Silver Dog and the Dog General.
101…
"You really sent them off" Jiraiya was too dignified to gape like he certainly wanted to, but he gave his mentor a validly questioning stare that had the hokage valiantly resisting the urge to chuckle fondly, remembering years long past.
For his part, Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled secretly, taping his pipe almost absently over the bin to clean out some fowl smelling ashes. Then, as if he was being purposely blasé, the old man fished around the inside of his pristine hokage robes and pulled out a small paper envelope – from the spicy smell coming from it, the envelope contained tobacco.
The old man was getting senile in his old age, that has to be it.
"Kakashi-kun was very convincing in his request" The Hokage finally answered, not bothering with a lighter, he simply blew on the pipe and smoke started to come out. The wonders of fire jutsu applied into every day life. "This way they are looking for Tsunade-chan, so Naruto-kun has no one right now"
Sly, sly cunning old man. Jiraiya smiled, feeling inordinately thankful.
102…
Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto were sitting in a semi-circle underneath the shade of a tall Hashirama tree that grew close to their training ground. The three gennin were staring at Kakashi's make-do grave with pensiveness written all over them.
Sakura was the first to break the silence.
"Hey Naruto…"
Naruto grunted.
"Do you really think something will happen to Kakashi-sensei?"
Another grunt.
"Because… I don't think Sesshiou-sama would do any permanent harm"
Naruto grunted yet again.
Sasuke choked down.
103…
Tracking down that brat was easy. He was still there, morosely staring at Kakashi's memorial monument. The large scarecrow looming over the grave – the resemblance was so uncanny that Jiraiya coughed to hide his laugher behind a trembling hand.
There was a crow pecking at the dyed straw serving as hair, the crow's eyes met Jiraiya that moment, man understood beast as both shared a thought. Aho…
And there was the culprit, sitting under a shade sharing it with his two other teammates. The noon's heat making the three brats a little lazy it seemed.
"Oho? Your sensei barely out of town and you think you can slack down?" He asked, making his steps harder as to make sound. No use in startling the kids with a silent approach after all. Three pair of sullen eyes met Jiraiya and the older man had to pause for a moment. A wave of nostalgic fondness crashing into him.
"Who are you anyway?" Naruto asked rudely, standing up along with his team to face the unknown, suspicious looking old man.
Jiraiya's eyes glinted fearsomely.
104…
A very traumatizing moment later, the sannin had the brats properly respecting him as a super perve- an outstanding citizen with a charming personality and tact with the ladies.
"Don't think that just because your sensei got a separate mission from you, that you're on vacation – come on, brat one with me, brat two and three Gai is looking for you"
Cue horrified look as the three gennin exchanged glances. Naruto held up a trembling finger. "One?"
Jiraiya nodded with a blinding grin.
Sakura raised another finger.
"Gai-sensei?"
Nod. "It was Maito Gai or Ebiso-kun… now that I think of it… Kurenai-chan was working with her team, Asuma-kun is busy with council work, that leaves…" Sakura and Sasuke paled accordingly.
105…
"Hmm… I was going to wait until the results from the chunnin exam came out to teach you a super-cool jutsu, but if you convince me, I guess I can teach you now…" The sannin grinned down at the blond who was glaring up at him. Naruto didn't want to admit it, but the idea of a super-cool jutsu was very appealing, even more because even his Guardian respected the man in front of him. If Sesshiou respected something, it was power.
"How cool?" He asked, faking disinterest. The old man's eyes glinted promisingly.
"Very cool"
A suspicious stare down later, Naruto had his eyes narrowed. "What do I have to do?"
Hook, line… "I want to meet a babe!"
106…
Gai looked at his two impromptu students while his eternal rival embarked on his own odyssey in the name of love. It was memorable, brilliant, inspiring. The power of youth never shone so brightly. Moved deeply, Gai promised the sannin Jiraiya that he'd take care of the lasting two fourths of team Kakashi.
He'd make them feel as if he was Kakashi himself!
No! He'd teach them better than Kakashi! So that they'd be so impressed with him Kakashi would have to admit defeat. Yosh!
"Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke eh?" He asked them cheerfully. Behind him, Lee was bravely trying to meet the little lady's eyes in a desperate need to convey his feelings. Just more reason to have them with his team for the rest of the week!
Even Tenten was looking excited! With a smile capable of lighting up a city, Gai pointed at his two new pupils.
"Two hundred laps around Konoha! When you return, we can continue warming up with a hundred push-ups, sit-ups and jumping jacks, I will also introduce you to a few stretches" He demonstrated the stretch. Both Gennins winced simultaneously.
The pink haired girl shared a glance with her raven haired teammate, both looking auspiciously resolute. They were already planning something, it warmed Gai's heart to see such beautiful synchrony between friends.
Lee stepped beside Sakura, Neji and Tenten following suit. "Now, on the count of three!... One, two… three!"
The two fourths of Kakashi's team have reached a silent conclusion. They'd be hiding inside Sesshiou's mansion for a while that's for sure. At least until Gai gave up that stretch idea of his.
107…
"Here" A wailing child of was gently deposited on Jiraiya's arm. "A babe" Seconds later, an irate mother was coming up to Jiraiya… a scuffle later, the sannin glared at the blond behind swollen cheeks.
"I meant something with huge watermelons!" Naruto glared. The man should make up his mind!
"Here" A huge watermelon was roughly tossed at Jiraiya's head. "Watermelon"
"No! Don't you get it you dumb brat! Something with curves!"
"Here… something with curves! And I'm done playing fetch!" A fiddle… well, it had curves!
Incensed, the sannin glared with the vengeance of Amaterasu. "A woman! A hot, woman with a huge rack! Show me one or no jutsu!"
Glaring back, Naruto swallowed his ire with dark promising in his mind and set out to look for a woman fitting the crazy old man's descriptions.
Moments later, Naruto appeared with a woman… she had a huge rack, as per requested, along with a respectful backside, round hips and lots, lots of curves… Only she was a middle aged, matronly woman exaggeratedly over-weight and taping a rolling pin against her thigh.
"There he is lady, he insisted on meeting you" Naruto pointed. The lady smiled icily. Jiraiya gulped.
108…
"I hate you"
"It's mutual… now I did what you asked for, teach me the super-cool jutsu!"
Jiraiya gave up… simply sagging onto himself and glaring at the heavens swearing profanities inside his head that were not fit for polite company.
"Alright… let's see if you can handle it…" The white haired man smirked, pulling on the red scroll strapped to his back.
109…
"How long do you think they will be looking for us?" Sakura asked, sweating.
"I don't know… I suppose this is good stealth training" Sasuke commented, sharingan activated as he tracked Gai and Lee… the pair have been looking for them for the best part of the morning after they disappeared around a corner, pretending to go on their laps…
Neji, the only one on that team who could actually locate them on their convenient perch on top of a three, magnanimously kept his mouth shut, if there was pity in his eyes the pair of escaping gennin accepted graciously.
110…
On the road again. Sesshiou reflected, staring at the expanse of dirt and forest rolling in front of her. For the moment, she and the impertinent human male were keeping a sedate pace, not seeing reason to hurry this soon in their trip. According to the strange white haired man that smelled of a mixture of amphibian and oil, this princess they were supposed to collect wouldn't be moving anytime soon.
Kakashi was walking with that customary slouch. He had the orange book dangling lazily in front of his face foolishly pretending to read since she knew he was actually paying attention to her every move – smart man.
"Hmmm… Daiyokai-dono… we've been walking for a few hours, would you like a break?" Sunny yellow eyes pinked dangerously.
"This one does not require as much rest as you do" Her words were beyond freezing zero. The silver haired jounnin shuddered as he felt the spike in killing intent, trying to ignore it in favor of a curious blink in her direction.
"Really? You must excuse my blunder then, I didn't mean to offend you" Crisis averted, Kakashi sighed. Sesshiou ignored him, content with the fact that he recognized the slight for what it was and apologized for it. Maybe there was hope for him yet. A few more hours later, Kakashi raised a hand before the stressing hours filled with silence became awkward. "Would you mind if I bring my partner along?"
111…
Pakkun stared at his partner of almost two decades. He had to collect more juicy gossip to share with the rest of the pack while in the human world. With a sniff, the little white pug wagged his tail in thought. Well… little Kakashi-kun was growing up splendingly well, though it took a while to find himself a mate.
"Ne, Kakashi, aren't you gonna introduce us?" The pug toddled up, walking beside the Lady in question… and what a Lady, the nin-dog thought! Her pedigree must be impeccable, her pose was flawless, she smelled divine and just the right touch of dangerous to add that spice in a relationship. Kakashi was lucky to have found such a powerful alpha female to keep him line.
"Eh? I guess I forgot, sorry. Daiyokai-dono, this is Pakkun, one of my partner nin-dogs" His human's voice was permeated in amusement. They knew each other for so long that Kakashi must have known Pakkun was planning something. "Pakkun, this is Daiyokai Sesshiou-dono"
Sidling up to where the lady was walking, Pakkun took notice of a few things. Was Kakashi aware of these? The silver haired woman's footprints were light, almost inexistent. The scent was strongest near her, yet it dissipated shortly not leaving traces along their way – she was apt at covering her tracks, it seemed.
And now standing closer, he could feel something he hasn't felt for a long, long time.
Wouldn't things get interesting?
112…
Daiyokai Sesshiou… Kakashi didn't know what to expect when he invited the mysterious woman to accompany him in this mission. It was highly unconventional to have a virtual civilian following a ninja in their job – yet the hokage didn't even bat an eyelash when he allowed the noble looking lady to come.
Beside her talent with a sword, he had no idea of what else she could do. Actually… she was incredibly fast and resilient; she had sharp eyes and a steady hand as well. She moved with precise grace that had even the most seasoned kunoichi seem like bumbling elephants in comparison… Naruto said she wasn't a ninja, yet she was so much more than a conventional Samurai.
Then, they spent the day walking non-stop. Nothing much to a jounnin of his caliber – he spent days without sleep, traveling vicariously during his ANBU days with no resting at all – yet his companion endured the endless walk in silence, not even her footsteps made noise. She was also perfectly immaculate, not a single dirt on her clothes or a sweat on her forehead.
What was she?
And when Pakkun appeared… his little pug took to the lady quickly, acting annoyingly subservient in a way it took years for Kakashi to achieve with his pack.
"We shall camp here for the night" Her voice drifted in his direction, breaking him from his thoughts.
It was a good, secure clearing they'd have no problem defending…
113…
She didn't sleep.
Kakashi noticed.
She inclined her back against a tree, raised a knee, stretched a leg and loitered like a queen on her throne looking as comfortable in the middle of a forest surrounded by wildlife as she was amongst her satin and silk pillows.
Sesshiou didn't blink a lid. So he accommodated himself on the other side of the tree, closing his eyes and relaxing his body.
"This Sesshiou will keep watch, sleep"
As if.
Pakkun nestled on her side and started to snore a moment later.
114…
Tsunade felt uncomfortable. Years of dodging hunters sent by the old man to drag her back home have honed a sixth sense when she was being hunted. Like an itch behind her neck. There were hunters on the way.
"Tsunade-sama?" Shizune, ever perceptive of her guardian's moods, eyed the blonde curiously. "Is something wrong?"
The legendary sucker sighed, shook her head and downed the sake cup in one gulp. "Nothing… just a bad feeling" honey colored eyes drifted to the hotel window, the night bringing a gush of fresh smelling air and making her bangs move. It felt pleasant. She grinned, tomorrow she felt lucky.
115…
They were missing ninja, bounty hunters by trade. There was Ako-san, she was a chunnin from kiri who escaped the blood-line purges with her husband years before. She was always moody these days, not even Hisokado-san – the husband who had a weird blood-line going for him - was able to keep her calm long enough to complete bounties.
He grinned sharply. Both ninja were his team. They had a partnership going on for five years in which they led each-other' strength to capture and defeat enemies, then shared the loot between themselves. He didn't trust the couple as far as he could throw them, the pair were ridiculously loyal though, where one went the other was behind.
"Ashita-san, sre you sure?" Ako asked, scowling, bad mood clear and sound. Behind her, Hisokado coughed, politely bowing his head.
Waving a hand dismissively, Ashita answered. "Long silver hair, purple moon on forehead, white, yellow and purple colors… It's Daiyokai Sesshiou I'm sure"
"Ahh?" The woman asked more interestedly. "It's a civilian right? This hunt will be a piece of cake" She cackled, greed slanting her eyes.
Hisokado frowned, staring at the one who could only be that Daiyokai woman. "Isn't that the Copy-nin Kakashi?"
"We can take him no problem!" His wife crowned, looking at Ashita goadingly. Ashita smirked, if he and Hisokado managed to distract the copy-nin long enough, they might make this work.
116…
"We are being followed" Kakashi pointed out, looking at the Lady from the corner of his eyes and catching the dangerous edge that took over her person. She shifted gears from passively frightening to murderously deadly and it was fascinating to watch the transition as her hand drifted toward her sword. He realized belatedly that there was no reason to alert her at all, by the way her glinting eyes followed every shadow's movement over the canopies above them.
117…
Tokijin screamed angrily as she released him from his scabbard, sparks flying when she moved to deflect the rain of projectiles that would have paralyzed her otherwise. Kakashi disappeared from her sight, he was preparing to engage the others.
There were three, her senses told her. Though they felt powerful enough to present a challenge, she was sure Kakashi could take care of his own battles. Her own challenger threw a few more of those meek knives Naruto called Kunai before understanding that such pathetic tactic wouldn't work on Sesshiou's superior speed.
Smirking, the great demon located her prey and with a wave of her arm, Tokijin cackled in a powerful torrent of yoki cutting down where the enemy was hiding.
"Ehh?! You're not some defenseless civ after all!" A human female dressed in garbs similar to those of Kakashi jumped down before she could be swept away by Tokijin's fury. "No matter, you're going down!"
Sesshiou parried effortlessly the lunge made by the kunai wielding woman, locking the other in a battle of will that could only finish one way.
118…
The two in front of him were doing a great job in being annoyingly persistent. A few paces in beyond the human made barrage, he could feel another fight – Sesshiou was engaging another opponent that was obvious.
What was also obvious, was that these two had no actual intention of fighting him seriously, they were there to delay him while their partner captured (or killed?) Sesshiou for whatever their reason was.
Narrowing his eyes in a display of anger that would have made lesser men run away in an urgent need to survive, Kakashi breathed out in concentration, lowering the half of his mask that hid Obito's eye.
119…
There was something wrong… something weird… something… With halting realization, Sesshiou managed to stop in the nick of time to prevent Tokijin from skewering mercilessly her enemy' stomach. The woman was worse for wear after a five minutes mini-war against a mighty dog demon, with parts of her hair missing, burning marks all around her body, one or two broken bones and quite a large number of cuts littering all over her skin.
The silver haired lady had the woman on the ground, fleshy belly vulnerable as the woman trembled in fear and confusion when the final strike should have killed her. She was in no condition to continue fighting.
Snorting at the sniveling, cowering human, Sesshiou stashed her sword back. "Why…?" Cried the female. "Why did you stop?"
"This Sesshiou shall not tarnish her honor by taking the life of a young"
"HUH?!"
"You are with child" Was the scathing, passing remark when Sesshiou stepped over the prone body to go see if that annoying dog-smelling male needed assistance. The irresponsibility of the despicable creature she just spared making her eyes bleed red.
120…
"Maa, it seems your friend just lost to my friend" Kakashi hid expertly well his wayward shock when his silver haired traveling companion emerged from the place where she fought without a single hair out of place. Looking pristine and pure as ever, the only thing that gave away that she even fought at all was the suspicious red stains on one of her swords' handle.
Sesshiou spared him a glare that had Kakashi reeling. Her eyes, before a beautiful amber how glinted red and purple. The delicate stripes on her cheeks were more jagged, as were the ones on her arms when the wind ruffled her sleeves enough to show. Then he realized that it wasn't really a glare when her red gaze swept over him looking for sign of injury.
The two idiots weren't spared from her fury though.
Was it him or her jaw seemed more pronounced?
"Which one of you is responsible for the woman?" Cold, like the darkest winter night.
"Ako!" One of the men made mention to abandon his friend and run back to the previous clearing where the woman laid bleeding and broken. "Let me go! Ako!" However his friend latched onto his arm and didn't let go.
"You idiot! You ruined everything!"
"Ashita! Ako is…!"
"I don't care for that woman! You both ruined this bounty!"
"Children, let's not fight between ourselves" Kakashi drawled, walking up to stand beside Sesshiou and joining the glaring fest she was indulging in. Up close, the massive weight of her power pressed down on him – energy swirled around her form teasingly – what was she?
"This Sesshiou has not taken the life of your mate, if you wish to save her, this one recommends you take haste"
With a final shove, Ashita was pushed off the fleeing male. Kakashi cracked his knuckles. Sesshiou growled.
121…
"Bounty hunters… pretty miserable bunch" The silver haired man commented, leafing through the bingo-book their unexpected prisoner carried. "Hmm… it seems you've made quite an enemy, Sesshiou-dono, it seems there is a hefty bounty on your head"
Cleaning her sword carefully, the lady in question did a wonderful job of ignoring him. Sighing, Kakashi turned back to their prisoner.
"Now, you will wait here until Kiri hunter-nin come pick you up" The hokage would be immensely pleased by this turn of things. Allowing kirigakure to have their missing nin back would straighten relationships a bit, or at least make the new mizukage more amendable to an alliance in the future.
122…
"Hisoka- I'm so sorry" Ako cried, a hand hovering over her stomach. Her husband soothed her hair back.
"We're going to lay low, settle somewhere remote and everything will be alright"
"… That woman… she… she wasn't human…"
123…
"What are you?" His question was laid back. By now, his silver haired traveling companion has calmed down from the daze of fury she found herself in earlier and was more manageable. "The chakra I felt… It wasn't human" Casual, too casual… he was treading on a fine line – was this mysterious woman a jinchuriki like Naruto?
Walking as if his question didn't even come as a surprise, the lady turned her face slightly to capture his eyes in hers. "This Sesshiou is not human. This one is what you call a youkai, a demon"
Rampaging, anger, power, monsters… konoha in flames burning, Kushina' screams mixing with new-born Naruto's and Minato-sensei desperation leaking through the battle field. It was… way easier to believe her when she said she was a demon than he'd have liked. Then, associating the maternal care he saw shining in her pale eyes when she held Naruto, the utmost devotion she had in training and disciplining the children, the respect her workers held for her and lastly the trust the Hokage seemed to have in this woman.
Maybe their definition of demon should be revised. He smiled a little, contented smile that had his eyes crinkle. Her scent teased his nose, he had one more question.
"What kind of demon?"
124…
Tsunade was easy to find.
They only had to track down the wake of debt collectors trailing through the street.
"You…" The blonde woman glared impressively well. Kakashi smiled back at her as if she wasn't unleashing a wave of potent KI strong enough to have Shizune and Ton-ton wince. "What do you want?"
"Yare-yare, hokage-sama dearly misses you Tsunade-hime"
Tsunade waved a hand, slouching back into her seat and regarding the two extra additions to her table. If Kakashi knew her, she'd swindle the tab on him after threatening to castrate him in a most painful way, so he wisely kept from making any more smart comments when her honey colored eyes darkened.
"I'm not going back" Her voice was resolute. Sesshiou, who was silent, simply allowed the silver haired jounnin to conduct the mission, she was there to enjoy the road after all – politics that didn't have to do with her business wasn't of interest after all – though looking at the cloudy expression on the other female's face, the scarecrow wouldn't have luck convincing her. "I've had enough of konoha… though I'm curious, why did you come this time?"
Sobering, Kakashi bowed his head and pulled a scroll from one of his pockets.
There should be enough explanations from the old man himself written there that he wouldn't have to talk. After accepting the offered letter and reading it profusely, Tsunade's back relaxed a little.
"Jiraiya is back… he really needs my help… but I'm afraid I won't be of any help at all"
125…
"A bet…" Shizune blinked.
"A bet" Kakashi confirmed.
Sesshiou looked at them thoughtfully.
126…
Naruto looked up at the looming, unforgiving cage with dark wroth iron and a large seal keeping it shut with no small amount of awe. It wasn't as if he didn't know about the passenger in his stomach, Sesshiou could feel the Foxy chakra a mile away and didn't take someone as awesomely powerful as his guardian much to put two and two together.
So Naruto, who prized himself as being smart enough to make his guardian proud of his astoundingly quick wit, came to the brilliantly obvious conclusion that these imposing gates were keeping a verily grumpy Fox back.
As if summoned by his bright, cheerful grin, a pair of huge orange eyes lit up in the darkness like twin balls of fire. "So you are my new cage" The sinister voice echoed around the humid sewer chamber that was his stomach. Not thinking much about it, the sunny haired boy nodded empathically.
"And you are the free-loader fox living in my gut"
Chakra beast stared at human, who was staring at a Chakra beast.
127…
Gai was mildly disappointed. He searched through the whole village but couldn't find Kakashi's little cute students anywere, it was like they disappeared.
Lee, also looking disappointed that he hadn't had the chance to express his undying love for his precious Sakura-chan, curled his fists with a burning look of determination in his dark eyes.
"Yosh! If I can't find them till the sun is down then I'm going to exercise until I fall!"
The beautiful green beast of Konoha felt emotion whirl up in his chest at his student's words and nodded empathically.
"Alright Lee! Don't let anything blight your youth! Let us go search for Kakashi's cute students once more!"
Hidden in that three by Sesshiou's land, Sasuke resisted the urge to wince in pain, he was becoming quite cramped.
128…
"This is your idea of a bet…?" Shizune stood awkwardly with the little pink pig squirming in her arms. Kakashi simply blinked serenely underneath the shade of a three he chose for its particular comfy bark.
Tsunade crackled her knuckles in response while the blonde's improvised opponent looked the very image of a perfectly sculpted statue. "If you win against me, I will return with you"
Of course, in her head she'd win against the other woman. She was shorter than the sannin, with delicate looking physique and a noble's delicate build that couldn't be affordable to a warrior with Tsunade's experience. She might be slightly afraid of blood… terrified of blood… but she wasn't that hesitant about giving a spanking to Hatake's rich friend whom Kakashi betted against her.
"If I win, you pay all my debts" This was said with a vicious glint in her eyes.
Straddle Kakashi with tons of bills would be the perfect ending to her day.
"This Sesshiou accepts the challenge"
129…
Kakashi never seen Naruto's guardian fight. Well, he sparred against her quite a few times but those were with their swords only. Now this… watching as the silver haired lady dodged Tsunade's powered fists with precision, not wasting a single movement, was enchanting.
She irritated him at times, had him crawling up the walls with how she was so dog-like in attitude. Then she dropped that bomb and admitted to being a demon – he could only guess what type of demon she was, really – why couldn't his eye keep away from the gracious form dancing circles around the blonde third of the sannin?
Tsunade was fast, but Sesshiou was equally as fast and both women were dancing dangerously around each other until one of Tsunade's fists managed to land a hit on the Lady's torso, sending the golden eyed female crashing through a few trees. Swallowing became hard. Tsunade was grinning from ear to ear… not even Jiraiya could get up and walk straight after a direct hit from one of her empowered hands.
But… seconds later there she was in all her impeccable glory, not a strand of hair out of place aside from a very insidious light in her eyes. Kakashi could smell her scent spiking in the face of the challenge battle – a cry for dominance at being inadvertently bested if only for a moment, caught off guard.
The jounnin had a deep sense of something irking just inside his gut, an instinct that he kept buried deep pushing its way forward.
130…
Of all these years she walked the land with an undying confidence in her strength, Tsunade never met anyone (aside from that impossibly powerful Salamander Hanzo) stand up after being hit with one of her earth shattering punches. He'd hit that pretty woman with full force, the proof was the poor uprooted or broken trees left in the wake of that woman's violently flying body.
Then there she was, walking out of the destruction site as if her insides wasn't meshed together in a big ugly bruise.
"W-what?" blindsided, the blonde pursued her lips, looking with a medic eye over the silver haired lady and finding not a clue about her real state of health – was she even suffering at all? – she wasn't, for next moment Tsunade had to feint to the side to avoid being impaled by a hand dripping in an acidic green sludge that corroded the ground as it fell in droplets from her opponent's fingertips.
There was a moment in which both locked in another contest of strength. This fight was becoming way too serious.
131…
Sesshiou was impressed. By a human. Again. This was becoming awfully common ground in this world.
Having to control the surge of youki spurring her demonic blood to the surface, the lady resisted the temptation of touching her stomach. She'd been hit by Inuyasha's enraged fists before and it hurts, not very different from this human who had the strength of a demon – though she wouldn't show them how much the bruise on her stomach was bothering her, it wouldn't take long for it to heal anyway.
This Tsunade-hime Kakashi was sent to collect was one tough woman, Sesshiou had to respect that, but she was no youkai at any rate. Trading blows with a human who stood in equal grounds with her in terms of pure strength should make her feel degradingly angry, however the sense of exhalation and the blood pumping through her body in a way not even Kakashi' sparring could bring made getting enraged at the human female difficult.
The fight was becoming more serious though, both getting riled up enough to have a simple spar escalate into an outright war in a moment's notice.
She had to find a way to knock down the blond haired woman once and for all, so with a slow smirk that translated into amused sadism at an enemy's demise, Sesshiou removed another block off her powers and let a sheen of youki surface, boosting her speed into a burst that allowed for a sneak attack to the blonde's head.
132…
When Tsunade woke, she was sadly slumped over Shizune's back half way back to Konoha.
Kakashi couldn't hide the smugness glinting in his visible eyes while Sesshiou had a strange tilt in her slips that could have passed for a smile if one knew her well.
"Oh Tsunade-sama! You woke up!" The black haired medic exclaimed, allowing her teacher to gain her footing and a little bit of dignity as well. "Are you alright? I've healed the concussion but you should take it easy"
"Oi, who do you think I am!" The legendary sucker growled, glaring heatedly at the back of a certain silver haired pair's head. "And who the hell is she?"
"Daiyokai Sesshiou, she is a foreign merchant who is living in konoha with hokage-sama's blessing, and has taken guard of Uzumaki Naruto" Kakashi answered instead of Sesshiou herself. The look he traded with Tsunade was significant enough that it gathered said merchant's attention.
"She also cracked my skull…" It wasn't very much a whine, but it was a complain that fell in deaf ears. "Damn it, I'm never making another bet, ever again!"
133…
"You're telling me that you have an inu daiyokai as your guardian…" Kyuubi was contestably the second demon he ever met, and so far his expectations were being met. Angry, moody, bipolar, cunning, angry... Also royally pissed about something, but the fox wouldn't tell what and Naruto wasn't insisting.
So far, he'd stand as far from the bars as possible and have been talking non-stop to the demonic entity living in his gut, bragging all he could about his awesome knowledge on demon lore parted to him by his super-powerful guardian who, did you know, was a demon too.
"Yeah! Her name is Sesshiou, she says she used to be the lady of the Western lands that is very far away from here"
"Interesting… now why are you here?" Oh yes… he was so busy bragging to the fox that he forgot he has been falling down a precipice for the last five minutes. If he died, he hoped his guardian could resurrect him so he could kill Jiraiya himself.
Squirming in sudden shyness, Naruto squished his pride, prostrated to his knees and shamelessly begged. "Please lend me your power! We're about to be killed if I don't summon the boss frog!" If there's one thing he learned about demons, it was they loved having their egos stroked.
The fox's orange eyes narrowed, as he smiled sinisterly, showing a roll of sharp teeth. "Just this once, don't come crawling to me again if you don't want to be devoured"
Shame, Naruto was planning on visiting the very next morning when he wasn't falling to his death so they could continue their talk.
134…
Tsunade stood in front of her old teacher with a twitch in her left eye. The hokage's table laid in pitiful splinters now and documents were scattered all around the office.
Kakashi and Sesshiou stood silently to the side, Shizune, knowing better, shielded herself behind the duo. "I had to do it, Tsunade… you are needed here, please consider this, at the very least as a favor for this old man" Hiruzen spoke guilelessly, expertly using the guise of a tired, aged leader and a healthy dose of emotional blackmail on his ex-student. Not that Tsunade was that gullible, but she had a soft spot for the third hokage that wasn't abashed by her dislike of the hokage tittle itself.
There was a moment of silence as the blonde thought over the offer, though the silence didn't last long.
The door burst open. "YOU'RE BACK!" A little blond ray of sunshine disregarded the warning looks and tossed himself in an impressive display of a body tackle at the half annoyed form of his guardian. "You won't believe the super-cool jutsu I learned the other day and the-" He proceeded to blab a mile per hour, and only Sesshiou could understand him if the indulging way she tilted her head and listened to him patiently indicated.
"Naruto… can't you see we're busy?" Kakashi interrupted when the blond finally stopped to take a breath.
The hokage waved a hand, a new calculating edge to his eyes had Kakashi suspicious. "It's alright Kakashi-kun, Naruto can stay and greet properly our fifth hokage"
Cunning, cunning old man.
135…
"What?! I can't believe it! She's an old lady!"
A vein appeared on Tsunade's forehead.
"Who do you think you're calling an old lady you brat!"
Making a face, the younger blond answered with unrepentant mischief.
"You, you old hag!"
Tsunade exploded, punching the brat right through the wall. "Don't call me that!" Hiruzen sighed mourfuly at the damage to his wall while Sesshiou's eyebrow rose. She wasn't worried about Naruto's integrity, the boy was much more resilient than Inuyasha on a bad day, he could take a little bashing.
When the blond head poked through the newly made window, Sesshiou looked sternly at him.
"This one is older than that female, show respect to your elders" Do not shame our house by being disrespectful were the hidden words. Gulping, Naruto nodded guiltily, though more than one chin hit the ground at the surprising revelation.
"What?" Was the unanimous question.
136…
That old hag couldn't possibly be made hokage! It was an insult! She was inadequate and a brute and Naruto disliked her on the spot!
Narrowing his eyes, the blonde had a new revolution and it involved making the life of a certain Senju-hime a living hell until she gave up and ran from the village where she certainly didn't belong.
She didn't deserve to be hokage. She just didn't. Why couldn't the old man wait a few years until Naruto was powerful enough to take on the mantle? It wasn't asking too much.
Then she had to invent a stupid bet… If he could learn a technic in a week from Jiraiya, she'd become hokage and Naruto found himself torn between proving how awesome he was or kicking that big breasted monster out of the village.
It took one pointed look from Sesshiou to have him immerse himself into training. For some reason, Jiraiya had absconded himself as far away from Tsunade as possible. So it was a little tiring to keep up the training.
In the end of the day, the Rasengan was still a kickass jutsu and a must have in his eyes.
137…
"So Kakashi-sensei came back alright?" Sakura asked worriedly. Naruto nodded, looking satisfied and proud about something.
"Yeah! We needn't have worried, it seems they became friends after all!"
Sasuke's lips lifted into a smirk, he couldn't resist the jab, it was stronger than him. "So you're looking forward at having Kakashi as family"
It took but a second for Naruto to register the words and retaliate.
"No way! Take that back!"
137…
Sitting on the veranda that had a beautiful view of her garden, Sesshiou sampled from her tea calmly, staring at the peaceful image of the garden along with the guest sitting by her side.
The wild white haired man that stood up to train Naruto while she was away, Jiraiya, also the notorious pervert responsible for those ridiculous orange books Kakashi liked to read. The old man wasn't even hiding his blatant usage of her home as a sanctuary against the very woman she accompanied Kakashi into retrieving.
"This one is curious about what was taught to her ward" She finally asked. Jiraiya huffed, but nodded to himself.
"I guess it is in your place to know a few things first… I was named by Naruto's parents as his god-father, though for reasons bigger than myself, I couldn't take responsibility for the boy. So thank you for taking care of him in my absence, I'm sure his parents are also very grateful" It was slightly surprising, but not unexpected. "I began teaching Naruto one of his father's jutsu, and passed on to him the frog contract… I also wish to start training him on how to use the Kyuubi's chakra properly, since sooner or later he's going to need it"
That raised her hackles.
"What do you mean?" Her voice was frosty. Jiraiya swallowed.
"There is a group, Akatsuki… they are collecting the bijuu – extracting them from the hosts… It is fatal for the jinchuriki since their souls mingle with that of their demon's. Naruto is the nine tailed fox's Jinchuriki, he is in danger because of it"
138…
"Well done…This one is proud of your improvement" Sesshiou allowed them to have a compliment since she noticed it tended to motivate Naruto endlessly when she expressed herself this way. Apparently, it worked on Sasuke and Sakura as well, for both flushed pleasantly and smiled smugly, fire reignited in their eyes and spirits.
If Inuyasha heard of how she was catering to these little humans, he'd have a grand time teasing her about it… It simply wasn't in her nature to be so compassionate, though she saw it as a healthy dose of emotional manipulation. Motivated children learned better, after all.
And she wasn't even lying! Sakura, who could barely support the weight of the training sword now followed through most beginner's katas without trouble. Sasuke, who had a good skill set already for a boy his age proved to have a natural knack for long, pointy weapons and was already starting to implement his technic with the sword arts he was being taught.
"Thank you, Sesshiou-sama!" Sakura grinned brightly. "I have a lot more to improve though, so please continue to teach me" the pink haired girl was learning a lot about etiquette it seemed, for she requested this with her head bowed low and humility in her tone. Sasuke followed suit, oddly pleased with himself.
And since Naruto was busily learning from his godfather – who'd have guessed? – The silver haired lady had a lot more time on her hands and she could occupy herself with paper-work only so much before the irksome thing had her wishing to kill something.
"Very well, this Sesshiou shall expect nothing else but perfection"
139…
Tsunade looked, distressed, at the perfect Rasengan held on the hand of the boy who could only be Minato' spawn. The blond hair, the blue eyes, all Minato's but with Kuchina' softness giving a baby-ish roundness to the boy's face… And all along, Naruto' spiel about what being a hokage entailed and how he couldn't accept her as a hokage since she didn't respect the tittle.
Didn't he even understand?
Looking at the rasengan and the large grin on the boy's face, Tsunade came to a resolution.
Removing the first hokage's cursed necklace, she tossed it to Naruto, who dispelled the jutsu to catch the piece of jewelry with a bewildered look in his eyes. "That necklace belonged to the first hokage, my grandfather, I want you to have it"
"Really?!"
"I think I will keep the hokage's chair warm for you, so hurry up and become strong enough to take it from me"
140…
Kakashi took one simple sniff at his students…
She did it. Again.
Though now he strangely only felt that odd fondness that insisted on creeping up his chest and nestling somewhere below his heart, making it beat annoyingly faster.
Then Naruto had to open his mouth. "I won't accept you! You're not good enough for mom!"
Sakura and Sasuke, who each carried a wooden sword at their hips, stared at him with the same protectiveness Naruto displayed. Sighing, Kakashi contemplated what to do. Mah, he had to see how they were doing anyway.
"Maa, maa… Let her decide about that… now why don't we do something fun?"
If something fun involved a brutal drilling session that had the three gennin panting and crawling on the ground Kakashi's mood was suspiciously lifted.