AN: Sorry for the long wait but work is eating up my time to write. I would like to thank those who have reviewed as always. Your humble author S. o. t. A.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I'm doing this for fun not profit

Chapter 9: The Trip

"What are we doing here Pervy Sage?" Naruto asked upon setting eyes on the small town inside the crater they were approaching.

"Looking for Tsunade of course," Jiraiya replied looking behind him at the two genin.

Sakura pulled out an atlas she had brought and read the name of the town for Naruto saying, "It's called Shukuba Town." Reading further she looked up at Jiraiya quickly saying, "It's not known for its gambling parlors though." Her voice took on a tone of suspicion as she added, "It is known for its lively brothels however."

Jiraiya cursed bringing the wet blanket along since he believed that without Sakura there Naruto, who was now wearing a look of doubt on his face, would have followed along blissfully unaware of why Jiraiya had picked the town for their first stop. Figuring the truth was called for Jiraiya said sounding serious, "Look you guys. Yes this town is populated with brothels. But they are also dens of information. I go to them to find out what people know…"

"And because you enjoy them," Sakura supplied.

Still sounding serious and before he could stop himself Jiraiya said, "… and because I enjoy them." Trying to recover the seriousness he had been exhibiting he added, "Wait, I mean it's only for the information they contain there."

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto said walking past his sensei along with Sakura, "We aren't a couple of suckers."

Mumbling under his breath Jiraiya said, "At least one of you isn't," scuttling his plan to separate Naruto from his money having seen the full frog wallet he had brought on the trip. Now following behind the two genin, he smiled as their eyes lit up as fireworks began exploding in the air. Having forgotten about the festival, he said, "Ah excellent, this should make things easier."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked looking behind her.

"Well since the festival is going on it means more people have probably traveled here to attend it. With any luck, we'll pick up a hint of where Tsunade is." Reaching the staircase that led down into the crater and town, he added, "Let's go get a feel of the town. We'll meet here at nightfall to find a place to stay."

Jiraiya tossed his pack to Naruto before he headed down the staircase first and due to his exuberance Naruto asked, "Where are you going?"

"Where children cannot tread," Jiraiya replied almost skipping as he proceeded.

Both Sakura and Naruto looked at each other before sighing not needing to give voice to where he was heading. Naruto put Jiraiya's pack on over his own. Since it was just before lunch the two genin headed to the many food stalls. Sakura smiled as Naruto moved from stall to stall ordering all the different things they were offering.

Naruto and she then made their way to a bench where he began devouring his purchases. Sakura ate what she had purchased savoring it as opposed to Naruto's method. As she ate, she took a moment to enjoy the fact that it seemed Naruto's good cheer had returned. Although a great deal of it had before they left as a result of the dinner at her house. It seemed now that it was just the two of them and that they were away from the cold eyes of the civilians, Naruto had returned to his more carefree self. Yet despite that Sakura felt a little of her good cheer slip away since she believed that the last thing Naruto wanted to talk about was the Kyuubi and therefore wouldn't tell her about it. Still she held onto the hope that eventually he would trust her enough to share his secret with her.

Having finished his food and seeing that Sakura was staring off into space her own food forgotten, Naruto asked, "Are you alright Sakura?"

"Hm…what Naruto?"

"Is everything okay," Naruto asked again concerned since now it appeared something was weighing on her.

Sakura gave a tight smile and said, "Yeah. What do you want to do now?"

Naruto fought down a frown since her smile didn't reach her eyes. But he shrugged it off since he was sure she would tell him what was bothering her when the time came. As he knew that sometimes it was hard to share things with people even if he viewed her as the one of the most important.

Naruto shrugged but standing said, "I'm sure we'll find something." Then grabbing her hand he pulled her along behind him ignoring her weak protests in order to help her forget her troubles during the trip like he wanted to forget his.

Fun Fun Avenue was living up to its name as far as Jiraiya was concerned. As he sat squeezed between the two buxom women on the small couch he kept his eyes and ears open for any speck of information related to Tsunade. Unfortunately it seemed that due in part to the limited gambling that the town offered it wasn't the type of place she would linger in. Still he had hoped that due to the relatively small number of money lenders the town offered she would be more memorable if she disappeared without paying her debts.

She had been there years previously when she had first left Konoha but Jiraiya had already known that. The reason he knew was that she had hit village hard and lost almost all her lifesavings. She had then begun taking on large amounts of debt before disappearing without paying the loan-sharks back. It had been during Jiraiya's own travels that he had come to this town and while enjoying the establishment he was currently in. He had overheard several of the bigger money-lenders the town had debating hiring a missing-nin to bring Tsunade back to pay her debts. Some of the ways the men had suggested that she would do so had made Jiraiya want to throttle them, but since she was in the wrong due to her welshing on what she owed fought it down. However, he had then approached the table and asked how much she debt she had racked up. Then upon receiving the amount from the lone female lender present threw his money pouch on the table. He had then left with the warning that should he hear any such talk again they'd be lucky to leave with their lives.

Later that night while thinking of the past he had been approached by the female loan shark. "This seat taken," she asked indicating the stool next to him. Jiraiya took a moment to stare at her finding her to be quite beautiful and rather young for her station in life.

"You've already received your money," Jiraiya said darkly expecting her to leave.

"True, but what I'm truly interested in is the story behind why you would give it," the woman said taking the seat regardless. "My name is Ike Reiko." Jiraiya just grunted taking another sip of his sake. "I would like to know why you would pay that woman's debts, especially since it was unlikely that there is a missing-nin of a caliber to bring her back here."

Jiraiya stared at the woman out of the corner of his eye as he took another sip of his drink. His respect for the young woman went up several notches since he had doubted that the other loan-sharks had the slightest inkling of who they had lent money too. Commenting Jiraiya said, "You knew her."

"Of her, would be a better way of phrasing it. I was one of the first to lend to her, little did I know that Tsunade Senju would take off without settling her bill, or that Jiraiya would appear to pay them."

"If you doubted their success then why waste your time planning with your fellow lenders to bring her back?" Jiraiya asked although he already had a good idea.

Ike confirmed his opinion of her when she said, "How better to gauge what fools ones competitors are? Besides there was a small chance that one of them may have known someone who was capable of bringing her back and best to be there in case as I had lost a considerable amount. Also if I hadn't of been there I'd have missed out on your paying what she owed. So will you tell me, why pay us off?"

Jiraiya sighed but said, "Let's just say fools tend to do foolish things."

"A fool you say," Ike said a smile gracing her lips as she imagined a phrase involving the words fool and love. Standing she told the bartender to put Jiraiya's bill on her tab before saying, "Have a nice night Lord Jiraiya."

Jiraiya paused mid-sip before getting up to follow her. Coming up alongside her, he smiled as she asked, "Not tired of my company yet?"

"Not at all, by the way I have a small proposal for you."

Jiraiya was pulled from his recollections by a small woman walking up to him. Bowing she said, "Lady Reiko is ready for you."

Standing he turned towards the two women who had been entertaining him saying, "Sorry Ladies but business calls." Ignoring the sweet way they called after him. He followed the woman to the third floor of the building. The woman opened a sliding door for him and closed it after he entered while she remained outside the room. Jiraiya smiled at the lone occupant of the room who was as stunning as always, Ike Reiko. She wore a yellow kimono that was opened towards the top exposing her shoulders as well as a decent amount of cleavage.

Ignoring his baser instincts as best he could he knelt across from her saying, "Thank you for seeing me."

"I'm sorry for making you wait," Ike replied although she always tended to, in order for him to spend more money in her establishment.

"Don't be, I was well entertained."

Ike nodded and since the greeting they often exchanged was over with she said, "Now onto business."

Jiraiya sighed saying, "How much does she owe?"

"As per our agreement I've been buying up her debt, and she owes Ten million, seven hundred sixty-two thousand, four hundred twenty eight ryo and thirty seven cents. With the interest incurred we'll call it an even eleven-five."

Jiraiya reached into his pocket to pull out his checkbook. Writing it out for the amount of eleven million five hundred thousand he handed it over. With that out of the way he asked, "Where was she last?"

"The last towns she visited were in the north, but I'm afraid that I can't tell you were she's been since then and that was about two weeks ago."

"Why?"

Ike shrugged saying, "I'm not sure. I believe she's been losing as always but for whatever reason her debtors haven't been angry enough to put the word out on her after she left. Either she's been paying them back, or she's traveling under an alias again."

Jiraiya sighed again guessing he should have known finding Tsunade wasn't going to be a walk in the park. Standing Jiraiya thanked the lady boss making his way for the door. Since the only business this time had to do with Tsunade and not some of the other information she often supplied to him, Ike said, "I see, finally going after her to get your money back."

"Not really," Jiraiya replied, "One of the reasons I've had you collecting her debts was so I could find her quickly when need be. The Hokage has ordered that she return to the village."

Opening the door and stepping out of the room he ignored Ike as she called out after him, "Deny it all you want Jiraiya. But you'd have done this for her regardless, even if you knew she would never set foot in Konoha again."

Closing the door behind him, Jiraiya tried to stamp down on the feelings Ike's words had caused to spring up in him. At times Jiraiya had often wondered if Tsunade had ever questioned why her debtors had never hounded her. Or why some lenders she had gone back to had even lent to her again despite her previous not paying them.

To be truthful he doubted it. For much the same reason he knew why she gambled so much. Granted she had enjoyed it in her youth even with her rotten luck, but it had taken on something far more significant to her in the past decade. While gambling she thought she had a line on death. With every loser pull of a slot machine or atrocious poker hand, Tsunade believed that Death's gaze was focused somewhere else. She didn't know where of course but as long as it wasn't focused on her or the few people remaining she cherished, she didn't care.

It wasn't reasonable especially since every winning streak didn't signify a death, as some of them had also been omens for some of life's changes, such as making chunin or whatnot. But still he knew her fear that death would blindside her again was what kept her in the casinos.

Looking around, Jiraiya for a change didn't feel like indulging in his own eccentricities so decided to head to the meeting spot early. Arriving he was surprised to see the two genin waiting as well, although it was easy to see from the damaged trees nearby that they were probably taking a break from training. Since the trees bore the spiral pattern of an unfinished Rasengan. He was surprised since he would have expected the boy to make the most of the time with his crush.

Sakura surprised him by saying, "I'm glad we decided to get some training in."

Naruto sat up saying, "Yeah, the festival was nice and all but this is still a training trip and mission. Now if only Pervy Sage would take it seriously."

Sakura giggled but nonetheless said, "I'm sure he managed to accomplish something of value."

Making his appearance he said, "Indeed, I have."

"You found her then," Naruto said excitedly.

"Well no, but…"

"You know where she is going," Sakura supplied.

"Not exactly, but…"

"Then what do you know?" both genin asked at the same time.

"I'm getting to that, if you'd let me get a word in," Jiraiya said annoyed. "I know a couple of spots she visited a few months ago," he followed up with lamely some of the wind having been sucked from his sails. Especially as a result of the twin looks of disappointment he received from the pair. Trying to salvage his reputation he said, "Look I know it's not much, but it's a start. When gathering information every little bit helps."

He could see Sakura understood from her own efforts to learn about Naruto. His apprentice though, not so much, which was made evident when he asked, "What good does knowing the places she visited months ago do us?"

Before he could explain Sakura took it upon herself to say, "Well it does quite a bit actually. If he managed to learn what towns she visited and the order she did it in. We can learn in which direction she is heading."

Jiraiya was about to agree with her, but apparently since Sakura had been the one to say it Naruto didn't need to hear his thoughts on the matter saying, "Really, you're so smart Sakura."

Jiraiya chuckled as the girl blushed at the compliment before thanking Naruto. Clearing his throat the Toad Sage got their attention before saying, "Well with the information I've received I think it'll be worth a visit to Tanzaku Town. We have a few hours left till nightfall so how about we do a little training?"

Both genin got back to their feet waiting to see what Jiraiya had in mind. Telling them that they'd be sparring against him, and just before starting Jiraiya let his mind wander to the one thing he was truly envious of. Which was, unlike him, the girl of his apprentice's dreams seemed to be within his reach.

It wasn't often that Shikamaru felt motivated to do anything. But for some reason the mystery surrounding Naruto had captured his full attention. He supposed it was because he had a hard time imagining the boy that he sometimes shared detention with as the source of the foul chakra that had engulfed the village during the invasion. It was almost immediately during his investigation that he came to the conclusion that anyone over the age of twenty was going to be worthless to him in answering his questions.

Primarily since his own sensei, someone he knew and trusted seemed less than forthcoming with the answers to the few probing questions he had asked. That told him at the very least the Hokage didn't see Naruto as a danger to the village. But it didn't answer the question of what was with all the secrecy surrounding him.

Still despite his curiosity, work was still his bane so he wanted to go about finding out in the laziest way possible. He was tempted to ask Kakashi but figured he'd get the runaround like Asuma gave him. It was obvious Sasuke had no idea and to be honest he didn't want to ask the Uchiha anyway. In part to his having never really liked the boy. He would see if he noticed anything strange about Naruto if necessary, but that would be a last resort.

That left Sakura who obviously did know, but wasn't telling. Not to mention she was currently out of the village and would probably throttle him if she learned he hadn't let the matter drop. With no real avenues to learning what it was that had made Naruto admit such evil chakra, he turned his attention to another possible way of learning the secret. Which was what had made Sakura suddenly change her opinion about Naruto?

For that he turned to a constant source of gossip, which had been conveniently placed on his own team, Ino. Entering her family's flowershop he heard the girl begin to say almost automatically, "Hello welcome to... Shikamaru! What are you doing here? Do we have a mission?"

"Way to make a guy feel welcome, Ino," Shikamaru said.

"Sorry, it's just this is the last place you usually come on our days off."

Shikamaru nodded forced to concede the point but moving on said, "Well there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"Okay shoot," Ino said coming around the counter of her family's shop.

"Well lately Sakura's been acting kind of strange around Naruto. I was just wondering if she's leading him on to get Sasuke to notice her."

Shikamaru was surprised when Ino's eyes hardened at him. But she calmed a moment later saying, "I can't fault you for thinking that. I guess over the years we've tried some stupid stunts to get Sasuke to notice us."

She giggled at the face he made since he doubted he kept his surprise from his face this time. Hearing Ino talk so candidly about her chasing after Sasuke like it was a thing of the past was rather shocking. Although he had to admit that lately she had been taking training more seriously. Ino regained his attention as she said, "However Sakura is over Sasuke so I'd imagine she generally cares about Naruto. Why?"

"Excuse me," Shikamaru said caught a little off guard.

"Why do you care? It wasn't like you were particularly close to Naruto. I'm curious as to why you are taking it upon yourself to find out if Sakura is leading him on."

Shikamaru supposed he was acting a little out of character but said, "Well I guess I feel that even Naruto wouldn't deserve to have his heart stepped on like that. I mean it's pretty obvious what he thinks of her. Her sudden about face on her opinion of him is rather suspicious."

"Maybe it would have been during the academy," Ino conceded. Thinking of the night she had first seen Sakura acting different towards Naruto she added, "But trust me, what she is feeling towards him now is genuine."

"What do you mean?"

"Well honestly I think Sakura originally chose to pursue Sasuke to fit in with everyone else. While I know why she stopped chasing him, I don't know what has caused her to shift her affections to Naruto." Shrugging she put her own theory forward saying, "Maybe he makes her feel its okay to be herself?"

Shikamaru scoffed at the pearl of female wisdom saying, "Who else would she be?"

"Hey, you don't know the pressure we girls are under to fit into what society and boys think of as normal. Why else do you think we put ourselves through such things as diets?"

Rolling his eyes and making his way for the door not wanting to get caught up in such a conversation, Shikamaru replied, "Can't say I've thought about it or care. Guess I was just being paranoid about how sneaky you girls can be."

"Hey," Ino shouted but before she could really start up the door closed behind him. Sticking his hands in his pocket Shikamaru guessed he should have known Ino being aware of Naruto's secret on any level was a longshot. In part to how closely Sakura was guarding it. Deciding on a little cloud watching to help him think of his next move, he wondered just how Sakura had gone about learning it.

Sakura and Naruto were sitting around a fire as they waited for Jiraiya to make his return having been lured away by the sounds of women laughing. After staying the night in Shukuba Town, under the arrangement that she and Naruto share a room, they had left early the next morning for Tanzaku Town. Sakura spared a moment to remember the fuss she had raised upon learning of the sleeping arrangements for the night.

When Jiraiya had asked if she preferred to spend the night in his room she had answered, "Why can't you and Naruto share?"

The pervert had replied, "Sleeping in the same room as a guy when there are ladies around would cramp my style. But if you want a room of your own then feel free to buy it." With that Jiraiya had headed upstairs leaving an irate Sakura behind.

She had calmed immediately when she heard Naruto ask the receptionist if there was another room for him. Before Sakura could say she was fine with sharing the woman had said that due to the festival all the other rooms were taken. Naruto had looked at her sadly saying he'd talk to Jiraiya, but she had said not to bother. Still as they traveled to the room she had kicked herself for her big mouth. How was she supposed to convince Naruto that she wanted to learn more about him when she freaked out about being alone with him?

Now on their third night of sleeping outside Sakura still felt bad about her behavior. But she also took it as a sign she was maturing as before if the situation had been her and Sasuke. She didn't doubt that she'd have been falling all over herself to let the Uchiha know just how pleased she was to be sharing a room with him.

The night had been without incident and by morning Naruto had given her no sign her outburst had hurt her standing with him. Still she wanted to explain it wasn't him but her own changing feelings for him that had caused it. Yet sadly she couldn't think of a way to phrase what she wanted to get across. Still at an impasse in that regard she decided on a different course of action to get close to him, more training. Reaching into her bag she pulled out a book and moved to sit next to Naruto.

Seeing the book Naruto said, "Um, to be truthful I was sort of hoping being on this mission would put an end to these tutoring sessions."

Worried her blow up about the sleeping arrangements were the cause for Naruto's not wanting to study with her, she said, "I thought you enjoyed our study dates."

Hearing Sakura refer to the time studying together as dates made Naruto do a double take, blushing at the idea he said, "I enjoy them because it is time spent with you. But honestly I'm just not seeing why it's important. Sure the kunai trick I learned because of those physics lessons was cool. But, what good is knowing who started this or that in the past, right now?"

Sakura shook her head sighing at the idea that Naruto didn't consider studying to be important. But moving past that, she said, "History is important Naruto." Holding the book up she said, "However this isn't a history book."

Again looking at it he said, "Then why does it say history on it?"

Looking at the title which read, "History of Battle Tactics," with the word History being the biggest and the rest of the title in smaller print beneath it she laughed. Mainly since she figured Naruto had stopped reading as soon as he saw the word. Calming she said, "Well if you had bothered to read the whole title you'd realize this book is on battle tactics."

Flipping it open to a random page it showed a diagram of a flanking maneuver used by shinobi teams. Naruto leaned in closer to take a look and asked, "But right now we aren't with the rest of Team Seven. Why do we need to go over this?"

"Because Naruto, one of the reasons you weren't offered a promotion, was due to your not taking the lead."

"How do you know?"

Blushing she said, "Um, because I asked the Hokage when we talked."

Naruto stared at her for what seemed like several minutes but in actuality was probably only seconds. Looking away with his face taking on one of concern he asked, "You didn't turn down the promotion because of me did you?"

Reaching her hand up she gingerly forced him to meet her gaze. Almost getting lost in his blue eyes, she pulled it together in order to say, "I already told you the reason. But I suppose a small part of me did turn it down so that I could experience the Chunin Exams with you and Sasuke." Sakura fought down a smile as Naruto frowned at hearing Sasuke's name so added, "But truthfully you more than him." The way Naruto's face lit up filled Sakura with a warmth she couldn't explain. Yet getting back to the reason she had brought the book she said, "That's why I asked the Hokage. So we could find out how to get ready for them. He said Chunin need to show leadership skills and that's why we're going to study this book cover to cover."

"Is that book really going to teach me leadership skills?"

"Yep. Naruto, you have the amazing ability to create more shadow clones then anyone in the village probably. If you began employing squad to battalion level tactics with them instead of just charging forward in mass, you could be literally a one man army." Flipping to a page that showed a line of dots holding off another line she said, "When we helped that pinned down Chunin who was escorting my parents to the shelter I had you create a wall of clones between the civilians and Sound-nin. This is the basis for that formation it's called the phalanx. It's generally used by heavy infantry and not particularly suited for shinobi, but with your clones it was quite effective in absorbing the brunt of the enemy attack. Add to that the fact that you can create clones with a strategy already in place thereby eliminating the need to give voice to your orders and you'll be a shoe in for making chunin next time around."

Sakura could see Naruto had come around to her idea so flipping to one of the smaller battle formations the book contained described it saying, "This is the Button-Hook technique. It's used by small squads to enter buildings or other structures quickly in order to take the enemy by surprise."

Naruto tried to enjoy the sites that Tanzaku had to offer, especially since it was apparent that Sakura was so taken by them. Currently they were on a tour of Tanzaku Castle which his teammate claimed had served a valuable purpose at sometime in the past. He admitted that he'd probably be more interested in learning about the battles that had been fought there if not for the fact his mind was elsewhere. Namely on the disgust he was feeling towards himself.

It had only been growing larger due to the way Sakura kept helping him. She was probably unaware as to how much her being there for him had made his life better and his past loneliness more bearable. But it also left him feeling dismayed that despite how close they had become he had yet to share his secret with her.

He kept asking himself how he could claim to love her if he couldn't tell her he was the container of the Kyuubi. And he knew that he did indeed love her. As whatever childish crush he had once possessed for her during the academy had solidified into love on the bench where he had pretended to be Sasuke. Or at least he had understood on some level what it was about her that made his heart speed up when she smiled at him.

He also believed there wasn't anything he wouldn't due for her. That if she still loved Sasuke, he would do everything in his power to make sure the bastard knew how lucky he was to have Sakura's affections. Still he was glad that didn't seem to be in the cards, but it just raised the question if he was willing to go that far for her. Then why couldn't he tell her what was probably the most important fact she would need to know about him.

On some level he believed he knew the answer which laid in the very smile she now graced him with. It was that she would stop smiling or spending time with him. That he'd be pushed away as he had by the village for so long. He knew it was unfair to Sakura to believe such about her. Yet still he couldn't shake the fear.

His introspection was put on hold by the girl he was thinking about saying, "Hey," sounding rather worried.

"Sorry did you say something," Naruto asked focusing on her questioning gaze.

"What's the matter? The tour's moving on but you've been staring off into space."

"It's nothing," he replied moving to follow the mass of people.

Sakura didn't buy it but moved along next to him saying, "Really Naruto you can tell me."

"I can't that's the problem," he thought disappointed in himself. But aloud said, "I…It's nothing. I was just thinking about a few personal matters."

Naruto looked towards Sakura giving a weak smile that disappeared upon the frown he was receiving. Realizing he and his secret were the cause of it, he almost blurted it out. But stopped upon hearing the part of him that often spoke up when the matter of telling Sakura about the Kyuubi came up say, "She'll abandon you." Biting his tongue he focused on the tour guide while trying to ignore the hurt glances she kept sending his way.

Jiraiya leaned against the wall waiting for the tour to let out. He had looked into Tsunade's current whereabouts by asking a few of the money lenders the town had to offer. He learned why Reiko had been unable to buy up his former Teammates debts lately and it was because there weren't any. Reiko had also been wrong about why there weren't any debts as Tsunade hadn't just been winning but hitting it big.

He had heard the story from a couple of Cho-Han dice dealers while the two were talking about how they were cleaned out. The younger looking of the two had said after receiving his drink, "I thought you said she was the Legendary Sucker."

"Hey don't look at me," the man's partner said angrily, "I just told you what I heard. It looked to be true for a while too, didn't it? I mean she couldn't guess a single hand right till she was down to her last fifty ryo."

"Yeah, to think she'd then guess the next one hundred in a row. Shit our boss is going to skin us alive when he hears about this."

"No shit, why do you think we've left town. We'll give him some time to cool down."

Jiraiya took the opportunity to slide up to the two men at the bar saying, "I couldn't help but overhear your poor luck. Bartender put these two gentlemen's tabs on mine."

"Thanks," the younger of the two said before asking, "Now why would you do that?"

Placing an arm over the man Jiraiya said, "Well I was hoping you could tell me more…"

The two men had been more the helpful especially after getting a few drinks in them. Still it presented him with a major problem because if he knew Tsunade then a winning streak meant one thing. She was going to start running. She'd still hit the major gambling towns but she wouldn't stay put and more than likely she'd stop hitting her favorites. Since a majority of those were in the Land of Fire that meant she may even begin moving into other elemental countries.

Looking up at the setting sun he figured they'd spend one more night in Tanzaku Town before heading south. It was a long shot but if Tsunade was trying to outrun her sudden good fortune then it was likely she'd head in that direction. His reasoning was that she'd still want to gamble to know when her luck had changed back and Tea Country was known for its gambling. Plus she was on friendly terms with one of the bosses that ran Degrashi port. Confident in his reasoning he'd nonetheless keep his ear to the ground in case he was wrong. But tracking was ninety-nine percent research, and one percent trusting ones gut. Yet sometimes that one percent counted the most.

Watching a group of tourist leaving the castle he caught sight of the two genin and immediately noticed the dark cloud hanging over Naruto. He also noticed that Sakura kept sending him glances that ranged from worried to appearing a little hurt. Sighing at his knuckleheaded apprentice's lack of advancement in his relationship with Sakura, he pushed off the wall closing with the two.

"Hey how was the tour," he asked sounding nonchalant.

Neither genin responded with anything more than a noncommittal grunt. "Aw come on, it couldn't have been that bad," he said trying to lighten the mood. Sadly he saw it wasn't working so turning to business said, "I've learned that Tsunade's been hitting it big lately so we'll be leaving in the morning."

"So you know where she is?" Sakura asked glad for the change of topic.

"No, but with her cleaning out gambling houses she should be easy to find. The problem is now she'll be moving a lot faster."

"Why," Naruto asked confused, "Wouldn't it be best to stay put and ride out her good luck?"

"For most gamblers that would be true," Jiraiya said as he began walking to the hotel they would be staying at. "Tsunade though fears winning, so will definitely be on the move."

Sakura was confused by that so asked, "Why gamble if you don't want to win?"

"It's complicated," Jiraiya said evasively, "Let's just say she uses her losing as a gauge and leave it at that."

Sakura frowned but began wondering how a gambler could live on losing. Directing her gaze to Jiraiya's back she began to wonder just how he had gotten them on Tsunade's trail so quickly. "Is he supporting her in some way?" she asked herself. She supposed it was possible especially since his perverted books were way more prevalent then she first thought having seen quite a few bookstores with signs saying the latest one was still sold out.

She put her thoughts on hold as they began to enter the hotel they were staying at. Almost immediately upon entering Naruto said, "Hey Pervy Sage maybe I should bunk with you."

"What, we already went over this. Why would I want a brat like you around to cramp my style?"

"What style?" Naruto shot back.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that," Jiraiya replied.

Sakura sighed at the antics of the two as they were attracting the attention of the other guests. She was about to tell Naruto it was fine and that she didn't mind sharing a room with him. But then Jiraiya threw a conspiratorial arm over his apprentice's shoulder. She frowned as the man began to whisper and giggle perversely to his apprentice.

She didn't need to waste much brain power to figure out what he was saying as Naruto suddenly pulled away shouting, "I'm not going to do that. I'm not some pervert."

"Pervert, if you did it right she'd be begging you to do it more you ungrateful brat," Jiraiya replied just as loudly.

A few of the guests began to laugh and Sakura found herself turning red although it wasn't solely from embarrassment. "Stop trying to corrupt him you bastard," she shouted before slamming her fist into Jiraiya's surprised face causing him to smash into a wall. Everyone stopped what they were doing as an unnatural silence fell over the lobby. Due to the patrons being afraid of catching the irate pink-haired girl's attention for fear she'd unleash the power they had just witnessed on them. Naruto also remained still all too aware of how much power her punches packed when she was in such a mood. It didn't stop her from noticing him though as she grabbed him by the wrist saying, "Come on Naruto. I can't let you stay around such an unscrupulous person. Who knows what he'll try to turn you into."

Jiraiya seeing stars asked himself, "Why did I bring her along again?"

Sasuke was training in the dojo of his family home. He remembered the countless times he'd watch Itachi practice many of the same kata he was now working through. Although he normally did so to sharpen his skills for his destined battle, tonight it also was to work through the frustrations he felt at Kakashi's teachings. Now that his teammates weren't around, he had expected Kakashi to step things up since they weren't there to hold him back anymore with the teamwork angle the jounin usually preached. Instead Kakashi seemed to be holding himself back even more instead.

Granted Sasuke was seeing improvements in his taijutsu since that was what they were focusing on. However, that wasn't what interested him at the moment. No that was jutsu powerful enough to destroy his brother. Yet despite unlocking his Sharingan and having a teacher who had used his stolen eye to become famous as the copy-ninja, Sasuke had not been taught anything more powerful than a C-ranked jutsu.

Forcing himself to concentrate on the present in order to sharpen his kata's it was then that he noticed he was not alone. Activating his Sharingan, he suddenly charged towards the man hiding in the shadows. He attacked furiously but his opponent easily kept avoiding the attacks until he lashed out with a kick. The kick caught him in the chest sending him towards the center of the dojo floor where he landed roughly on his back. Flipping back to his feet he was about to charge again till his uninvited guest stepped into the light.

"You," Sasuke said recognizing the young man as the spy Orochimaru had used to contact him with. Directing his gaze to the Leaf Headband he wore, Sasuke said, "I'm sure there are people who would love to know who it is you truly serve."

"I'm sure you'd be quite right," Kabuto said with an unconcerned shrug. "But they might also be interested in knowing why you went to the training fields while the village was being attacked."

"So you intend to blackmail me," Sasuke said with a sneer although a part of him was panicked as well. He believed a part of the reason Kakashi wasn't training him to the level Sasuke wanted may have been because of Jiraiya catching him and Orochimaru together. If the spy in front of him were to get caught it could make Sasuke's life very difficult.

The man must have sensed his thoughts as he said, "Killing me won't be necessary. Lord Orochimaru believes in time you'll realize only he can offer you what you want."

"Then why are you here?"

"To tell you my name is Kabuto Yakushi and that when you begin to question just why it is that your teammates aren't present to come find me." With that said Kabuto slinked back into the shadows before disappearing completely.

Sasuke scoffed but then frowned wondering if perhaps his teammates were in the process of receiving better training then him.

Sakura sat up quickly suppressing a moan as she did so. Looking to her left she could see her roommate was still snoring contently but had kicked his covers off in the constant rolling around he did. Rubbing her forehead she cursed Jiraiya positive that the erotic dream she had experienced was his fault for putting such thoughts in her head.

The dream had started off nicely showing the older Naruto and her that she had pictured when she had compared the two types of relationships she could have with her teammates during the Wave mission. It had quickly become apparent that the older versions of Naruto and her had been dating for a while just from the familiarity the two of them shared. She found it to be quite charming as they had shared a bowl at Ichiraku and that Naruto had actually restrained himself to one bowl. He had then walked with her to what she had assumed to be her apartment. She was surprised when Naruto had used a key to open the door for her. But she guessed that maybe she had given him one.

However that was when the simple but good date had taken a page from one of Jiraiya's novels. It also surprised her that the older her was the one that had initiated things. Naruto had just pushed the door open and was turning to smile at her when she had lunged forward slamming her lips into his. The force of her movement had pushed him into the apartment where with her foot she kicked the door behind her closed. By then Naruto had begun to respond to her affections and for young Sakura what followed was nothing like the often romantic images she imagined when she thought of such things. Instead what she had saw could only be described as a hormone fueled romp that had left the two older versions of her and Naruto satisfied. From the dream she believed her mind was trying to get her to realize two things. One was that if Naruto went about mastering his bedroom skills with the same determination he did to all his other training the woman he did end up with would be very lucky. The second was that she was probably a closet pervert.

She was about to lay back down when she was struck with an uncomfortable feeling. Sighing since due to her dream her undergarments were rather damp she decided before going back to sleep it would be best if she cleaned up a little. Getting out of her futon she proceeded to the bathroom in order to take a quick shower.

Naruto was near a waterfall as he could hear the water running down the rocks. He wondered how he got there as he was pretty sure just a few moments before he was in a life or death battle against some faceless enemy bent on world domination. However the burnt out town the fight had been taking place in suddenly disappeared to be replaced by a more jungle like environment. Moving towards the sound of the running water he wondered what it was he would find once he got there. A part of him hoped it would be of Sakura swimming, or perhaps bathing. He ran his hands together at the idea, but shook it off since his daydreaming wasn't getting him any closer to the sound of the running water.

Pushing forward into the jungle he smiled pervertedly as he could almost picture the sight that awaited him. However he was disappointed when with a final push of the foliage he saw the waterfall but no sign of Sakura. Yet strangely the waterfall did seem to cause a type of yearning in him and before he knew it he really needed to go to the bathroom. Oddly as he awoke he thought he could still hear the echoes of the falling water but it suddenly cut off so blamed it on still being partially asleep.

Sitting up groggily, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes cursing the waterfall dream for once again waking him to use the bathroom. Getting to his feet, he sleepily made his way to the bathroom, unaware that his path had taken him right through the futon Sakura should have been sleeping in. Pushing the door open he was greeted by the fog he usually associated with a recently completed shower. Had he been more awake he may have put two and two together but as it was all he was only interested in relieving the pressure on his bladder. However that proved to be a mistake as he took a single step into the room just in time to see the stall to the shower slide open. No matter how asleep Naruto may have been coming face to face with his dream girl after completing a shower woke him up in a way no amount of caffeine could ever match.

Although, she was in the process of wrapping a towel around her, thus denying him a glimpse of her in all her glory. The way her skin glistened due to the water and the wet slicked back way her hair clung to her scalp made Naruto forget all about his reason for being there. What was dampening his view though was the way Sakura's eyes were growing wide in surprise as she noticed him there, especially the way they were quickly shifting from surprised to angry.

Seeing the anger that usually resulted in a pounding appearing snapped Naruto out of his stunned opened mouth gaping. Now wide awake and fearing for his life he tried to explain, "Wait Sakura it was an accide…"

Sadly speech as well as conscious thought was stolen from him as Sakura's fist connected with his face while she shouted, "Naruto you pervert." He was propelled backwards from the bathroom rolling almost right back into his futon.

Sakura quickly dressed about to lay into him some more but seeing his unconscious body feared she had overreacted. Checking to make sure he was okay, she breathed a sigh of relief that he was before moving back to her own bed. Laying down she let the adrenaline wear off but before sleep reclaimed her she caught herself wondering if Naruto had liked what he saw.

Jiraiya awoke refreshed and energetic the next morning enjoying the beautiful day. Awaiting his traveling companions he took a moment to plan out which towns and villages he planned to visit on the way to Tea Country. Although he was positive Tsunade was heading there, if they didn't hear any rumors of her along the way he'd probably need to rethink his theory.

Catching sight of the two he noticed them blushing as they joined him in the dining area. Smiling, he teasingly asked, "Oh Ho, what has you two looking so red faced this morning. I trust you guys didn't do anything in appropriate."

Naruto turned a deeper shade of red, but the look Sakura sent him made the Toad Sage sit back in his chair. Wisely letting the matter drop and wondering when he had become so pathetic that a teenage girl could intimidate him he said, "Eat up, it's going to be a hard pace for us."

Naruto got over his embarrassment enough to ask, "How am I supposed to practice my Rasengan if we are going to be moving so fast. I thought this was supposed to be a training trip."

"It is," Jiraiya said, "But it's also a mission. For now the mission is going to take priority. If Tsunade's trail goes cold or I suspect she's nearby we'll slow down again in order to let you get some training in. In the meantime concentrate on something else that doesn't require as much focus."

Naruto grumbled under his breath but Jiraiya ignored him. Sakura smiled and suggested, "Naruto you could practice moving quickly while keeping your clones in a formation."

Jiraiya aware of Sakura's tutoring said, "That's a good idea. In any case we'll be leaving after breakfast so make sure to have your fill. Now if you'll excuse me I need to settle the bill including all the damages."

Sakura had the decency to blush since she knew he was talking about her outburst in the lobby. As the two ate she could feel a tension between them. Hoping to defuse it she said, "About last night I'm sorry. I overreacted."

Naruto nodded causing a vein to begin to pulse in her forehead but he prevented another walloping by saying, "I'm sorry too. I should have knocked. I guess I'm not used to sharing a room with anyone."

Blushing Sakura asked, "By the way Naruto, um…what did you see last night?"

Naruto panicked wondering if he was perhaps being set up into receiving another punch. But being honest he said, "Nothing really." When Sakura frowned, thinking he was referring to her body's lack of development, he quickly added, "I guess the reason I was staring so hard was because I have never seen you look so stunning before."

With those words the tension Sakura was feeling picked up five fold. However it was broken by Jiraiya as he reentered the dining room and seeing the still full plates of the breakfast he had ordered said, "Hey come on you two. Times a wasting. If you aren't hungry then let's go."

Both genin quickly focused on the task of eating their meal not willing to go without a good breakfast. Eating in record time the trio found itself on the move south in order to catch-up with a wayward gambler.

Two men traveled a dirt road taking a leisurely pace to the Hidden Leaf Village. However upon reaching a fork in the road the shorter of the two surprised his partner by taking the path leading away from Konoha.

"Hey, I thought we were heading to your home."

"That would be an unwise decision," the shorter man replied stoically. "The Leaf was not as damaged as it could have been and the Hokage survived. If we are caught inside the village we'd find ourselves fighting a war." To himself the man thought, "And since the Third is still alive that means Danzou and the elders will not move against Sasuke."

"I don't know are you sure it's not because you have feeling for your old village. We could end up fighting people you once called comrades."

"Do you honestly think one such as I would have any trouble dealing with old colleagues?"

Chuckling, the larger figure with the bandaged weapon strapped to his back said, "No, I suppose not. But still, Leader isn't going to be happy we aren't going after the Nine-tails."

"Our target will show itself in time. Of that you can rest assured."