An: I would like to thank those that take the time to review 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 11: The Slug Princess and The Toad

Tsunade had made it a habit to find the best ways to escape pursuit from the various moneylenders she had left twisting in the wind. That was why as soon as she and Shizune had checked into the bed and breakfast and before she had even sat down at one of the gambling tables she had found the old hunter's trail she, Shizune, and Tonto were using to escape from Jiraiya. The only downside had been to access it they had needed to leave from the front gate and doing so outside of the morning rush would have attracted attention even though they had been henged.

Looking over her shoulder, Tsunade could see that Shizune was disappointed in her decision but knew she'd get over it. In part due to Tsunade believing Jiraiya had merely been talking tough and doubted the Hokage would mark her as a missing-nin. Feeling the disapproval in her apprentice's gaze, Tsunade said, "Relax Shizune. There's no way they'll let it get out that I refused to come back and slap me with missing-nin status."

"As you say Lady Tsunade," Shizune said blandly.

Tsunade didn't like the tone but figured the woman just wasn't as sure as she was. Naturally since in a sense Tsunade was betting on the fact that she was right and considering her track record for such things. She felt Shizune may just have been extremely worried and was trying not to show it.

Tsunade tried to not let Shizune's silent treatment bother her, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something had changed between them. She was about to demand Shizune tell her what was bothering her when her attention was demanded by a figuring stepping from behind a tree along the path. Shocked at who it was she said, "Jiraiya! But how…?"

Laughing boisterously in the way he did when she knew Jiraiya was trying to avoid the truth he said, "Because I am a sage."

She was about to demand the truth when Shizune walking past the female Sannin holding her suitcase in front of her said, "That's alright Lord Jiraiya." Turning to face the woman that had trained her for years, her first apprentice said, "I was the one that told Jiraiya about your escape route."

"What! Why you little backstabber, after everything I've done for you."

"Tsunade," Jiraiya said harshly.

Looking hurt but understanding Shizune said, "I'm sorry Lady Tsunade. But I can't sit back and watch you as you continue to waste your life and tarnish your name. You've become a mere petty criminal with all the massive debts you racked up over the years. You've even stooped to the lowly level of planning not to pay beforehand. The truth is…you're no longer the woman my uncle loved."

Hearing that from Shizune was like a punch to the gut, but Tsunade after years of hiding from such painful revelations did what one usually does it such a situation and that was lash out. Which she did as she said, "Really, if you've grown so tired of my company Shizune you needn't have resorted to such lengths. Truthfully, I could have done without your mother-hen attitude years ago."

Shizune had expected such an outburst but nevertheless it still hurt to hear Tsunade thought so little of her. Even if a part of her believed she was being less than truthful.

Glaring at the assembled group Tsunade began continuing along her path till Jiraiya stepped in front of her. Her angry brown eyes met his as she said, "So are we going to do this. In case you forgot I've put you in the hospital before."

"How could I forget that," Jiraiya said trying to keep his lack of desire to fight her from his voice by jokingly adding, "It's one of the sights that could have me drop dead a content man."

"Idiot," Tsunade said looking away with a small coloring of her cheeks. Getting control of her flustered emotions she faced him again saying, "I mean it Jiraiya. I'm not going back so if you are here to fight get on with it."

Jiraiya tensed putting Tsunade on guard. But a moment later after closing his eyes his body relaxed and stepping to the side said, "Maybe some other time." Tsunade not questioning his change of heart began walking by but as she passed him he added, "Tsunade, I meant what I said though about you gaining missing-nin status. Sarutobi-sensei can't ignore your actions anymore than he could Orochimaru's."

Tsunade paused a moment but said, "Then I guess this is good-bye." Moving past him she continued on until the kid in orange stepped in her path. "Move it brat, you heard Jiraiya. I'm getting a free pass."

"Not from me you aren't Granny," Naruto said challengingly.

Tsunade glared noticing it was a sentiment shared by Sakura who looked a little green around the gills due to her needing to keep up with Jiraiya and Naruto as they ran to cut Tsunade off so soon after her introduction to heavy drinking. "What did you say?"

"You heard me," Naruto continued brazenly, "I'm not going to let you off the hook just because Pervy Sage has a problem with putting you in your place."

"Do you have any idea of who you are talking too?"

"An old lady that drinks and gambles with other people's money and the type of trash that would abandon someone who's only trying to help her."

Tsunade was a little taken aback by the boy's response since it had been a long time since anyone had been willing to talk to her in such a manner. Sakura though did appear rather nervous due to how Naruto had spoken saying, "Um…Naruto…"

"Don't worry Sakura I've got this," the boy said slamming his fist into his hand.

"You do," Tsunade said torn between insulted and amused, "Brat, I can take you with one finger."

"Oh yeah, well I'm going to make sure you need the whole hand," Naruto said charging.

"Naruto that's not something to shoot for," Sakura called after her teammate and looked to Jiraiya to do something.

Naruto ignored her in order to focus on the smirking woman as he pulled a kunai from his pouch and threw it. Tsunade simply moved her head to the side allowing it to miss by mere centimeters. Undeterred, he pulled another one before jumping at the Sannin saying, "Dodge this," as he swung at her mid-leap.

Tsunade did so, this time pivoting to the side fully before finger-flicking Naruto in the stomach while he was still airborne. Naruto flew away from the Sannin before hitting a tree and bouncing off leaving a small impression where he hit.

"Naruto," Sakura shouted as the boy hit the ground moving to help him stand.

"Lady Tsunade, that's too much," Shizune said seeing the damage to the tree.

"The little fool should learn his place," Tsunade said, "Thinking he could take on a Sannin."

Standing Naruto said, "Why not…I barely felt a thing." Still from the way he held his side it was obvious that he had indeed felt the blow.

"Cute brat, but while bravado has its place you are outclassed in every way. Give up." Tsunade could see in the boy's eyes he wasn't about to back down so shrugging said, "Alright fine, I'll humor you. Hell I'll even tell you where I'm going to strike next which is right in the middle of that shiny forehead protector of yours."

Strangely that seemed to cause a small amount of doubt to appear in Naruto's eyes. Reaching behind his head, he removed it handing it to Sakura who had moved to his side and said to her, "Here hold this."

"What are you doing?" Tsunade asked confused as he passed his headband over, "Trust me you are going to want the padding."

"Probably," Naruto admitted, "But that headband is important to me and I don't want you messing it up."

"That's exactly my point. You know you can't stop me, the smart play is to back down," Tsunade said getting agitated.

"I'll never back down because one day I'm going to be the Hokage," Naruto said causing Tsunade to stiffen as a memory of her brother saying something similar. "An opening," Naruto thought due to Tsunade's faraway look and created a clone which began stabilizing the chakra that began rotating in his hand.

"Jiraiya is that…" Shizune said shocked to see a genin using Rasengan.

"Ha-ha he did it," Jiraiya said, surprised as well. But seeing that Tsunade wasn't reacting to the danger he began to move to prevent his student from connecting.

It proved to be unnecessary as even though distracted and out of practice, Tsunade was still a shinobi of talent. Reacting on instinct she avoided Naruto's outstretched hand and retaliated. However, instead of a simple finger-flick she awkwardly backhanded him away due to her surprise. Still, even an off-balance backhand from Tsunade as Jiraiya could attest was like a full on kick to the face from a mule. Flying backwards down the trail, Naruto hit the ground hard and skidded to a stop after several feet. Laying face down, he tried to stand but his arms failed him as he ate dirt again.

"Tsunade, what…" Jiraiya shouted.

"What," Tsunade replied back still angry at the memories the boy riled in her, "You're the one that taught him that jutsu and put those stupid ideas in his head aren't you. What's the matter Jiraiya in a hurry to outlive another of your students?"

Shocked at the venom in her voice, Jiraiya came to a stop as Tsunade grabbed up her suitcase and began walking down the trail. As she passed Naruto's collapsed form he grabbed her ankle saying, "I…I told y-you…I told you'd that you'd need your whole hand."

Pulling her foot free of his grasp roughly she said, "Well congratulations. You sure look like the winner to me."

As Tsunade walked away Sakura helped Naruto back to his feet, but as she tried to turn him away from the retreating woman whose pig kept looking back at Shizune, Naruto shouted, "Don't think this is over Grandma. I'll keep coming until I've dragged you back to Konoha. That's a promise" As they approached Jiraiya and Shizune, the blond said, "What the hell was that Pervy Sage? You had us run all the way here just to let her go."

Sighing, Jiraiya said, "Sorry about that. Truthfully, I was hoping that just us forcing a confrontation with her would be enough." Having lost sight of Tsunade, he searched for some sign on her before saying, "Don't worry, I'll take the responsibility for losing her. But hey look on the bright side you completed a Rasengan."

"I did that before we left," Naruto said matter of factly.

"Really, well I'm pretty sure I'd remember that."

"Maybe, if you weren't always peeking on girls all the time you'd know that," Naruto said getting worked up.

"Yeah, maybe you're right," Jiraiya replied his eyes going distant as he thought about one that had always been the pinnacle of beauty. "Anyway," Jiraiya said shaking the memory away, "I still want you working on that jutsu until you can do it one handed."

"What why?" Naruto said, "I can use it like this." To prove his point he made the familiar hand-sign for the Shadow Clone jutsu and disappeared in a cloud of smoke that once it cleared revealed him standing next to a clone.

Holding his hand out the clone began stabilizing the chakra but Jiraiya quickly closed the distance between them and flicked the clone in the forehead dispelling it. Straightening, the Toad Sage said, "That's why. You know where you need to improve which is what you created the clone for. But the truth is it's like riding a bike with training wheels. Eventually they need to come off."

"Fine," Naruto said, "You could at least say good job."

"I didn't say that?"

"No"

"I'm pretty sure I did," Jiraiya said turning to walk away and fought the impulse to look back. Shizune did turning to look sadly in the direction the woman she had admired had fled and truly wished she would one day find herself again.

Sakura helped Naruto as they followed behind the two adults. "That was pretty reckless of you," Sakura said. Naruto nodded causing her to say, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Naruto asked looking at her in surprise.

"I wasn't a real good teammate back there to let you go at it alone."

"Ah don't worry, Sakura. I know it was pretty stupid of me to take her on by myself. Also, well you don't look so good yourself." When Sakura's head whipped towards him, he knew he had once again put his foot in his mouth so quickly corrected himself by blurting, "I mean due to all the drinking you did last night. You're looking kind of green."

Sakura did calm but said, "You shouldn't make negative comment on a girl's looks especially when she's at less than her best."

"Uh…it's a beautiful shade of green."

Sakura giggled again focusing ahead and although disappointed the mission was a failure was glad that they'd be returning to Konoha where she and Naruto could finally have the talk she had been waiting for. After the Konoha-nin vacated the area, a mop of blond hair peeked out from behind the tree it had been hiding behind. The shadow clone, which Naruto had made as he showed off his Rasengan to Jiraiya, then took off in the direction Tsunade had retreated since he had made a promise and he aimed to keep it.

Leaning against a wooden support, while resting on the patio to the onsen that Sakura and Naruto's room looked out on, Jiraiya poured himself another saucer of sake which he immediately downed. He heard footsteps approaching the sliding door as he poured himself another. Stepping from the room Shizune kneeled behind him saying, "They are both resting comfortably. Naruto escaped with only a few bruised ribs. I was worried he may have been concussed all things considered."

"Yeah, luckily he has a hard head… among other things. I'm sure he'll be rearing to go after her again tomorrow."

He couldn't see it, but he could feel the weak smile that appeared on Shizune's face most likely due to how Naruto had continued to boast on how he was going to drag Tsunade back if it was the last thing he did. "Yes, he was most insistent that we not head back to Konoha till he got another chance."

Jiraiya chuckled saying, "Well giving up isn't in his vocabulary. He's going to make a damn great Hokage."

"He faces such long odds, Lord Jiraiya. Do you truly think he will rise above all those that dream of filling that position?"

Thinking of the boy's mother and father, he said, "Oh yeah, trust me I have an eye for talent and that kid has the most important quality any shinobi who dreams of being Hokage needs. One day Tsunade will be brought back to Konoha and mark my words Naruto will be the one that does it." Feeling the sad smile again he added, "Shizune, there was no need to out yourself to your master."

"No Lord Jiraiya, she needed to know I was the one that put you on her trail. For so long I merely helped her in her running from her past. I…she needed to know how I felt about what she was doing to herself and her legacy."

Jiraiya nodded understanding the young woman's point, but feared just to what depths Tsunade would sink without her apprentice there to act as a brake.

Tsunade hadn't looked back once, making a concentrated effort to keep her head pointed straight ahead. But it wasn't easy especially due to Tonton's sad oinks as the pig trotted beside her. Although finding the constant reminder of Shizune's leaving to be an annoyance, she held her peace fearing to push even her pet away. As the sun began to set she almost absentmindedly turned to tell Shizune that they'd be camping for the night, but caught herself so instead decided to push on until she reached the first town in Tea Country.

Several hours into her nighttime journey she stopped saying, "Come out where I can see you. Really a half trained squad of genin could do a better job of hiding their presences."

"Well maybe we wanted you to know we were here," a voice called back in a tone in which she could almost see the shark-toothed smile that she was sure was on the man's face.

As Kisame and Itachi appeared from the trees on opposite sides of the path she asked, "And why would you want to do that?"

"It might be because of a certain gambling establishment that you trashed. Its owner hired us to help him in his desire to put you in your place," Kisame said amused with his hand resting on the handle of his sword.

Smirking Tsunade said, "So you found the courage to come back after Jiraiya caused you to go scampering off like a couple of beaten puppies. It must be quite the price on my head."

Kisame surprised her when instead of rising to the bait replied, "Hardly. Hell even Kakuzu wouldn't accept this job due to how little it paid and trust me when I say that's saying something. But me and Itachi here were in the neighborhood so I figured why not. But isn't that interesting, you must have seen us threatening those two cute little genin but instead of leaping to their aid you simply sat back and watched. And people say I'm cold-blooded."

Tsunade's face hardened hearing a killer like Kisame comparing her to him. Hearing the echo of Shizune's words playing in the back of her mind she shouted, "What do you know about me you bastard?"

Rushing the pair as Tonton darted off into the woods; she swung at Kisame who drew Samehada in order to block her blow. Expecting the great sword to absorb the attack he was surprised when as she hit the blade he was blown off his feet as a result of the punch while Itachi leapt away. Flipping in the air, he landed on his feet and skidded to a halt after tearing a path through the ground.

As he straightened Tsunade noticing the surprise on his face said, "You aren't the first wielder of that blade that I've fought against. Your little trick isn't going to work on me."

Landing next to his partner, Itachi began explaining, "Don't rely on Samehada's ability to absorb chakra to nullify her attacks. She gathers and releases it so quickly that even it can't get the timing down."

"You could have given me a heads-up beforehand," Kisame said annoyed with his partner's affinity for silence.

"I thought you realized this encounter wouldn't be settled with brute strength."

"I see… you aren't planning on using that, are you?"

"No, the client made it clear he wants her somewhat aware when we deliver her. As she is now I doubt she has the mental fortitude to survive Tsukuyomi." Itachi noticed Tsunade's face darken at being talked about as it she was somehow diminished. Continuing he added, "Seeing as how you were the one that accepted this assignment I suppose there's no harm in allowing you to play with her some more. Just be mindful the client wants her in relatively good condition."

"Good," Kisame said menacingly, "I was afraid you were about to step in before I even got a chance to break a sweat." Running at the Sannin with his blade held behind him, he closed with Tsunade quickly and begun swinging at her recklessly.

Forced on the defensive Tsunade avoided the blows and finding an opening struck out with a punch that caught him in the stomach. Kisame gasped before bursting into a log that her punch shattered into splinters. Cursing, she began searching for the missing-nin and found him closing on her from behind as he moved through the ground his sword sticking from it like a shark's fin would the water. "Fool," she shouted smashing her fist into the ground shattering the earth around her. As the man and earth flew into the air she kicked a large chunk of rock that flew into Kisame knocking him away and into the forest.

Turning towards Itachi who watched on dispassionately, she charged him and when she was close enough lashed out with a punch that caught him in the face. However instead of flying away his body burst into a flock of crows which began flying about around her. Ignoring them and recognizing the genjutsu, she released it causing the birds to disappear. Sensing a presence behind her and spinning towards the surprised looking Itach while rearing back a fist that she then delivered into the Uchiha's chest that to her surprise and soon horror sunk into his chest.

"You should know Lady Tsunade, it's never the genjutsu you know about that you should fear," Itachi said easily despite the hand in his chest. Unable to pull the fist free, her eyes grew wide in terror as the red substance that had become her bane began traveling from the wound and up her arm.

"Blood!" her mind shouted in revulsion as it continued to crawl up her body. As it neared her face and ultimately she suspected to her mouth her mind shut down but not before letting out a terrified shriek of disgust.

Coming out of the woods, rubbing his hair clear of the dirt Tsunade's last attack had left him covered in, Kisame said, "Damn, why'd you have to cut the fun short?"

"You weren't taking her seriously and that may have resulted in me needing to find a new partner. Unlike Kakuzu, I find that such a situation would be unfortunate."

"Aw, you do like me," Kisame said as he grabbed the unconscious Tsunade around the waist and tossed her onto the edge of his blade which was resting on his shoulder to carry her. Before Itachi could respond Kisame spun to a noise in the woods to see the jinchuriki Itachi had been assigned running from them. "Ah a bonus," he said about to dump Tsunade to the ground in order to fire off a jutsu.

"Let's go," Itachi said beginning to head away in the opposite direction.

"Huh, but he's right there."

"No he isn't and all you would succeed in doing is calling Jiraiya's wraith down upon us at this point. Considering the clone hasn't dispelled itself its unlikely the boy knows what the jutsu was truly developed for, which will give us time to deliver our prize to the client before Jiraiya gets involved."

"Hmph," Kisame replied sounding unconcerned, "Let him come. Considering how easy you handled both Tsunade and Orochimaru. I'm beginning to think these Sannin are all talk."

Itachi stopped and looking over his shoulder said, "I'm sure you know how the Sannin got their name due to their surviving a face to face encounter with Hanzo easily one the greatest shinobi of his day."

"Yeah, but the Leader handed him his ass on a platter…"

Carrying on over his partner the Uchiha added, "Due to that battle they were seen as the pinnacle of the Leaf and in a sense they were. However, while one seems to have fallen from that point and the other merely wants to remain as he is while chasing jutsu. The last of those Legendary Three has continued to climb to new heights due to his unwavering love for his village and those important to him." Turning forward again as he walked to where they would meet their client he concluded, "Should Jiraiya ever truly go all out I think even Leader would be hard-pressed to defeat him."

The shadow clone felt bad about leaving Tsunade in such a bind, but after witnessing her defeat knew the best way to help was to report back to Naruto. When it saw Kisame spin to it as a result of a twig it had snapped in its zeal to get away it felt its heart leap into its throat. But apparently whatever the pair wanted with Naruto could wait till after they finished up with Tsunade since the missing-nin began to walk away in the opposite direction.

Calming, it moved to the hunter's path as it began its race back to the hotel hoping that Naruto and the others hadn't checked out. Hearing some rustling in the woods as something closed with him, the clone feared that the two missing-nin had decided to come after him. That was why he was surprised when the pig Tsunade traveled with burst from some bushes and running up to him as he continued on his way tripped him by darting in front of his foot.

Falling hard onto the ground it turned to the pig about to yell at it when with a charge Tonton having spent years around shinobi and knew all about shadow clones slammed her head into the clone's dispelling it.

Naruto's eyes snapped open as he sat up in the bed quickly and feeling panicked due to his heart pounding in his chest. Surprised at how real the dream he had just experienced felt he nevertheless laid back down to return to sleep but couldn't shake the urgency he felt. Hearing voices outside the sliding door of the room he was sharing with Sakura, he decided to investigate.

Sliding the door open, and seeing Shizune and Jiraiya there he asked, "Um…what's going on."

"Nothing kid," Jiraiya replied, "Shizune and I were just taking in the night air. Get some sleep, you might heal fast, but take it from an expert you'll be feeling it in the morning."

"Okay…" Naruto said but still hesitated to shut the door.

Picking up on his apprentice's hesitance Jiraiya asked pouring himself another cup, "Is everything alright?"

"I guess so… maybe all the craziness of the past few days is catching up to me. I just had a real strange dream involving Granny Tsunade and those Akatsuki bastards."

Jiraiya's saucer paused in its trip to his lips and slowly lowering it down he inquired, "What happened?"

"Well those bastards were confronting her about something and then a fight broke out. I was watching the whole thing but instead of helping I ran away to get help. Granny lost, but then it got really strange and her pet pig attacked me."

Jiraiya noticed Shizune was beginning to guess at the same conclusion he had jumped to but wanting confirmation asked, "Naruto, earlier when you showed off your Rasengan. Did you create a clone to keep tabs on Tsunade?"

Looking a little bashful and worried Jiraiya would get upset since he seemed willing to let her go the blond nodded. Confused at the way the two adults suddenly tensed albeit more noticeably in Shizune's reaction he asked, "How did you know that Pervy Sage?"

"We'll talk about it later," Jiraiya said acting nonchalant, "Go back to bed. You did good today."

Pleased at the praise and feeling his desire to sleep return unaware Shizune was putting him under a genjutsu. He turned heading back into the room and made a beeline straight for his bed. As soon as Shizune heard him sink into his mattress she said urgently, "Lord Jiraiya…"

"I know," Jiraiya said standing cursing his forgetting about why Akatsuki had shown in the town originally. "Watch over them for me will you."

"But…"

"Don't worry Shizune," Jiraiya said sounding as calming as possible given the circumstances, "She's alive and I'll find her."

Disappearing from Tsunade's apprentice's sight, the dark haired woman whispered, "Good luck."

Running through the town, Jiraiya continued to berate his idiocy. Both in letting Tsunade go, as well as forgetting she had been targeted by Akatsuki. As the fact that if not for Naruto's stubbornness that she would have disappeared to a horrible fate with him none the wiser settled into his stomach it filled him with an anger that he had not felt in years. An anger that manifested in his decision to make his entrance at the casino of the man that had hired Akatsuki as messy and noisy as possible.

Blowing the double doors off their hinges with a Rasengan, he glared at the many shocked casino workers in the midst of cleaning the place still from Tsunade's rampage as well as the security personnel that were watching over them. His gaze settled on the two goons that had been with the casino owner when he had first arrived into the town. With a small motion of his head towards the hole where the doors once stood he said to the workers, "Get out."

Making his way to the goons as the workers heeded his advice; he wasn't surprised as the security guards closed on him pulling batons from his belt. Still even though outnumbered fourteen to one he barely paused as he closed with the two men slowly dispatching the guards easily as they got within reach. As the bodies landed around them, the two goons began to panic with one charging Jiraiya wildly as the other one tried to bolt.

Jiraiya caught the goon's wild swing in his hand moving the man's fist to the side in order to glare into his eyes. He then kicked the man in the chest sending him flying right into the other goon just as he was reaching a door. Closing the distance before either man could get to his feet; he grabbed them around the throats and lifting them into the air smashed them into a wall hard enough to leave an impression. Leaving no doubts as to how serious he was he said, "I'm only going to ask this once. Where's your boss?"

The braver of the two and the man that attacked him defiantly responded with a, "Fuck you! I'm no fucking rat."

Letting the man's throat go, Jiraiya quickly clamped his hand around the man's face saying, "Wrong answer." The goon disappeared in a cloud of smoke which as it cleared revealed that Jiraiya had turned him into a frog.

The more cowardly goon responded as expected screaming, "What…What the fuck man! You turned him into a frog."

"That's right so unless you want to end up spending the rest of your days eating flies I suggest you tell me where your boss is."

"Shit…I don't fucking know…"

Jiraiya let his throat go causing the goon to panic as Jiraiya slowly reached for his head. "I swear it's the fucking truth. Boss Dojima's not here. He's probably at his island waiting on Akatsuki."

"Where is the island?"

"I don't know," the goon said quickly as Jiraiya lowered his hand. When Jiraiya motioned for him to keep talking, he added, "I've never been there. It's where the Boss stores his merchandise for his illegal operations."

"Which are?"

"He sells sex slaves. He takes some of us there when he gets in new shipments to break them in. But I've only heard about it and he blindfolds those that are picked. Says it's for operational security or some shit. Please man that's all I know I swear."

"You've been very helpful," Jiraiya said before burying his fist in the man's stomach causing him to blackout. Creating several shadow clones he tasked them with gathering evidence as well as to tie up any other thugs inside the casino before one would go get a Fire Country magistrate as he began running from the town towards the path Tsunade had been using.

Itachi and Kisame stepped off of the small boat that one of their client's men had rowed as it docked at the small island just off the Tea Country coast that Boss Dojima used to run some of his many illegal operations. Waiting for them on the torch light covered dock was the man that hired their group and who was standing between two guards taller than even Kisame and each of whom was armed with a giant battle axe. Both muscular men were bald and bare-chested with their lower faces covered in demon mempo giving them the appearance of being twins. The only discernible mark between the men was a viscous scar that ran the length of one of their chests.

Stepping away from his guards as Kisame threw Tsunade from the boat onto the dock, Boss Dojima said, "Excellent, I'm glad to see you're am organization that gets results." Watching as Tsunade shivered uncontrollably he asked, "What's wrong with her?"

"Nothing," Itachi said calmly stepping from the boat, "She is trapped in a genjutsu." Eyeing the two guards, Itachi asked, "Are these all the men you have on the island?"

"There's another guardian but he never leaves the dungeon room," the boss answered, "Why?"

"I was merely curious," Itachi said shrugging, "I suppose it would be a shame if we went through all the effort of capturing her and you were unable to hold her. Having an enemy of her stature would do Akatsuki no good."

"Don't worry; she won't be the first kunoichi I've broken. Besides the men stationed here are my best and are completely loyal to me. She isn't going anywhere until she's branded and sold." To prove his point he pulled a needle injector from his jacket that was filled with a clear liquid and jabbed it in her arm. As he depressed the plunger filling Tsunade with a sedative he said, "You can remove the genjutsu. She's not going anywhere under her own power."

"Very well," Itachi said releasing the genjutsu and turning towards the boat added, "We'll be taking our payment and leaving."

Tossing a money pouch to Kisame who caught it before following after his partner, Boss Dajima dropped to his haunches and seeing Tsunade although groggy from the sedatives could probably hear him said darkly, "Hey bitch remember me? Your little rampage cost me quite a bit, but don't worry you'll make it up to me." Waving his two guards over the large man each grabbed a shoulder and dragged her between them to the cage were they would keep her sedated until the real fun began.

Jiraiya raced down the path where he had last seen Tsunade fearing his chances of finding her before anything horrible happened to her. One of his shadow clones had dispelled itself after searching Dojima's office. Unfortunately the bastard appeared to be very cautious in his illegal endeavors as there was nothing there to really incriminate him. The only thing of note the clone had found was an old map in the man's office which had shown the hunter's trail he was currently on.

The map showed that the trail after entering Tea Country passed close to the ocean where Jiraiya was positive he'd find the island the goon had mentioned. Unfortunately the map had shown that there were several along the coast and Jiraiya feared if he guessed wrong he'd arrive only to find Tsunade after she had been subjected to countless abuses. Yet as he ran, fortune seemed to be on his side as he noticed something running towards him. Recognizing Tsunade's pet Tonton, he met it halfway stopping only long enough to scoop the pig up before leaping to the trees.

Soothing the piglet as best he could and now positive that Itachi and Kisame had not backtracked towards the town so didn't need to search the ground for signs took off for where the battle took place. Finding it easily due to the destroyed section of earth, he leapt to the ground placing Tsunade's pet down which knew immediately what to do. Running her nose along the ground, Tonton stiffened before raising her head and taking off further down the trail. Following behind the piglet he thought, "Hold on Tsunade. I'm coming."

Tsunade could hear something's raspy breathing in the darkness as she fought against the sedative coursing through her. Sadly, whatever they had pumped her with was proving to have the upper hand as it was all she could do to keep her eyes open. Turning her head, she could make out other cages like the one she found herself in that were empty so guessed that Dojima was currently between shipments.

That information filled her with a small measure of hope since it meant that at the very least it would take Dojima time to line up a buyer. Still she knew it was only a matter of time before she'd probably be raped multiple times as well as subjected to other unimaginable abuses as they 'trained her,' for her new role. Not giving into the fear she felt welling up inside her due to the training she received as well as the fact it wasn't the first time an enemy that had her at his mercy attempted to force himself upon her. Still she did feel some of the fear seep into her as she remembered one time during the Second Shinobi War where one such man had almost succeeded and would have if not for the timely arrival of the man she had pushed past just that morning and who now seemed inclined to let her go.

Realizing that this time no late moment heroics were going to save her, Tsunade almost gave into despair and was about to bite her tongue off in order to be reunited with her loved ones. However something being jammed into her shoulder caused her to turn her head towards the sudden pain as it faded along with her ability to keep her eyes open. Before she closed her eyes they focused on a tall gaunt man that at the moment was walking like some nightmare creature on all fours due to the ways his knees were bent. Guessing the man to be blind from the cloth over his eyes, she gave up her fight and allowed the sedatives to put her to sleep.

Strangely her dreams returned her to the day where Jiraiya had saved her and as she cried into his chest unable to keep her emotions under control due to the stress of her almost rape. She remembered that despite her shirt being torn the Legendary Super Pervert had been a complete gentleman as he held her and whispered, "Hey, hey, Princess you should know that the Gallant Jiraiya always arrives in the nick of time to save the day," she couldn't help but wonder just how different her life would have been if she had given into the feelings being held in his arms had created within her.

If not for Tonton, Jiraiya would have missed the small trail that led away from the path to a small dock along the shore. Following right behind as the piglet turned down the trail, they paused as they saw a man in a dark cloak standing on the dock. Guessing it to be the driver of the boat tied to it, Jiraiya wondered if they had somehow arrived before Tsunade or if Akatsuki had already handed her off.

"Oink," Tonton called softly and from the way she stared at the several small islands off in the distance Jiraiya guessed it was the latter.

Patting the piglet's head, he whispered, "Stay here," before creeping through the woods towards his target. He noticed the cloaked man was leaning against a pillar of the dock with his arms crossed and from the way his shoulders slowly raised and fell guessed him to be asleep. Grabbing the boatman from behind with an iron grip around his throat, Jiraiya said darkly to the startled man, "If you want to see tomorrow you better tell me. Which island did they take the woman too?"

The man raised a shaky arm towards the island in question and although positive he was telling the truth Jiraiya warned, "You better not be lying to me."

Jumping into the boat after hitting the man on the head and tying his unconscious form to a tree, he pushed off of the dock as he rowed towards the island. Finding a similar dock on the island hidden in a cove he bypassed it in order to hide the boat and approach the hideout from the surrounding trees.

As he neared Dojima's hideaway, he noticed that although the buildings appeared to be permanent structures that there were no guards to be seen. That told Jiraiya that Dojima was the quality not quantity type which meant any guards that he did encounter would probably be missing-nin. Moving towards the largest building at the center of the grounds guessing the other buildings were for the storage of supplies or illicit drugs. Reaching the main door, he was about to test if it was locked when he sensed an attack from behind. Ducking and rolling away he barely avoided losing his head as an axe buried itself into the wall where he had been standing moments before.

Getting back to his feet, he watched as a towering man pulled the large handled axe free easily before holding it in front of him. Jiraiya was about to charge the man when he had to pivot to the side as another axe flew pass him burying itself into the building beyond him. Looking at the new threat he could see another giant this one with a scar on his chest charging towards him. The first giant took the opportunity to heft his axe above his head as with a war cry he came at Jiraiya intent on burying it in his skull. Jiraiya moved into the man's swing as he missed and buried the axe-head into the ground. Delivering a punch to the man's gut he cringed as it felt like his hand had impacted solid stone. The man backhanded him away into the giant he thought of as Scar who caught him in a powerful grip from behind.

"Hey now, I prefer not to be held by men," Jiraiya quipped, but Scar apparently wasn't the talking type as he tightened the bear hug. Scar's fellow giant began closing with them and not wanting to be caught between two hulking men, Jiraiya slammed his head backwards into Scar's face. Hearing the crunch of cartilage, he took advantage of the lessening of Scar's grip in order to use his leg to push free of the man. Landing in a crouch, his hair began growing and flew in the charging Giant's direction taking the form of a lion's mouth before smashing into him. Lifting the Giant off his feet the jutsu carried him in the air until crashing him through the wall of one of the storage buildings. Jiraiya cursed as he saw a whole assortment of weapons lying about inside the storage building. But couldn't pay it much mind as he had to avoid the axe that Scar wielded and buried into the ground where Jiraiya had been. Jiraiya whipped his hair around but Scar caught it one handed around the pony tail before pulling Jiraiya off his feet towards him.

Scar attempted to punch him in the stomach, however Jiraiya caught the giant fist with his hand and using the fist as a pivot kicked the man in the side of the head. Scar staggered to the side as a result of the blow, which Jiraiya followed up by grabbing his head and pulled it down into his knee. He then kicked the reeling man in the chest, who bounced back and up against the door to the main building.

Hearing the 'thunk' of a large crossbow letting loose a bolt, Jiraiya turned to see the Giant standing in the hole his entry into the storage room had made holding a crossbow that looked like it should have been mounted on wheels it was so large. Acting on instinct, his hair began wrapping around him and covered him in spikes but the bolt passed through it easily. The Giant threw the weapon to the side expecting the jutsu to end with Jiraiya's death. However as it did and Jiraiya emerged unharmed he wondered why until he realized the Sannin had turned to avoid the bolt while in the mass of hair.

Jiraiya looking behind him drew the Giant's attention to what he was staring at causing the large man to see his partner pinned to the door with the giant crossbow bolt sticking through his chest. The Giant roared in rage as he charged the Sannin.

Waiting to the last moment, Jiraiya avoided the wild punch the Giant threw and spinning to face the large man's back delivered a Rasengan right to the middle of it. The large man was lifted off his feet by the power of the jutsu and flew into his fellow guardian where he was impaled on the quiver as well before crashing through the door. Jiraiya entered the building walking past the two corpses as he began his search for Tsunade.

Jiraiya guessed that the layout of the hideout was pretty straightforward as he approached a pair of staircases with one leading up and one leading down. Guessing down was where Tsunade would be, he created a shadow clone to head upstairs just in case. Finding the basement level to be completely dark, he gave his eyes a moment to adjust before proceeding deeper. The basement hall ended in a closed door and taking a shaky breath hoping to find his old teammate in good condition pulled it open.

Scanning the dark room all Jiraiya could see was empty cages before seeing a form on the floor at the center of a cage towards the back of the room. "Tsunade," he called running into the room and for a change glad to see her fully dressed.

He feared the worse as she didn't respond but approaching the metal bars could see the small rise and fall of her chest. "Hold on," he said reassuringly more to himself than to her, "I'll have you out of there in a jiff."

So focused on freeing her was he that it nearly cost him his life as a man dropped from the ceiling above. As it was Jiraiya received a deep cut along his chest as he spun to the threat. Punching the man away, he watched as his opponent landed gracefully on all fours the man's front half being supported by the triple bladed katars he wielded in his hands. The man skittered away into the darkness as Jiraiya gripped his wound keeping his senses focused despite the pain.

Steadying his breathing, he could hear the occasional raspy breathing of a man who spent to long alone in the dark and dank cell room. With a hiss the man leap at Jiraiya again from the darkness, but he was ready turning towards the airborne target and spitting a large volume of oil which sent the man flying away. Raising his hand towards his mouth he took a deep breath and blew a stream of flame at the man who was still lying against the cage he had smashed against. As the jutsu connected the man roared in pain as he tried to put the fire out by rolling along the ground.

Jiraiya turned away and delivered a kick to the lock of Tsunade's cage busting it free. Stepping in he said, "Hey princess, you didn't need to go to such lengths to get my attention." Picking her up being mindful to prevent the blood of his wound from leaking onto her, Jiraiya worked her to his back and as he made his way to the surface aware the burning man was no longer moving he received the memories of his clone that told him they no longer had any business on the island.

Dojima heard the ruckus outside but put it out of his mind to concentrate on the things he would be doing to his prisoner in the morning since he knew his two guards would handle it. The three shinobi he had guarding the island had lived there for years and had warded off attacks from rival gangs to heroic fools looking for some of the women he had sold. The three men had dealt with all the threats both brutally and efficiently so doubted whoever the latest intruder was would be any different.

That all changed when he heard a crash that sounded that it had come from the inside. Suddenly wishing he had a battalion of men at his disposal, he darted from his office to head downstairs to take stock of the situation. He had just managed to get to the top of the stairs when he saw the white haired man that had manhandled his thugs in his bar the day before making his way up the stairs. Still remembering the desire to wet himself he had felt the last time they met, he began to backtrack to his office. Slamming and locking the door behind him. He was still kicked towards the center of the room as the doors flew open.

Crab- walking away from the man as he slowly entered the room Dojima begged, "Wait… don't kill me please. Take her, she's downstairs."

"I intend to," Jiraiya's shadow clone responded to the cowering man.

"Then… you have no reason to kill me right… I'll even make you a rich man just take her and leave."

"Tell me. If a man threatened to cut out your heart would you just let him walk away?" The clone asked and using the majority of its chakra stamped the ground with its foot causing the walls and floor to turn a fleshy pink.

Dojima watched as the clone disappeared in smoke, and pulled himself to his feet finding it difficult as the flesh feeling floor resisted his effort. Walking towards the door, he felt something shift and looking behind him noticed the room being swallowed as the flesh began to expand. Fearing being crushed he began running down the hall and reached the top of the stairs to find the path already blocked. As the esophagus of the great, fire-breathing toad from Mount Myōboku closed in around him. Dojima only had enough time to scream before being swallowed and digested in the stomach of said toad.

Jiraiya stumbled but knew it wasn't from blood loss as he tried to carry Tsunade on his back to the village Naruto and the others were at after reaching the mainland. Guessing the blade that cut him had been poisoned, he really wished he had paid more attention when Tsunade had tried to teach him about such stuff. As the sun began to rise over the ocean his strength finally left him causing him to fall face first into the dirt.

As the darkness tried to claim him, Jiraiya though feeling Tsunade's weight on his back thought, "Heh, I always kind of wanted to die with Tsunade on top of me. Although, I would have preferred it being in bed." Wanting to gaze on her face one last time, he tried to turn but couldn't find the strength so as his vision faded to black smiled thinking, "Typical, always with me but just out of reach." As he lost consciousness he only hoped that Tsunade would make the most of her second lease on life and not allow his death to push her further down the path she had been traveling.

Tsunade felt an insistent nudging of her head as she was pulled from her slumber. Hearing the relieved oink of Tonton as she began to rouse she said, "Wa…Tonton, where am I?" Feeling something tickling her cheek, she saw the white hair of Jiraiya so leapt back onto her backside. Still drowsy she touched her cheek feeling something wet and looking at her hands found they were covered in blood. Going wide eyed as her hemophobia kicked in, she stared off into space as she began to shake uncontrollably.

Hearing a weak wheezing couch she managed to look down at Jiraiya and saw she had probably picked up the blood from a wound on his chest. But while that could explain his pale complexion the fact that there wasn't a large pool beneath him and that the wound had clotted told her it wasn't the reason for it. As she watched her teammate slowly take a turn for the worse in front of her something inside her screamed at her to get off her ass and do something about it.

Pushing past her fear, she got to her knees and rolled Jiraiya onto his back. Placing her hand against his head and finding him burning up she suspected that he had been poisoned. Searching Jiraiya's jacket pocket she pulled out a gourd and pulling the stopper found it filled with sake. Summoning chakra to her hand in a ball she pulled the liquid out with it and pressing the liquor to the wound it disappeared as it ran through his blood. As Jiraiya hissed in pain, she held him down as she began extracting the poison using liquor as a bonding agent. Once she extracted what she could, she analyzed it and finding it to be a slow working poison sat up to survey her surroundings. Guessing she was still near the Tea Country border she said, "Tonton, I need you to bring me some angel trumpets."

The piglet took off racing through the woods to follow through with her order. Tsunade didn't doubt Tonton would succeed since her strong sense of smell had been one of the reasons that she had her as a pet. Focusing on her patient, who although now free of a majority of the poison was still in need of the antidote, she felt tears enter her vision as she said, "Don't you dare die on me, Jiraiya."

Cutting his shirt away using chakra she exposed his wound and set about healing it ignoring the blood that now coated her hands. Hearing Tonton's approach though she quickly sterilized her hands using some of the remaining sake before she pulled out a notebook filled with Jiraiya's writing from another of his pockets. Guessing it to be one of the annoying notepads he always scribbled into when peeking on women she found a blank page and pulling it from the pad wrapped it around one of the bell shaped flowers. Crushing it easily in her hand, she poured the powder into the gourde to mix it with the sake inside. Bringing it to his lips she tipped it back and then made sure he swallowed the medicine.

Tsunade then returned to healing the wound and noticed the color returning to his skin as the antidote cleared his system of the poison that remained. After his wound was fully healed she ran her hand along the repaired skin causing him to giggle as he sleepily whispered, "Heh-heh that tickles."

Hearing the sound caused the flood of tears that she had been holding back to fall as she allowed the joy she felt to show through. Her head fell into his chest as she let her emotions run wild for a moment. After several minutes she got ahold of herself glad that after so many failures when it mattered most to her that there was finally a success, she wiped her eyes and standing picked Jiraiya up over her shoulders saying, "Let's get you home," before heading back to the village she assumed his charges and Shizune were waiting.