Chapter 10: Let's Go Sannin Showdown!
Disclaimer: All events, characters, and material involved in this story are owned by their creators not me.
A week had past since, Jiriaya and the lantern quartet had left the leaf in search of Tsunade, during that time Naruto had been trying to master one of his father's famous jutsu the Rasengan; the catch was he had to do it without the aid of his power ring. One day while Jiriaya was out trying to get a lead on Tsunade's location, Naruto was out trying to master the final stage of the jutsu which involved using his chakra to spin chakra inside a balloon without moving it, he had already done it with a water balloon given his affinity for wind chakra and while he did have difficulty with the second stage involving a rubber ball but by far the final stage was a major league pain in the ass, meanwhile Lee and Sakura were passing the time by in a spar of their own using their rings. Lee had created a set of nunchuks from his ring while Sakura produced a Bo staff with hers as they took their positions to fight.
"You ready for this Lee?" Sakura asked. Lee smiled back and nodded getting into his usual stance.
"Yes I am Sakura but just because I like you doesn't mean I'll go easy on you. I'll fight you with all my willpower to beat you and if I cannot do that then I will do 5000 push ups on my nose and if I fail that then its 300 laps around the village with 16-ton safe strapped to my back…" Lee ranted until Sakura just formed a huge crystal fist from her ring knocking some sense back into the bushy browed lantern.
"Okay Lee I get it, geez just calm down." Sakura said.
"Yes Sakura, I'm sorry about that." Lee apologized as he and Sakura got back in their stances and then charged at one another, both swung their construct weapons at each other first but soon after several attempts to hit each other, their weapons got tangled up by the chains of the Nunchuks so Sakura decided to take advantage by stick one end of her staff in Lee's gut several times making him gasp for air, Lee quickly recovered and then formed a club which nailed Sakura in the face the fight seemed even until Hinata came back from her tent with a few bento boxes in hand.
"Lunch is ready!" She said causing Lee and Sakura to fly back down and Naruto to get distracted long enough for his jutsu to blow up in his face again.
"Ouch that's going to leave a mark for sure." Naruto groaned as he got up with his hand bleeding and burning from the friction caused by his chakra trying to get the ball to pop. When he made it back the others looked at his hand in shock.
"Naruto what happened?" Sakura asked as she pulled out a first-aid kit.
"The jutsu backfired on me and cut up my hand pretty badly." Naruto explained as Sakura disinfected the wounds and then bandaged them up. "Thanks Sakura." Naruto said to his teammate who smiled at him. While Hinata handed out the bento boxes while and everyone was eating Naruto noticed something about a batch of rice balls, they were all made in the shape of his face, while Sakura scowled at the Indigo tribe girl, Naruto looked confused.
"Is something wrong Naruto?" Hinata asked snapping Naruto out of his stupor.
"Oh no Hinata nothing's wrong it's just that I never thought I would see myself eating my own face." He said as he took the treat and put it in his mouth. "This is delicious; you would make a fine wife someday Hinata." Naruto said causing the young Hyugaa heiress to blush and Sakura to get a little angry at her though she wouldn't say it. However it was then that Jiriaya had returned with the information they needed. "Well time to pack up you guys, I've got a lead that seems pretty fresh." Jiriaya said.
"Yeah right is that why you spent three hours at that brothel?" Naruto asked with a scowl making Jiriaya scowl back.
"Well look, who's calling the kettle black, how's your training going?" Jiriaya shot back.
"I've gotten past the first two steps but combining them into the final step is a pain. So where is she anyway?" Naruto said as he and the others got everything together. Naruto asked.
"Well you'll complete it sooner or later now let's go everyone. From what my informants tell me she's in Tanzaku Gai, it's a gambling town if we head out now we should find her in a few hours or days." Jiriaya said until he heard his stomach growl. "That is after we have some lunch first." The sage said laughing and sweating a little bit but as he looked down he saw all the bento boxes were empty. "HEY Where's my lunch?!" He asked indignantly as the young lanterns were leaving without him.
"You snooze you lose Pervy Sage." Naruto called out as Jiriaya ran after them with as much anger that an empty stomach could produce chasing after the four young lanterns.
"Get back here you little sneaks!" Jiriaya called out until he caught Naruto only to reveal that it was a shadow clone to find that Naruto and the others were standing behind him with a bento box in hand.
"What's the matter Pervy Sage can't you take a joke?" Naruto asked as he handed Jiriaya his lunch which he took happily and started eating it.
"That was delicious, who made those?" Jiriaya said after he finished eating.
"Um I did Lord Jiriaya." Hinata said timidly causing Jiriaya to raise an eyebrow at the blushing Indigo girl. "Really, well let me tell you that you would make a man happy someday." He said with look in his eye that caused Hinata to blush until Naruto made a mallet with his ring and whacked Jiriaya with it.
"That's enough Pervy Sage; Hinata doesn't need you acting like a crazed pedophile." Naruto said as he left Jiriaya where he was. Several hours later, the group made it to Tanzaku. "So how do we go about that this?" Sakura asked.
"I think we should split up and search we'll cover more ground that way; Sakura you're with me, Hinata and Lee can go with Jiriaya." Naruto said as they nodded and took off trying to find Tsunade. Later they came across an alleyway where a young woman in a black robe with a pig wearing a red vest and a pearl necklace around her neck in her arms, was being harassed by a thug. "Alright lady hand over the pig and no one gets hurt." The thug said.
"I'm sorry but she's not for sale or eating." The woman answered as the pig in her arms started to quiver.
"Well who's gonna stop me?" The thug asked until he was tapped on the shoulder, he turned around and spotted Naruto.
"Excuse me but that's not how you treat a woman buster." Naruto said as he then punched him right in the face, and Sakura kicked him in the balls causing the thug to fall over holding his groin, they then turned to the woman; "Are you okay mam?" He asked her.
The woman nodded as did the pig; "Yes I'm fine thank you though I am surprised that a couple of young ninja would help someone like me." The woman replied.
"Well I couldn't let some thug harm a pretty lady like you Miss…." Naruto said since he never got a name from the woman.
"My name is Shizune Kato and this is my pet pig Tonton." The woman said introducing herself and her pet who gave a greeting oink.
"Nice to meet you Shizune, I'm Naruto and this is my Sakura." Naruto said introducing Sakura and himself.
"Hello Miss Shizune nice to meet you." Sakura said.
"So what brings you two to Tanzaku?" Shizune asked.
"Well we're looking for someone important as part of our mission." Sakura replied.
"Shizune where are you?" A voice called out catching Shizune's attention.
"I'm coming my lady; I have to go now it's nice to have met you two." Shizune said as she and Tonton left. Naruto and Sakura also thought it would be best if they met up with the others as well and left. What they didn't know was that the voice that called for Shizune belonged to a woman with blonde hair, brown eyes, a long green vest with the kanji for gamble written on the back and a huge bust. "Where were you?" The woman asked.
"I'm sorry my lady I got held up thankfully a couple of ninja rescued me." Shizune explained soothing Tsunade's anger.
"Well as long as you're safe that's all that matters now let's go I need a drink." The woman said as the three of them headed for the bar.
Meanwhile, Naruto and Sakura regrouped with the others to see if they found Tsunade.
"Any luck on your end guys?" Naruto asked.
"Sorry Naruto but no luck at all for us." Lee said dejectedly.
"No luck on our end either I guess this lead just dried up." Naruto said as Jiriaya decided to take them to the nearest grill for dinner. However when they arrived the found the person they were looking for right under their noses; "Tsunade!" Jiriaya called out causing the blonde woman to turn around.
The group looked ahead seeing who was motioning to as the woman shot out of her seat, "Jiriaya? What the hell are you doing here?" she asked surprised to have run into her old teammate.
"Looking for you that's why." Jiriaya went over as Naruto and Sakura spotted who was with her, "Shizune?" They asked
"Naruto, Sakura?" she asked.
"You know her guys?" Lee asked.
"We helped her out today." Naruto admitted.
"Well isn't this a day of reunions, first Orochimaru shows up to say hello and now you Jiriaya." Tsunade as Jiriaya scowled at Orochimaru's name being mentioned.
"You ran into Orochimaru huh, so what did he want?" Jiriaya asked.
"Nothing much he just said hi and then he left so why are you here did you come to ask me out on a date yet again?" Tsunade asked bluntly since her answer for Jiriaya's advances always ended up with him being on the wrong end of an opened can of whoop ass courtesy of Tsunade.
"No I'm not running a day care center nor did I come here to ask you out on a date." Jiriaya replied. "These four and I have come on orders from sensei to bring you back so you can be named the 5th Hokage." Jiriaya said but Tsunade just scowled at that proposition.
"Sorry Jiriaya but I decline." Tsunade said quickly.
"Well there's her answer almost as if she knew what we were going to ask." Naruto said bluntly.
"Okay now that I've gotten Jiriaya out of the picture who are you four?" Tsunade asked
"Greetings Lady Tsunade I'm Sakura Haruno." Sakura introduced herself.
"I'm Hinata Hyugaa and it's an honor to meet you lady Tsunade." Hinata said.
"Hello Lady Tsunade I am Rock Lee the handsome miniature devil of the leaf!" Lee proclaimed flashing his traditional smile making everyone around him sweat drop.
"Okay and who's the blond runt?" Tsunade asked bluntly.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze." Naruto said shocking Tsunade.
'He's Minato and Kushina's son?" she asked herself.
"Well we found her can we go now?" Naruto asked Jiriaya.
"I think I didn't make myself clear the first time runt, I'm not going back." Tsunade answered as Jiriaya tried to defuse the situation.
"But Tsunade you can't ignore an order from sensei…" Jiriaya said before Tsunade cut him off.
"Save it Jiriaya, I stopped being sensei's student when Orochimaru left the village." Tsunade rebuked however while that was going on, Sakura's power ring unknown to anyone around her was giving her images of Tsunade's life and the reasons why she didn't want to go back to the village. She first saw images of Tsunade and her little brother Nawaki, their bond her giving him a necklace when he was twelve and his death on the battlefield. The ring then showed her Tsunade and a person Sakura assumed was Dan, Shizune's uncle and Tsunade former fiancée leading up to his death and eventually Tsunade leaving the village when it was over, Sakura had a tear falling from her eye. "Sakura are you okay?" Naruto asked as Sakura snapped out of her trance and noticed Naruto's hand on top of hers.
"Yes I'm fine Naruto, just caught up in some memories or something." Sakura said as she wiped her eyes Naruto then turned to Tsunade with a glare.
"Why would you give up the title of Hokage? I would kill for that position." Naruto asked the slug mistress.
"Sorry kid but becoming Hokage is a fool's game." Tsunade answered with a callous stare.
Naruto then jumped onto to the table and glared at her; "Look Granny you better watch what you say about the Hokage, they were heroes of the village; a village that your grandfather help found from the ground up, even my father since he was the last one to rule the village." Naruto snapped as Tsunade growled at him
"Well being a hero didn't stop your father from meeting his demise now did it?" Tsunade snapped back.
Naruto frowned at Tsunade but he held it together; "You can talk all you want but no one insults my father not even you a cowardly old woman with a gambling and drinking problem who runs away from the reality that her fiancée and little brother died." Naruto rebuked.
"You've got a lot of balls to call me a coward kid, so why not back up those claims outside?" Tsunade goaded.
"You're on Granny." Naruto responded.
"Lady Tsunade please don't go through with this." Shizune begged but her mentor would have none of it while the other lanterns looked concern.
"Shouldn't we try to stop them?" Sakura asked but Jiriaya shook his head.
"No Sakura, when Tsunade gets mad its best that you steer clear of her until she calms down." He explained as they rushed outside to see Naruto and Tsunade stare each other down in the street ready to fight.
"One of the legendary Sannin taking on a newbie Chunin, I'm actually ashamed of myself." Tsunade chuckled proudly.
"The only thing you're going to be ashamed of is underestimating me!" Naruto frowned.
Tsunade held out her index finger which Jiriaya could tell what it meant, "Come on Tsunade don't be a show off." Jiriaya begged.
"One finger's all I'm gonna need against you." Tsunade ignored Shizune's pleas.
Naruto frowned, "You're mocking me now? Well I'll show you who only needs one finger!" he said as he ran and jumped into the air delivering a flying kick right for her.
The rookies were surprised at his move thinking he was going to make it until Tsunade used her hand to flick Naruto's foot upward causing his body to flip forward until it looked like he was doing the Matrix. When he came face to face with Tsunade she had her fingers in a flicking position to his forehead, and with one flick he was sent skidding backwards onto the ground.
"Naruto!" The three remaining lanterns called as they rushed over, "You ok?" Sakura asked.
"Yeah, oh man!" Naruto rubbed his forehead feeling a bruise. "Sure hope this isn't permanent."
"Hey kid!" Tsunade called getting his attention, "I got one question for ya before you pass out, why're you so touchy about the title Hokage, is it because of your dad?"
"No, not just because my dad was Hokage, but because it's something I strive for, and I will become Hokage just you wait! It's my dream!" Naruto replied.
Tsunade looked taken back by that proclamation as a pool of memories were rushing back to her about her brother and lover. Naruto smirked, 'Dropped guard, big mistake. I know it's not perfected yet, but it's probably the only thing I got.' He thought to himself as he pulled the bandages off his hand and conjured a Rasengan.
Jiriaya noticed it and eagerly watched while Tsunade snapped out of her stupor seeing Naruto coming right for her, 'That jutsu!' She gasped.
"You're mine!" Naruto shouted as he shoved it forward.
Tsunade quickly slammed her fist down on the street causing a fissure and Naruto to fall down pointing his Rasengan into the ground as it exploded sending him backwards.
"Whoa!" The other lanterns gasped.
"She just split the street in half." Sakura said; "Oh man I really wish I could do that to someone" Sakura's inner self exclaimed as she ran over to Naruto to help him back up on his feet.
Meanwhile, Tsunade turned to her old teammate; "Jiriaya were you the one who's been teaching him Rasengan?" She asked with a scowl on her face.
"Well duh he's my student plus Minato would want his own child to learn his techniques." Jiriaya said plainly.
"Regardless, his is nothing compared to Minato's." Tsunade snapped
"Hey!" Naruto called, "I'll admit it's not perfect yet, but I've come this far in a week since I started. Give me three days and it'll be perfect!" He bragged.
Tsunade smirked, "You should watch it kid, I might hold you to it."
"So why don't you?" Naruto beckoned her.
Tsunade's smirk grew wider, "Alright then how about a little bet?" She asked.
"A bet?" Naruto asked as he cocked an eyebrow.
"I'll give you one week, if you can master that Jutsu with flying colors, I'll admit I'm wrong, and that you're worthy of becoming Hokage, along with coming back with you to Konoha," She said pointing to a green object hanging around her neck. "I'll even throw in my necklace to sweeten the deal." She added with a smirk on her face.
"Lady Tsunade please tell me you're joking?" Shizune pleaded.
"I don't get it why would she throw in that necklace?" Lee asked.
"Shows what you know kid, that necklace was worn by the 1st Hokage, there's only two of them in the world, and its worth three gold mines up in the mountains." Jiriaya explained as Sakura eyes flashed yen signs.
"I think we've hit the jackpot!" Inner Sakura exclaimed.
Naruto knew there had to be a catch, "So what do you hope to gain out of this bet?" He asked noticing Tsunade's smirk.
"Well you admit you were wrong and I was right. And I get all the money here." She said as she held up Naruto's frog wallet filled with his savings.
"Hey my wallet, that's pick pocketing!" Naruto protested, "Oh forget it, I got plenty of savings left by my parents back home. Alright grandma the bet's on." He said.
"What?" the lanterns gasped while Tsunade smirked.
"Naruto why would go through with this?" Sakura asked.
"Like we have a choice Sakura." Naruto reminded her.
"But…" Sakura tried to say but Tsunade cut her off.
"The kid's made up his mind," Tsunade put in, "Come on Shizune." Shizune followed in concern.
"Well that could have gone better than it did." Lee said with a glum look on his face however Jiriaya was still suspicious about something.
"You guys go back to the hotel, there's something I need to look into." Jiriaya told them and so the four lanterns left and headed back to the hotel.
Soon at their hotel room Naruto was trying to figure out how to perfect the Rasengan, "Man how was dad able to do this?" He asked aloud to himself.
"Um, maybe you shouldn't try to force the chakra into the jutsu and just let it flow in naturally." Hinata suggested.
"You could be right on that thanks for the suggestion Hinata." Naruto said as the shy heiress blushed and smiled at him but again this got Sakura's ire when suddenly there was a knock on the door.
"Come in." Sakura said as the door opened to reveal Shizune with a worried look on her face.
"Shizune, what's brings you here this late?" Naruto asked.
"I just want you to know that before you play Tsunade's game you should know something about her and that necklace." Shizune said before she was cut off by Naruto.
"Please don't say anything Pervy sage already told us all about the necklace, how she gave it to her brother and her boyfriend only for them to die in the ninja wars." Naruto said beating her to what she was going to say.
"Then why are going through with this even though you already know the story?" Shizune asked shocked that the four of them already knew about her master's life story.
"Tsunade's wrapped up in her own world," Naruto began, "I can tell it's painful to lose someone and watch them die. But they didn't die because of the necklace supposedly cursed in her opinion. They died because they were protecting everything that they held dear, the village, and her. She's obviously been so torn by their deaths she hadn't thought about that they were doing it for her and their home." He explained as the others nodded their heads in agreement with him. "Besides, if it is my time to punch out at least I want to die knowing that I went down swinging alongside those I care about." Naruto stated shocking Shizune with how tight their bond was as they were willing to sacrifice themselves for each other, she smiled as in a way Naruto reminded her of her uncle Dan.
"Well it seems nothing I'll say is going to stop you from going through with this, well good luck Naruto." Shizune said as she left the room.
"Thank you Shizune." Naruto answered back as she left the room before turning to his lantern comrades. "Well now that she's gone we need to talk you guys." Naruto said with a serious look on his face.
"What about Naruto?" Lee asked.
"Tsunade said that she had a run in with Orochimaru back at the bar, and anything involving him is bad news." Naruto explained which earned nods from the others
"Yeah but what would he be doing here, let alone so far away from his hideout?" Lee asked until Hinata's head shot up with realization.
"Tsunade's the best healer in the world; he would want Tsunade to restore his arms." Hinata said causing the other three to gasp.
"But why would she agree to help Orochimaru that makes no sense?" Lee asked until Naruto realized something.
"Because roach bait knows Tsunade as well as Jiriaya so he'll try to tempt her with something but what?" Naruto explained then asked.
"I think I know; he's going to try and offer that he'll bring the two Tsunade loved the most back from the dead." Sakura said as the others turned to her.
"Sakura how do you know this?" Lee asked.
"Back at the bar, my ring started glowing for some odd reason, at first I didn't think anything of it until I saw flashes of Tsunade's past, I then realized that the ring detected the great loss and pain in Tsunade's heart but I didn't know back then." Sakura explained.
"Well that explains why you were crying earlier." Naruto said since he was the only one to notice her crying back then. "I guess all we can do now is hope that I get the Rasengan down before the week is up and that she keeps her promise." Naruto said as he sighed and the four lanterns decided to turn in for the night, there was just one problem, there were only two beds and a futon in their hotel room so they decided to draw lots to determine who would sleep where. Naruto pulled out some matches and made a knife construct from his ring cutting the matches at different lengths and then mixing them up and putting them in his fist. "Okay here's how it's going to work, whoever get's the short match will sleep on the futon, whoever gets the long one sleeps in one of the beds by themselves, and whoever gets the two matches of the same length sleep in the other bed together, sound fair?" Naruto explained and asked as the other three nodded in agreement as Hinata pulled her match first revealing that it was the long one.
"Rats, I wanted the middle ones." Hinata complained quietly enough for no one to hear.
Lee was next and to his disappointment, he pulled the short match, not like it really mattered to him anyway. This left Naruto and Sakura with the matching sticks as they got into the bed Sakura was quite content but Naruto was still a little nervous that if he did something stupid to Sakura he would get his ass kicked. Hinata then took the other bed while Lee lay down flat on his back on the futon and the four of them fell asleep that night.
Six days later Naruto was in an open field outside of the town with Hinata and Lee watching him while Sakura had gone into town to get some food and drink from time to time though the other three lanterns would alternate this duty on a basis while occasionally Tsunade and Shizune would spy on Naruto from a distance to make sure he didn't wear himself out.
"Damn it still not enough." Naruto said as his latest attempt failed as the field he was practicing in had now been torn up beyond comprehension.
"Naruto maybe you should call it a night." Hinata suggested.
"Hinata is right Naruto you're overexerting yourself more than ever." Lee said in agreement.
"I have no choice Lee; I have to finish this by tomorrow I can't give up. I believe that I will complete this move." Naruto answered.
"Naruto at the rate you're pushing yourself, you won't make it to tomorrow." Sakura pleaded.
"If I stop now all of this trouble would have been in vain and the leaf would be worse off now than it's ever been; all will be well Sakura." Naruto said as he came up with an idea on how to stabilize the jutsu. "Well I've got no other option so why not." He said to himself as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his power ring.
"Naruto don't it!" Sakura pleaded when she saw Naruto pull out his Blue Lantern ring.
"I'll be alright Sakura." He insisted as he focused the energy of his power ring in his left hand while letting it flow into the orb of chakra forming in his right hand.
"Naruto no!" Sakura exclaimed she tried to stop him but was held back by a green lasso being held by Lee.
"I am sorry Sakura but if you stop him now things could end up being disastrous have faith in him." Lee said as Sakura relented and let Naruto go through with his scheme.
"I got it, now for a test target." Naruto said as he held the fully formed orb of chakra in his hand, he searched for a target and spotted a boulder nearby; "That'll work." He said as he ran at the rock and thrust his arm into it. "Rasengan!" he shouted as the sphere made impact blowing the boulder to pieces shocking the other lanterns.
"Whoa!" Hinata said in shock.
"Unbelievable." Lee said.
"He did it." Sakura added as Naruto staggered back to his friends. "I did it you guys." Naruto said before he collapsed from exhaustion but luckily Sakura was there to catch him with a violet chair construct.
"Is he alright?" Lee asked as Sakura checked his vitals.
"He's fine he just fell asleep from exhaustion." She said as they took him back to the hotel. Later at the hotel Naruto was out like a light in the bed while the other three lanterns were discussing what would go down the next day.
"Think he'll be in condition to prove Tsunade wrong tomorrow?" Hinata asked.
"Knowing that knucklehead, he'll force himself to show up tomorrow." Sakura answered as she yawned quickly. "Speaking of which, we might as well get some shut eye as well, goodnight." Sakura said as the other three got into their respective beds and fell asleep, however while Sakura was tucking herself in she felt Naruto's arms unconsciously slip themselves around her waist and pull her down to where she was staring right at him with a blush on her face. "This can't be happening." She said to herself however, she noticed that since Naruto was still asleep, he was completely oblivious of his actions and she knew he wouldn't do anything to violate her well at least not until they were older anyway at that moment she just took it in stride and rested her head against slightly against his chest and fell asleep to the sound of his beating heart.
The next morning the trio were awakened by Jiriaya, Shizune, and Naruto; "Guys wake up come on." Naruto said as he shook Lee awake.
"Alright Naruto I'm up what's the problem?" He asked.
"Its lady Tsunade she's gone." Shizune answered.
"Gone where?" Lee asked.
"Straight to Orochimaru." Jiriaya answered.
"WHAT?!" The trio gasped in unison.
"I though so, we've got to stop her before she repairs the damage to Orochimaru's arms." Sakura said before turning her attention to Naruto.
"Naruto are you ready for a fight?" She asked.
"Don't worry Sakura I've fully recovered my energy so I'm good to go." He said as the six ninja and a pig ran out of the hotel to where Tsunade and Orochimaru were going to meet however they decided that Hinata keep herself hidden until Naruto gave a signal.
Meanwhile out in the field there were several craters in the earth, while Tsunade and Kabuto were going head to head with each other while Orochimaru watched from the side smirking.
"Now you're mine!" Kabuto called rushing to fight Tsunade for another go until a poof of smoke filled around.
Appearing before the Medic and rogue Sannin were Naruto, Lee, and Sakura. Orochimaru looked to Jiriaya with a smirk, "It's been a long time old friend." He said his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Jiriaya was frowning but smiled in sarcasm, "Long indeed and I can't say the years have not been kind to you, old friend." He retorted
Orochimaru just snickered until the lanterns spotted Kabuto, "Kabuto!" they called.
The medic ninja looks to the group and smirked, "Well hello again." Kabuto said with his arrogant trademark smile on his face
"Oh you all have met this guy already?" Jiriaya asked curiously.
"Yeah we took the Chunin Exams," Naruto replied and decided to expose Kabuto, "He's the bloody traitor who played on our good sides! I was suspicious during the third exam when he dropped out but when I thought about it, everything made sense; the ninja info cards, the fact he had taken the exam 7 times and other stuff. He only pretended to be an ally just to earn our trust! "He revealed to the hermit.
"Well guilty as charged Naruto." Kabuto replied pushing his glasses back up.
"You unyouthful piece pile of foul scum; no one spies on our village and gets away with it." Lee declared as he was about to charge until Naruto held him back.
"Hold it Lee, Kabuto's not the pushover we pretended to be back at the exams." Naruto said as Lee calmed down. The fight was going well for Tsunade until Kabuto cut his own wrist and let some blood hit her in the face.
"BLOOD!" Tsunade screamed as she froze up and her mind went blank.
"What's going on with her?" Naruto asked.
"Hemophobia; the fear of blood." Sakura explained as Kabuto was now on the offensive and then he threw Tsunade into Shizune's arms which angered Naruto heavily.
"That's not the way to treat a lady Kabuto." Naruto said.
"Oh really and since when have I ever been merciful?" Kabuto asked rhetorically.
Meanwhile Jiriaya and Orochimaru were staring each other down when Jiriaya decided it was time to settle things once and for all. "Kids you handle Kabuto, Orochimaru is mine." Jiriaya said.
"Oh really Jiriaya and what makes you think you can beat me?" Orochimaru asked mockingly.
"Well for one we already beat you to pieces Orochimaru." Naruto gloated causing the snake ninja's eyebrow to arch.
"I have no idea what you're talking about brat." Orochimaru said plainly until Naruto dug into his pocket.
"Perhaps these will shine some light on the situation." He said as he, Lee, and Sakura slipped their rings on, pulled out their lanterns, said their respective oaths and finally the three combined on the battle ground blinding everyone until all three of them changed into their respective lantern colors.
"What you brats are those lanterns?" Orochimaru asked with a scowl on his face.
"What the hell?" Tsunade said as Jiriaya smirked.
"Ladies allow me to introduce you to the leaf lanterns; Rock Lee the Green lantern, Sakura Haruno the Star Sapphire aka the Violet lantern, and finally my pupil Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, the Blue Lantern." Jiriaya explained
"Well, I never would have guessed that the three of you were lanterns but still it won't be enough to stop me." Orochimaru snarled as he ran at them only to catch Jiriaya's elbow hitting him in the face, as he turned to the young lanterns.
"You three handle Kabuto, Orochimaru is mine." Jiriaya told them as the three of them nodded and attacked Kabuto head on; however Kabuto avoided every beam they threw at him and retaliated with an elbow to Lee's face, then he grabbed Lee and threw him into Sakura's path knocking her down, before finally using his chakra scalpels to sever some of the tendons in Naruto's legs making him unable to move but not before Naruto hit him in the face with construct staff that broke Kabuto's nose. Sakura then formed a pair of twin hook swords with her power ring, connected them to together, swung them and caught Kabuto in the side causing him to scream in pain as some shards of the crystal blades sank into his skin. Lee then got back up and blasted Kabuto in the gut with a willpower enforced fist causing the turncoat to double over in pain gasping for breath. By this time, Kurama and Aadara had finished reattaching Naruto's severed tendons so he got back up, formed a shadow clone who then focused the chakra into the original's right hand until it formed the completed orb, then Naruto charged at the turncoat.
"Take this you traitor Rasengan!" Naruto shouted as he shoved the chakra orb into Kabuto's chest sending him flying and crashing into a boulder. Meanwhile Jiriaya and Orochimaru were going at it when they saw what happened just moments ago.
"He nailed Kabuto with a single shot but how?" Orochimaru asked himself while Jiriaya just laughed it up at his old comrade's expense.
"Well that's my apprentice for you." He chuckled while on the sidelines, Shizune and Tsunade were watching with equally shocked looks on their faces.
"He did it, he actually did it." Shizune said in awe of what happened as she turned to her master. Tsunade was also shocked that not only had Naruto beaten Kabuto, defended her while she was backed into her psychological corner, stared certain death in the eyes with no fear, and mastered the Rasengan; she looked at Naruto with a renewed sense of hope in her heart.
"He sure did Shizune, he sure did." She said simply as she got up and approached Naruto who then turned around and looked at her; "You mastered the jutsu quite well Naruto and much faster than your father did to boot." Tsunade said as Naruto blushed slightly.
"I told you that all would be well didn't I?" Naruto asked her as she smiled back.
"You most certainly did kid and as I promised this belongs to you now, wear it with honor." Tsunade said as she placed the necklace around Naruto's neck.
"I'll wear it with honor Granny." Naruto said as Shizune ran over to them.
"Sorry to interrupt this tender moment but it's not over yet." Kabuto said as he staggered up to his feet.
"No way, how could he be back on his feet after all of that?" Sakura asked in shock.
"Lady Tsunade are you alright?" Shizune asked her master.
"I'm fine Shizune in fact I felt the best I have all day." She said as she cracked her knuckles for another round when Orochimaru appeared next to Kabuto and Jiriaya appeared alongside Tsunade.
"Nice to see you finally come out of your shell Tsunade." Jiriaya joked until he got a kick in the balls for his efforts.
"If that was a slam against slugs Jiriaya I would have castrated you for that." She snapped causing everyone to sweat drop. Especially, Orochimaru and Kabuto because when Tsunade's mad enough and she says she'll castrate you she would have done so; Jiriaya recovered to get back on his feet while Orochimaru turned to Kabuto.
"Kabuto it's time do it." He said as Kabuto nodded unraveling the bandages on his arm revealing the snake summoning tattoo.
"Tsunade you know what to do." Jiriaya said as he bit his thumb to draw some blood as Tsunade nodded and wipe some blood on her arm and Kabuto ran the blood down from his master's summoning tattoo and did the hand seals for his master, Tsunade and Jiriaya then formed the hand seal sequence, and slammed their hands on the ground. "Summoning jutsu!" The three of them shouted as a giant purple snake, a giant white slug with blue spots, and a giant red toad wearing a blue coat with a tanto sheathed to his belt, and a pipe in his mouth; they were the chief summonings of the Sannin; Manda, Katsuya, and Gamabunta respectively. The toad just stared at what was going on with a webbed hand underneath his chin.
"Well Manda and Orochimaru; Katsuya and Tsunade; the three old friends together again. Did you bring a hanky Jiriaya I think I'm about to cry?" Gamabunta said with his dry sarcasm while Jiriaya laughed.
"You're always a riot Bunta." Jiriaya said to the toad however things with Orochimaru, Kabuto and Manda were anything but peachy.
"Well Orochimaru, why did you drag me out here?" Manda asked, "I don't like being summoned. Maybe I should just eat you and be done with it." He threatened the two.
"No please don't talk that way Lord Manda!" Kabuto pleaded, "You'll be well rewarded for your troubles," He thought, 'this is bad, Manda hardly ever cooperates with Orochimaru if he finds out he can't use Jutsu we're dead.'
"I'll be expecting at least a hundred human sacrifices when this is over." Manda said reluctantly agreeing to fight.
"Oh man this is bad. We've got to help them." Lee said but Naruto held him back.
"No Lee, they're Sannin they can handle themselves." Naruto said.
"He's right Lee besides Tsunade's over her little fear of blood so she's alright now." Sakura said with a smile while they ran for cover behind a boulder with Shizune and Tonton.
Meanwhile with the trio Katsuya fired a shot of her acid from her eyestalks that nailed Manda in the back burning his skin, he tried to counter by constricting Katsuya to death but she simply burst into thousands of smaller versions of herself as Gamabunta tried to impale Manda with his sword only to get knocked back by Manda's tail then Manda went underground to try for a sneak attack. Jiriaya looked for them until he realized that Manda was heading for the young lanterns he ordered Gamabunta to get to the kids and fast, just as Manda popped out of the ground Gamabunta's blade stabbed right through the top of Manda's mouth.
"OW you'll pay for that you stupid toad." Manda hissed.
"Sorry just wait until you get the bill, I've always wanted a snake skinned wallet." Gamabunta retorted. Meanwhile Tsunade had been lassoed by Orochimaru's tongue but Tsunade retaliated by yanking on the tongue pulling Orochimaru towards her and she let him have it with her fist sending him back but she still had a grip on the tongue and continued to beat away at Orochimaru like he was a paddle ball and his head was the ball while his tongue was the string until she finally let go and looked at Jiriaya who then nodded at what she wanted him to do.
"Bunta I need some oil." He said to his toad.
"I'm on it." Gamabunta said as Jiriaya did some hand seals, and took a deep breath; "Fire Style: Toad Flame bombs!" Jiriaya shouted as a stream of oil from Gamabunta's mouth collided with the flames coming out of his own mouth burning Manda to a crisp causing him to vanish while Orochimaru and Kabuto managed to escape in the nick of time.
When they got on the ground Orochimaru growled; "Foiled by brats, let's go Kabuto." He told his right hand man but Tsunade wasn't having any of that.
"You're not going anywhere Orochimaru." She said as she leveled him with one more punch that sent him crashing into a boulder, but when the dust cleared Orochimaru's face was partially peeled off like a snake's skin.
"Whoa that's nasty." Naruto said.
"What an unyouthful abomination!" Lee cried out.
"That monster." Sakura said as Orochimaru got back up.
"Tsunade, I had hoped that you would heal my arms but now I see that you're beyond cooperation, however I still have other ways to restore them until then farewell." Orochimaru said but as he was about to disappear into the ground Naruto still in his Blue Lantern uniform constructed a signal flare from his ring to contact their back up when suddenly, the ground Orochimaru and Kabuto were standing on began to shake and suddenly a geyser of Indigo light burst out the ground trapping Orochimaru and Kabuto, Tsunade turned around to find a figure wearing a hooded animal hide cloak holding a staff and on the figure's hand was an Indigo ring.
"Are you another one of the lanterns?" Tsunade asked the figure.
"Nok, I am the Indigo Lantern of this sector and I think it's time for these two to be cleansed." The figure said as she waved her ring hand in an arc to create two more Indigo rings that flew straight at Orochimaru and Kabuto trapping them in their clutches.
"Orochimaru and Kabuto Yakushi of sector 2814 you lack the capacity for compassion, prepare to be cleansed." The rings said in unison as they attached to Orochimaru and Kabuto's right ring fingers on each of their hands now for Orochimaru this was a blessing and a curse; the blessing was that one of his arms was being healed but the curse was that since he was incapable of showing any compassion to those around him, he was shown visions of the agony that he put each of his test subjects through all for the sake of his twisted ambition, and at the same time his other emotions were being sucked out of his system, he screamed in agony until finally he collapsed and fell to the ground, the same thing occurred with Kabuto the only difference was he saw images of his childhood where he was shown compassion by nun at an orphan who took him in and then the ultimate betrayal by his adoptive mother's superiors forcing him and his adopted mother to kill each other before finally showing him every sin he committed alongside Orochimaru until he too succumbed to the pain and passed out.
"What did you do them?" Tsunade asked the lantern.
"I have converted them from their sick ways of evil; hopefully now they understand what it truly means to have compassion." The lantern said as she pulled her hood down to reveal Hinata with a serious look on her face.
"Wow I never thought that the heiress of the most prestigious clan would be a member of a lantern squad." Tsunade said.
"Actually my corps prefers to be called the Indigo tribe." Hinata said as she and the others explained to Tsunade and Shizune the different lantern corps and what their purposes were.
"That's incredible to think that there's life on worlds other than our own." Shizune said with awe. Suddenly she heard Tsunade gasp and collapse on the ground as her body started to wrinkle.
"Lady Tsunade!" She cried.
"I'll be fine after a little rest Shizune." Tsunade said weakly.
"Well now that that's out of the way I think we should head home soon right Tsunade?" Jiriaya asked before Tsunade smirked.
"Jiriaya there's actually a new title for you to address me by and that is the 5th Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village." She said proudly before turning to Naruto as for you I think we still need to settle our fight from last week." Tsunade said which Naruto grinned at.
"You're on Granny I don't care if you are the 5th Hokage now you're going down." Naruto said as the others groaned in annoyance.
Once again they stood on opposite ends while the others were watching as for Orochimaru and Kabuto, well they were trapped in individual cases made of willpower and compassion compliments of Lee and Hinata they were also in a lobotomized state of mind the others watched nervously with baited breath as they wondered how things would end this time. "Well I may not be the definition of perfect, but I am going to be Hokage now. And even though I shouldn't be roughing up one of my own Shinobi," Tsunade began as she holds her index finger up, "One finger is all I still need." She bragged again.
"Watch what you say woman, because you won't always be sitting at the Hokage desk. Once you've retired I'll take it off your chest," Naruto smirked, "And I'll make you, my old man, and everyone here proud that I will be your successor!" he said as he charged and threw a punch like before. But just like last time Tsunade ducked, knocked his head upward, and placed her fingers to his forehead in a flinging position. 'Oh Kami not again!' Naruto thought as he closed his eyes waiting for the inevitable pain.
But suddenly he gasped opening his eyes. Instead of flicking him on the forehead like before he saw her gripping his chin with her right thumb and index finger while kissing his forehead. Jiriaya, Shizune, and the three lanterns were shocked, amazed, and glad to see that Tsunade wasn't going to rough him up like before. Hinata fainted at what she saw while Lee's mouth fell open, Jiriaya mumbled 'lucky bastard' under his breath, while Sakura blushed in surprise at the Hokage's move.
After her kiss Naruto was still wide eyed and surprised. Tsunade smiled at him while blushing as she said, "You're going to make a great man one day... Blue Lantern" She then thought, 'and a great Hokage as well.' Naruto shed a tear smiling, "Ya darn right I will!" He boasted.
Everyone smiled knowing alls well now, "Well come on everyone let's go home." Jiriaya called.
"Well it could take a while." Shizune reminded them and then the four ninja lanterns chuckled.
"Not with the way we're going back right guys?" Naruto asked the other three.
"Right." They answered as they pulled their rings out and fired beams of energy at the Sannin, the traitor, the apprentice, and the pig causing them to float into the air along with the lanterns until finally they started flying in formation with Hinata out in front carrying Orochimaru and Kabuto both of whom were still trapped in their cases, followed by Lee who had a grip on Jiriaya, then Sakura and Naruto were flying side by side with Naruto using his ring to keep Shizune and Tonton in the air and Sakura keeping Tsunade in the air as they flew back towards the Hidden Leaf Village. Meanwhile inside Naruto's seal Kurama and Adara watched as their vessel and torchbearer respectively had proven himself as one they could trust with their power and never abuse it until Adara's feathers ruffled slightly.
"What's the matter bird brain?" Kurama asked the embodiment of hope.
"I sense that another ring is on its way and whichever one it is can't be good." The bird explained.
Well folks there you have it, the Sannin Showdown; I know it's not much of a showdown but with me and fight scenes it's 50/50. Now you'll probably ask why did take Kabuto and Orochimaru out of the game so soon? Well think of it as a means to be rehabilitated hence why they became victims of the darker aspect of the Indigo tribe's ring; if one refuses to or is incapable of showing compassion, the ring sucks their other emotions dry until they feel only compassion why else is the tribe made primarily of intergalactic psychopaths, murderers , and so forth. Well until next time read and review.