own shoulder. It seems that Naruto had also given the bug-user his own chakra battery.
"Let us hurry. Naruto-san and Sakura-san have caught up to their targets and are in need of assistance," said Shino's slug. The three nodded and took off, hoping they wouldn't be too late.
–
Naruto couldn't believe that worked. For that matter, neither could his teammates. Sakura looked like she was about to come over and hit him over the head, while Sasuke just face-palmed.
"You idiot!," yelled Sakura. "That's not a real move!"
Naruto just smiled. "Hey, it worked, didn't it?" he said, pointing a finger at the injured Gaara.
"A little too well, I think. Now he looks even angrier than before. Good job, dobe," said Sasuke. Naruto hated to admit it, but Sasuke was right. Within seconds, Gaara's sand had recovered from the damage the blonde had inflicted.
On the bright side, none of the members of Team 7 had any injuries on their person. The slugs found themselves working overtime healing all of the minor injuries Gaara had been able to inflict. Luckily, the sand-monster had yet to hit anyone with something crippling enough to render the slug-healing useless. But Naruto knew it was just a matter of time. The red-head was deadly, and if they didn't make a move soon, someone was bound to get hurt. On top of that, the healing slugs were really taking a toll on Naruto's own reserves, even more so than the ones he left behind with Shikamaru and Shino.
"I can't keep this up too much longer guys. I may have a lot of stamina, but if we don't end this soon even I'm gonna end up dry," Naruto warned. At this, Sasuke nodded and began to charge up a Chidori. Sakura also heeded the warning, and prepared some ninja wire and exposive tags.
"Kage bunshin no jutsu!," yelled Naruto. Suddenly he was surrounded by a dozen clones. He sent them all to attack the sand demon, as a distraction. As expected, Gaara had dispelled them all, but the resulting smoke meant that he couldn't see Sakura's ninja wire wrap around him.
"Kai!" said the pink-haired girl, igniting all of the explosive tags she had attached to the wires. While barely leaving a mark on Gaara himself, the explosions were strong enough to disperse the outer layer of sand, leaving the Sand-shinobi with only one layer of his ultimate defense left.
"Chidori!" Sasuke utilized this opportunity to unleash his most devastating attack. Before it could land though, the raven-haired gennin found himself flying through the air as a gigantic gust of wind threw him off course.
Naruto couldn't believe they forgot about her. When he and Sakura had caught up to Sasuke, the female Sand ninja seemed content to let her brother do most of the work, content to watch from the sidelines and determined not to get caught in the crossfire. Naruto had assumed that she would simply stay out of the way.
At this point, Naruto was starting to feel the strain. He had been supplementing four people with his chakra. He thought about cutting off Shikamaru and Shino, but he needed them to get here fresh enough to help out with the fight, not dead on their feet. Removing his chakra now would just leave them back to their exhausted states.
Speaking of his wayward team mates, Naruto sensed their approach. "Sasuke, Sakura, backup is incoming." No sooner had the words left his lips that the stragglers from his mission team caught up, bringing with them a fresh Jounin in the form of Sarutobi Asuma.
"Asuma-sensei!" Sakura exclaimed once she saw him.
The jounin nodded. "Good job kids. I'll take it from here. Take care of the Sand girl." Accepting the order, all of the genin turned their attention to Temari, who suddenly looked nervous at the prospect of fighting a 5-on-1 battle.
Taking their positions, said five surrounded her, ready to pounce. Before they could do so, however, Temari opened up her fan to its full size and blew a huge gust of wind at Sakura. The pink-haired girl tried to dodge it, but was completely blown away by the power of the attack. Temari took this opportunity to escape through the opening Sakura left behind. Unfortunately for her, for the second time that day she found herself caught in Shikamaru's Shadow imitation technique, unable to move an inch further. Shino then used his kikai bugs to siphon her chakra away, leaving her exhausted and unable to move.
After tying her up the genin found Sakura, who had landed in an awkward position and had broken her arm. "Sorry, Sakura-chan, but I don't know how to mend bones yet," said Naruto.
"It's ok Naruto, I'm not in any pain. This slug is really useful," she said, giving the creature on her shoulder a small pat on its head.
"Ah, yeah, Katsuyu-sama is the best summon ever!" Naruto admitted that while he was wary of the slug summons before, their utility had proven to him how strong they could be.
"Oy, let's go see if Asuma-sensei needs any help. He's still fighting Gaara," said Shikamaru.
"Pssh," said Sasuke. "He's a jounin. What jounin can't handle a-"
He was interrupted by the sound of an agonizing roar permeating the air. The genin turned their heads towards the jounin and his fight agaist the Ichibi Jinchuuriki, and were horrified by what they saw. Torrents of sand were converging on Gaara, whose size was growing by the second. Asuma himself looked no worse for wear, but seemed perplexed at what was happening before him.
"Asuma-sensei," asked Shikamaru. "What' happened?"
"I don't know!" the Jounin exclaimed. "One second I was beating the crap out of him, and the next he's exploding in a crap ton of sand." Said sand-monster was now as tall as the trees. "I think I hit him a little too hard on the head."
"Uh, Asuma-sensei, did you knock him out?" asked Sakura. "Because he said earlier in the exams that he'd never been able to sleep before because of his demon." At her statement, Asuma's eyes widened.
"Well fuck me," he replied. He and the rest of the genin looked on at the sand monster, who was now gigantic, easily towering over the trees. Suddenly, a loud, obnoxious laughter could be heard throughout the forest.
"I... am... finallyyyyyyyyyyyy FREEEEEEEEEEE!" screamed the giant. Its beady eyes looked around. "Wait, this isn't my desert. Where the hell am I?" After a few seconds its eyes seemingly focused in on Sasuke. "YOU!" it screamed. "You're the one who made my container bleed! I want your blood!" Without warning, it summoned a wave of sand and sent it flying towards Sasuke.
The raven-haired genin, however, could only look on as it headed straight towards him. Despite the fact that he had a Sharingan, his speed was still lacking. He had no chance of dodging it. Before it could reach its intended target, though, Sasuke saw a flash of blonde from the corner of his eye. He suddenly felt himself being pushed out of the way.
"Naruto!" he yelled. He couldn't believe it. It was the reverse of what happened in Wave. This time, it was his team mate who sacrificed himself for the Uchiha.
"We're even now, teme," Naruto was able to say, before his head disappeared underneath the churning waves of sand that now covered him.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! What an idiot!" exclaimed the sand-demon. "Who's next?" he said, looking around expectantly. Before it could do any more harm, however, it stopped in its tracks. None of the genin could see what caused this pause in the huge creature. Their silent questions were quickly answered, however, when they all felt it.
Their first warning came from the slugs on their shoulders. Instead of the calm green chakra that had they had constantly been exuding, the slugs were now glowing a violent red. Shikamaru had never seen anything like it before in his life.
"Brace yourself, Shikamaru-san," his slug said. Seconds after he received this warning, Shikamaru was hit by a blinding pain emitting from the creature on his shoulder. A foreign chakra, much more potent than what Naruto had given him earlier, entered his system, forcing its way through his chakra coils. Looking around, he saw that his fellow genin were in much the same position as he was, screaming out in pain as their insides were being slowly invaded.
The pain stopped as quickly as it started. Sasuke stood up, realizing that whatever that energy was had forced him to his knees. What... what is this energy? he asked himself. He had never felt stronger than ever. Looking at his hands, he saw that his fingernails had extended and hardened themselves into sharp claws. On his right, he heard Sakura gasp. She had noticed the changes in her hands as well. Furthermore, it seemed that her arm was no longer broken. The biggest change in her, however, were her eyes. Instead of the bright green that normally dominated them, there was dark red surrounding cat-like pupils.
The genin looked about themselves, noticing that they had all developed slight feral-like characteristics**. A small explosion brought their attention to the pile of sand that Naruto was buried under. A clawed hand had emerged from the sand, followed by a patch of blonde hair, signaling that their friend was indeed alive. The group collectively breathed a sigh of relief.
"I. Hate. Sand!" exclaimed Naruto, as he climbed out of the hole he created. Unlike his teammates, Naruto was covered in a thin shroud of red chakra. He looked around at his fellow team mates. "Ah, damn it. It looks like I have some explaining to do." They all just nodded,curious about the power surging through their veins.
"Explanations later, Naruto. For now, we have to deal with that thing," Asuma said, pointing over his shoulder at the giant raccoon demon that dominated the landscape.
"On top of his head," Sasuke said. "I can see Gaara from here. It looks like he's unconscious."
"All we have to do is wake him up. That should at the very least stop the demon. Plus, he'd been throwing chakra around earlier like it was candy, so he's bound to be tired," Shikamaru said. "We just have to find a way up there."
"You all know how to tree-walk?" Asuma asked. Receiving a confirmation from the five genin, "Alright. Two teams of three, we're gonna climb that son of a bitch. Be on high alert, and ready to dodge anything that thing can throw at us. Distract him as much as you can, and split his attention. Whoever can get to the top first wake him up."
"Hai!" they all replied, before dashing away. Asuma couldn't help but feel disconcerted, as he saw that the five genin all dashed away running on all fours. Putting that thought aside, he followed Shino and Shikamaru as they started their climb on the Sand-demon's left leg.
–
Sakura couldn't say that she'd ever climbed anything in a more hectic manner. Ever step she took, a spike of sand erupted from the surface of the demon's sand armor. At every turn, tentacles of sand formed ahead of them trying to swat them away. Her reflexes had never been more taxed than they had been at this moment. Luckily, with the help of Naruto's weird red chakra in her system, she was able to react quickly, run faster, jump higher than she had ever been able to before. When sand obstacles blocked her way, she found herself clawing through them instead of around them. To her side, she saw a flash of fire erupting. A tentacle of sand had forced Sasuke to jump away, but he had used a fire jutsu to blast himself back onto the surface of the beast. On the other side, Naruto had been faring just as well, utilizing his shadow clones and kawarimi to quickly escape anything that had grabbed a hold of him.
To say that she was impressed with her blonde team mate was an understatement. He had surprised her time and again with his unpredictability and creativity in tough situations. Sakura could say that without a doubt, they wouldn't be faring so well against Gaara without him. Seeing both of her team mates grow so much in the past month, Sakura resolved to not get left behind. What have I been doing this past month? she thought to herself in disgust. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Wake up, Sakura. You're a ninja now.
In truth, she was right. She had treated the past month as a vacation of sorts. Without Kakashi or her team mates there, she hadn't even taken a single D-rank mission, let alone train. She had to get stronger, just like Sasuke. Just like Naruto.
–
When team seven reached the sand-demon's head, Sakura saw Asuma, Shikamaru, and Shino jump from the other side. Unfortunately, Gaara's demon also knew that they were near its host's body, and pulled out all of the defenses it had. Huge torrents of sand began to form large arms, erupting from the ground they were standing on and trying to grab at the shinobi. Shikamaru was the first to be caught, followed by Sasuke and Sakura.
"I will save them. Asuma-sensei, Naruto, keep going," said Shino, who seemingly sent out an unending cloud of insects from his sleeves. The kikaichu bugs flew out to catch the three genin, attaching themselves to the arms of sand that had them in their grips. Siphoning chakra from these sand constructs made them lose their form, leaving the three genin in mid-air. Luckily, Shino's insects formed a floating cloud underneath each genin, carrying them safely back towards the bug-user.
Asuma and Naruto drew close to Gaara's unconscious body. Actually reaching the sand-nin became more difficult, as the sand under their feet acted like a treadmill, forcing them away every time they moved forward.
"Asuma-sensei!" Naruto cried out. Forming the seal for his kage bunshin, Naruto created a group of clones in front of Asuma, which the Jounin used as stepping stones in order to reach Gaara. When he was within reach, Asuma focused chakra on the tip of his fingers and touched the 'love' kanji on Gaara's forehead, sending a jolt running through the sand ninja's body.
As soon as he woke up, it was as if a switch was turned off. The gigantic mountain of sand below them all lost its form instantaneously. Without the Ichibi's chakra to maintain it, the whole construct collapsed, causing all seven to fall hundreds of feet to the ground.
Instead of dying a gruesome death by falling, however, all seven including Asuma and Gaara soon found themselves inside the stomachs of human-sized slugs, cushioning their fall. After a few bounces, the genin and one jounin were promptly spit out onto the ground, covered in slime.
"Ewwwwwwwwwww!" Sakura shrieked. "What the hell, Naruto!"
"Indeed," said Shino. "My insects and I found that... unpleasant."
"Hehe," said the slug-summoner. "Sorry about that. At least we're alive, right?"
While the other genin were trying their best to clean the slime off of themselves, Shikamaru sat in quiet contemplation. All of that red energy had disappeared once they landed, and none of this fellow genin still had the feral characteristics that they developed minutes earlier. "So, Naruto. What exactly was that?" he inquired.
The blonde looked like a deer caught in headlights, realizing his predicament. He looked at his friends earnestly, hoping that after he revealed his secret, they would still be his friends. But before he was about to speak, he was interrupted by the one person who he was least expecting.
"You're like me, aren't you," said Gaara. "You have a demon inside you." Everyone turned their attention to the one person they had forgotten about. Gaara lay there, exhausted but lucid.
"What are you talking about? Naruto's nothing like you!" said Sakura.
"Yes he is," replied Gaara. "He's exactly like me. He has a demon in him that he can't control. But tell me, Uzumaki? What's your secret? Why are you so strong? Why are you all so strong?" The last part left Gaara almost breathless, frustrated that he couldn't prove his existence.
"Because," said Naruto breathlessly, "we don't fight for ourselves. We fight for those who are precious to us. We fight for each other."
"For... each other?" Gaara looked confused. "What if... what if there's no one else?" At this proclamation, Naruto felt the greatest pity for the defeated jinchuuriki.
"There is always someone" said Temari. Gaara had completely forgotten about his sister, but there she was, tied to a tree with his unconscious brother. "There is always someone, Gaara. Kankuro and I, we're there for you. We're your family, and we'll always be there for you. Even if you don't acknowledge us." At hearing his sister's confirmation, tears started pouring from Gaara's eyes.
"Onee-chan..." he said quietly.
–
The trip back to Konoha was a quiet affair. Asuma led the way, followed by the genin carrying their prisoners. Surprisingly, they were all physically well, if not a bit exhausted. Naruto had finally sent his slugs home, leaving them all with low levels of chakra.
No one spoke about the revelation about their blonde-haired companion. Naruto, in all his insecurity, felt himself fall into the arms of depression. He was worried. Since no one has said anything, and he couldn't read their minds, he could only assume the worst. He was interrupted from his thoughts by Asuma.
"All of you head to the hospital. I'll take these three with me to the holding cells," he said. Grabbing Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara, he slung them over his shoulders and disappeared in a flash of leaves.
Looking around at his fellow Genin, Naruto started to walk away. Before he could take more than a few steps, he felt a hand grasp him by the shoulder. Looking at the owner of the hand, he asked, "What do you want, Sakura-chan?"
She said nothing as she pulled him into a hug. Tears formed in his eyes, as he looked at Shikamaru and Shino, both of whom sighed and shook their heads.
"Man, Naruto. Why did I have to get stuck with such an annoying friend," said Shikamaru, waving his hand at them dismissively before walking away.
"I look forward to working with you in future missions, Naruto-kun," said Shino, following Shikamaru.
"Don't think this makes you special, dobe." said Sasuke, crossing his arms and sticking his nose arrogantly in the air.
Naruto smiled. He'll take what he can get. Naruto started to feel his spirits rise. His friends accepted him, and right now that was all that mattered. But suddenly he felt a sharp killing intent from Sakura.
"Naruto," she said dangerously, "Don't you ever stick me inside of a slug and cover me in slime ever again, got it?"
Rubbing his hand on the back of his head and smiling, "Sure thing, Sakura-chan. Never again."
–
It took about one week after the invasion for things to settle down again. In the interim, the elders Homura and Koharu, both of whom were the Sandaime's old teammates from many years ago and powerful ninjas in their own right, took charge of the Administrative responsibilities while Nara Shikaku, the Jounin Commander, handled Konoha's military forces. Until the Daimyo convened the council and appointed a new Hokage, it was up to them to maintain the illusion of Konoha's strength to outside forces.
During times of instability, it was generally considered polite to follow their orders without question, as any signs of dissonance amongst the ranks during these crucial points could resonate as weakness to their enemies. Consequently, when Tsunade received their summons she couldn't very well say "no."
Upon entering the makeshift office the three leaders fashioned for themselves in the Hokage Tower, Tsunade already knew what they were going to ask of her. As they laid their argument out for her candidacy, her thoughts started to wander. She often imagined what it would be like to have been chosen to be the Yondaime at one point in time, and she would be lying if she had said the offer of being Godaime didn't cross her mind ever since she attended the Third's funeral. But truth be told she just wasn't capable of taking on the title. Yes, the position came with great power and responsibilities. Yes, the position came with a lot of political clout she could use to push forward the few policies that she championed. And most importantly, yes the position came with a near-endless expense account she could use to fund her compulsive gambling.
But she had a duty to Konoha. Maintaining her intelligence network was perhaps one of the few things that made the village rise up above and beyond its peers. Konoha had strong shinobi, but so did Kiri and Suna. Yes, Konoha had a booming economy, but so did Kumo and Iwa. The other villages didn't become great by sitting idly. What Konoha had, was intelligence. Forewarning. And while everyone had their own spy network, none was as fast nor as deeply seeded as Tsunade's. The downside, was that they trusted her, and only her with their information. Yes, her spies were loyal, but not to village itself.
Once upon a time, she had thought she would eventually been able to hand down her mantle as spy-master to her would-be apprentice, Shizune. They had travelled together for a while. Tsunade built upon the extensive medical knowledge the girl had already established herself during her travels. Unfortunately though, that plan fell short as extenuating circumstances drew the girl from her dream of becoming a medic nin on level with Tsunade herself. Speaking of Shizune... yes. That might work. Thoughts of her errant apprentice triggered an idea.
"Homura-san. Koharu-san. Nara-taichou," she said. Interrupting Homura's tirade of why Tsunade should be the next Hokage. "I have, a better idea..."
–
Naruto had spent much of the last week in a jumble. He felt as if he'd been thoroughly gone on an emotional roller coaster. In the same week he had received the first signs of acceptance from people close to him, the only grandfather-figure in his life was murdered. The highs and lows of the past week were really getting to him. Luckily, there was so much to do to keep his mind off of things. The Chuunin offices had a huge backlog of D-ranked missions, most of which had to do with repairing the damage done by the invasion.
In addition, it seemed that Sakura was really serious about improving herself as a ninja, oftentimes asking Naruto and Sasuke to help train her. Naruto felt elated that she would ask him for training, not because he still harbored feelings for her, but rather because it was a sign of her acknowledgement that he was someone strong enough to teach her a thing or two about fighting. Sasuke also enjoyed this new Sakura much better than before, because in the end he really did have a healthy respect for strength and the people willing to go the extra distance to obtain it.
"No, Sakura. Like this," Naruto said. "You need to widen your stance a bit more, so that you can utilize all of your muscles in your body when you punch instead of just using the ones in your arms."
Sakura nodded, and by following Naruto's advice, was able to deliver a substantial hit on the training dummy in front of her. "Arigato, Naruto-kun."
A slow clapping could be heard, and Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all turned towards its source. "Would you look at that? And the student has become the master!"
"Tsunade-baa-chan!" Naruto yelled. At hearing the moniker, said woman blushed red in anger, as veins began to bulge on her forehead.
"Naruto! Show some respect!" admonished Sakura. "Do you not realize who that is? That's Tsunade of the Sannin! The most powerful kunoichi in the world!"
Hearing this attracted Sasuke's interest. So she's the one who trained Naruto. Hm. Doesn't seem so special to me.
"Meh. Baa-chan's just a crazy lady," Naruto said dismissively.
"Baka!" Tsunade screamed out. "I am not crazy, and I am most definitely not OLD!" Before Naruto could dodge it, she had already struck out with her fist, sending him flying straight up into the air.
Strong! Sasuke thought, having a complete 180 change of opinion on the woman before him. "Teach me," he commanded.
"Sorry, kid," she replied. "I already have an apprentice." Naruto chose this exact moment to land right in front of her. "Even if he may not look the part," she sighed. Hands glowing with chakra, she picked him up and started healing the numerous broken bones Naruto had just developed. Throwing him over her shoulder, she started walking away.
"Um, Tsunade-sama, where are you going with Naruto?" asked Sakura timidly.
"I'm gonna go on a little mission. Tell Kakashi when you see him that I received a special dispensation from the Advisory Council to take the brat with me, so he's excused from his normal duties until further notice. We'll be back in a few weeks."
"Hai, Tsunade-sama," answered Sakura as the pair shunshin'ed away. She would be lying to herself if she didn't feel a little jealous of Naruto, as he was about to go on a trip with every little ninja girl's role model.
"Tsk, whatever. I'll find someone else strong to train me," said Sasuke.
–
It took Naruto a few minutes to regain consciousness. When he woke up, he was lying on his back, and all he could see was the bright sky and a few trees passing by. Sitting up, he realized that he, Tsunade, and Tonton were on the back of a giant slug crawling at a surprisingly fast pace away from Konoha. He could see the village gates quickly disappearing behind him. He turned an inquisitive look to his master, to which she replied "Don't worry, Naruto. We'll only be gone a few weeks. We're gonna go looking for a friend of mine. His name is Jiraiya, and he's gonna be the next Hokage."
AN: Wooooooohhhhh. That was harder than the first chapter haha. A couple of you guys asked about pairings, and for now let's leave it open-ended. This isn't exactly a story about romance, so if I do decide to make a pairing in the future, it will be very minimal and be low-key. I don't know if I was clear near the end, but just to nip the issue in the bud, no Shizune is not dead, she is with Jiraiya (not in that way you sickos lol). Just exactly why she is will be revealed in the next chapter :D Also, I hoped I did the fighting scene with Gaara ok. I didn't want Naruto to do the whole summon fight thing again, but I wanted him to have a reason for being given Tsunade's slug summon contract and a way of teaching him to use Kyuubi's chakra. The fic is entitled Slug Sage, and I think it's more than appropriate for him to incorporate them into his fighting capabilities in a rather heavy-handed manner. Anywho, lemme know what you think! Good reviews, bad reviews, all are welcome. I'd love to hear more about your guys' ideas about where this story could go. I have my own, but who knows what crazy shit people on this website can come up with? Lol.
*I don't know if this is canon or not, but let's just say that at this point in time, Tsunade hasn't created the Strength of a Hundred Technique yet, and that there are only three laws that medic nin have to abide by.
**Think of what Naruto looked like in the Wave Country Arc, only they're not all glowy- just the slugs.