Ninja of the Void
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any characters associated with it.
"Talking"
Thoughts
The Next Hokage
"Tsunade?" Naruto questioned. "The name sounds familiar . . . . But who is that exactly?"
"She's a famous ninja Naruto-kun" Hinata answered. "Tsunade-sama is known as one of the three great sannin of Konoha alongside Jiraiya-sama who fought in the last great war. She is also revered as the greatest medic ninja in the world as she wrote the book on it. Oh! And she is also the grandchild of this villages founder the shodaime".
"Very good Hinata-chan" said Kushina petting her head which caused the Hyuga heiress to blush a bit.
"She's that great of a medic nin huh? Do you think she could help with Lee?" recalling the injuries he suffered that no current medic nin could treat.
"Of course, however there is another reason why".
"OK, why?"
"Because she along with Jiraiya-sensei are up for candidacy to become the next Hokage".
". . . . What?" Naruto exclaimed. Although somewhat jealous, he couldn't believe the super pervert was being given consideration. God knows the disarray he could cause if he was put in charge. Although he acknowledged he had terrific ninja skills. But at just imagining some of the perverted laws he could put in place, "oh god . . . ."
"It's still being discussed" said Minato. "However both of them are great choices to replace Hiruzen-dono allowing him to retire".
"I see" as Naruto gave his fox like expression scratching his cheek still uncertain about this whole thing.
But soon Kushina knelt down getting face to face with her son giving him a serious look. "Naruto . . . . Let me see your seal".
Upon those words, the blond jinchuriki's eyes widened as nervous sweat began to drip down the side of his head. "What are you talking about?" he stuttered trying to seem aloof.
Kushina gave a sigh to this at how bad of a liar he was. "Probably something he got from his father".
Seeing his mother's unwavering eyes, Naruto then looked to Minato for an answer as the elder blond could only give a saddened nod as his eyes dropped a bit. "She knows already . . . ."
Naruto and Hinata seemed shocked for a moment before settling back down to that of a sad one. But soon enough, the young blond lifted his shirt charging some chakra as his seal emerged.
Cringing a bit at the painful truth, Kushina refocused herself as she closely examined the seal on her son's stomach. After carefully analyzing every little detail of it, "this seal was done rather well. But I can make a few changes to it increasing its overall effectiveness".
"Mom?" as Naruto wasn't certain what she was talking about.
"If I re-work the seal a bit, I can create a direct conduit to the Kyubi. With this, you'll have unrestricted access to the foxes powers and abilities like I do. This should give you almost unlimited chakra for you to use anytime in anyplace that you need it".
"Really?" said Naruto in surprise to this news.
"Your mother is a master when it comes to seals" said Minato. "If she says she can do it then she can".
"You'll be able to use the foxes ability completely Naruto-kun" then added Hinata. "You'll never have to worry again about not being able to control its power".
Just as Kushina charged some chakra to her finger tips ready to re-work the seal, she was stopped as Naruto's hands were placed over hers. "Naruto?"
"No . . . ."
"What?"
"I don't want you to do it".
"Huh?" as everyone in the room was confused to the young blond's decision. "Why?"
". . . . It's complicated" was all Naruto could really say at the moment. Thinking about it, he at least owned the fox this much. With battling against Gaara, the Kyubi didn't have any obligation to give him even a sliver of his chakra. Granted he had to grovel before the demon fox, but still it didn't have to help him. It didn't take much intuition to know that the Kyubi must have hated Konoha for what it's been through. Forcefully sucking chakra out of him would be hardly what he would call grateful for his help. Looking to his friend and parents as they were waiting for an explanation, "I don't want to do that to the Kyubi".
"I don't understand Naruto, why?"
"Well" as the blond gave sheepish smile rubbing the back of his head. "It's not like he wanted to be inside me. Staying cooped up in one place all the time can make anyone super cranky. Besides, during the invasion he didn't have to help me and without him I wouldn't have been able to take on the sand's bijuu. So in a way, we kind of owe the stupid fox our thanks for saving our lives".
At that explanation, the group was speechless to Naruto's reasoning of declining the upgrade. But unbeknownst to all of them, they weren't the only one's listening.
~ Inner World ~
Deep within the sub-consciousness of Naruto, Kurama heard it all as he was resting peacefully on the floor of infinite sub-consciousness.
Although not visibly showing it, the demon fox was quite genuinely surprised at Naruto's refusal to use him like a battery. For generations upon generations, he has witnessed humanity at its worst with their insatiable lust for more than they needed. Greed, pettiness, arrogance, these were all attributes Kurama associated with humans as no one has ever made him think otherwise.
But in the case of his current jinchuriki, a slight sense of fondness came over him. Things like age or background never really mattered because after tasting power in its raw potent form, addiction was inevitable. Even the noblest humans as ordained by their own kind could easily fall into corruption. But even with his vast experience with humans, Naruto was the first to defy his expectations.
"You look pathetic" a voice semi-laughed.
"Not as much as you" as one of Kurama's eyes opened to look at who was talking to him. Across from him was apparently himself or at least his past self as he was talking to him from his former jinchuriki's sub-consciousness. For both of them knew that this would be a private conversation as neither of their current hosts had the ability to dive this far. "At least I can rest on the ground instead of having my back against the boulder with all my tails and limbs chained to it".
"And what of you?" past Kurama shot back. "Why am I smaller now?"
"Half of my chakra was sealed away by that damn fourth hokage making me purely yang chakra now".
"How curious, but more so", as one of Kurama's eyes arched. "If I am indeed your past self and you are my future, how was it that this travesty wasn't preventable as I am personally seeing this for myself?"
The Kyubi's eyes then popped open as he sat up. For it was an interesting question yet also a perplexing one. "I cannot tell you".
"Why?" past Kurama growled.
Present Kurama's eyes narrowed at this. "It would seem . . . . Something is not as it should be. Could this mean time is in flux?" he wondered.
"What?"
"I have been studying the notes that brat has been reading. The fourth hokage theorized that events in the time stream are broken up into two categories. Fixed points or points in flux to which I'm suggesting that change is still possible. Although" as Kurama seemed hard in thought, "I recall everything that has happened from then till now, but I can't help but feel . . . . That something is different now. Something . . . . Is changing".
"I don't get it then. How does this all even make sense?"
"Wibbly wobbly timey wimey" was all really what Kurama wanted to say as he wanted to avoid an unnecessarily long and complicated explanation.
The past Kurama scoffed at this. "Whatever, not like I care". But scanning his future self, a slight smirk formed. "It would seem that you are getting rather smitten with that brat. Could it be that you or rather we are beginning to become fond of this small human life?"
"Hmm, you've heard everything did you not? In the countless centuries we have lived, we have never encountered a human like him before". But then closing his eyes to contemplate, he reopened them as there was something on his mind that he wanted to discuss. "Do you think he might be one? The one grandpa rikudo said we would meet one day?"
Past Kurama had no words to say to this as he had only met the child briefly. But from his current actions, he could see that this Naruto child did indeed show great promise. "That is something we must wait to see . . . ."
"Yes, for this boy . . . . He seems much bigger on the inside".
From there the conversation became silent between them. But then after a moment, the two Kurama's smirked at each other as they were both thinking the same thing.
"Want to mess with Shukaku while we're here?"
"Double the teasing, double the fun".
~ Konoha (hospital) ~
After a bit of a standstill, Naruto's parents and Hinata were still baffled to the young blond's reasoning for refusing this. In retrospect it seemed foolish for him to turn down the chance of controlling the Kyubi's power. However for his explanation, they couldn't help but smile.
"Oh Naruto-kun" Hinata thought endearingly. The Kyubi and all the bijuus for that matter were stories parents told their children at night to scare them into bed. With them, there jinchurikis were the bogeymen who lived amongst them in human form. But in discovering Naruto's secret, it became more then clear to her that that's what they all were, just stories. In knowing him, Naruto was one of the kindest and most generous people she had ever met. Not some scary creature from folklore. Furthermore from what he told her, the bijuus were sentient beings themselves very much capable of thought and emotions. That being the case, the Kyubi had no obligation to help Konoha for all that it's been through. But after everything that had happened and from her friend's point of view, perhaps the bijuus were not monsters as so many portrayed them to be as they at the very least deserved some of their understanding.
Minato was quite impressed with his son's strength of character. Almost anyone in his son's place would have taken this opportunity. Although he didn't have anything against bijuus or jinchurikis seeing that he married one. But he never gave much thought to the tailed beasts' only thinking of them as mindless creatures of uncontrollable rage. However with this whole invasion event, maybe there was more to the Kyubi then he thought. If so, it did seem kind of awful to treat it like that.
But more so, Kushina was the most awed by this. Being the Kyubi's jinchuriki for many years longer than her son, it was unheard of to her that the demon fox to be receptive to anyone. She could count literally on one hand the times she talked to the Kyubi with none of them being very pleasant as she didn't like him as he didn't very much like her. Seeing validity within her son's explanation, perhaps maybe she could try one more time to talk to the Kyubi and be a bit more understanding to him.
"By the way Naruto" as Minato patted his son over the head, "did Hinata-san give you the good news yet?"
"What news?"
"I'm so proud of you" Kushina beamed. "Hinata-chan" looking to the pale girl. "Do you want to give him the good news?"
Hinata gave a happy nod this. So approaching her friend, she took his hands as she gave a wide smile.
"Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked curious to what this big surprise was.
"We did it, we both made it. We crossed the finish line together" said Hinata barely able to contain her joy.
"Huh?" as the young blond wasn't quite getting it. Thinking about it now and seeing the gleeful faces of Hinata and his parents, a light bulb then lit in his head. "Wait! Do you mean . . . ." to which everyone nodded. Almost immediately he exploded into a Cheshire like smile as he was now jumping for joy unable to contain himself any longer. "Yeah! We did it! We're chunin now!" as his ecstasy encompassed all those around him making them feel joy as well. "But how about everyone else? Did anyone else make it?"
"Shikamaru-kun was also promoted. Sakura-san is still being debated. But I think she'll make it too".
Naruto snickered at this, "can't wait to rub this in Sasuke's face". "Come on; let's have a celebratory ramen bowl at Ichiraku!" But then he straightened himself for a second, "Ichiraku is still OK right?" asking cautiously.
"Yes, most of the village has already been rebuilt after the week you've been out".
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get going then!"
"I'm afraid we can't" said Minato. "I have to complete my mission as soon as possible unless we end up risking the further contamination of space time with our presence here. So we must be off as soon as possible".
"I see" as Naruto was saddened with not being able to spend more time with his parents together. "But can Hinata-chan come with us?"
"Actually" Kushina then interjected. "I would like Hinata-chan to stay with me" as she pulled the girl to herself holding her shoulders.
"Kushina-san?" Hinata questioned.
"Why mom?"
"Well there are a few things I wanted to talk over with Hinata-chan here and there as there are a few things your father wanted to talk to you with".
"So do we have to leave now?" Naruto asked.
"As soon as you get what you what need for travel. Jiraiya-sensei has already given me a few tips to where I should start looking".
Giving a nod, they all departed.
~ Konoha (east gate) ~
Minato in the henge of an old man along with Naruto soon departed the village much to the confusion of some of the guards to who the old man was as they began walking side by side with each other entering the vast forest that surrounded their home. Just getting deep enough out of sight, the former fourth hokage took out his watch charging enough chakra into it as soon they both disappeared reappearing right at the outskirts of a city in fire country.
"Umm, dad . . . ."
"Yeah?"
"Why didn't we just use hiraishin to get into the city? It would be a lot faster and far less time consuming".
"True, but not something we should do".
"How come?"
". . . . What?" as Minato looked to his son in shock. "Naruto, don't tell me you've been teleporting long distances!"
"No . . . . Well I've only did it twice because it was an emergency that I needed to get a friend of mine to the hospital and then return back to the fight. Why? Was there a problem?"
Minato could only give a sigh to this. "Naruto, hiraishin is a teleportation technique. This technique was originally designed for battle using surprise tactics and unprecedented maneuverability. But what made it work well was that the user always knew exactly where they were going. For the original hirashin, traveling long distances was fine since there was a point B that I knew was clear to travel. But for the watch, it removes the need for a point B so long as the user knows where they are going. But if you do a blind teleportation, there is no telling where you may end up. If purely based on memory, you might even end up materializing in between a wall of a new building that you didn't know was there. Frankly Naruto, I'm glad nothing wrong happened".
Naruto's eyes twitched at realizing the danger of an uncharted jump. So taking this as fact, he'll make sure never to attempt a far jump without absolutely knowing he was clear to go. Calming down, Naruto looked straight as they were now entering the city. Looking about, he then looked back to his dad. "Umm dad, why did mom want Hinata-chan to stay with her? Actually why did she decide to stay behind?"
"Hmm? Well" as Minato thought carefully about how he wanted to word this. "There were a few things that your mother wanted to take care of".
~ Konoha ~
Kushina while henged was enjoying her time walking around Konoha talking with Hinata. During her little venture, she learned quite a bit about what was going on around the village with its fourteen year passage. But what interested her was how much in common she had with the Hyuga heiress. Listing them off, they were both from distinguished clans, had awkward relationships with people, was kidnapped by kumo nins for their inherited secrets, and met a fellow blond ninja who would change their lives forever. However as pleasant as all this talking was, there was something important that she wanted to tell Hinata to which in turn she sensed as well.
"Hinata-chan, there is something I want to give you".
"What is that Kushina-san?" Hinata asked curious to the red head's sudden change in demeanor.
Kushina took a deep breath letting out a sharp exhale. "Please, let's sit" as the pair took a seat at a nearby bench. Appearing deep in thought, she turned to Hinata with a soft smile as she pulled out a small slip of paper with a circle of seals written on it. "If you may Hinata-chan, please solve this for me".
Hinata didn't quite understand what was going on. But looking to the piece of parchment, she quickly analyzed the formula configuration. "Hmm, this looks somewhat familiar. I think I know what to do" as she began to charge some chakra to her right index finger. Using a few quick motions, she made a few rearrangements and add-ons to the seal to what she thought were correct. After finishing her last stroke, the seal began to glow light blue before fading off. "Kushina-san?" Hinata asked looking to the red headed jinchuriki as she was smiling at her.
"Very good Hinata-chan. You passed my test with flying colors".
"What test?" as the pale girl was getting confused to what she was up too. "Why did you want me to do this?"
Kushina closed her eyes giving a scoff as she looked up to the sky above. "On your consent . . . . I want to give you everything that I have and know".
"Ehh?"
Now looking at Hinata dead in the eye, "I want to teach you the secrets of the Uzumaki fuinjutsu".
"Ehh!" as Hinata was stunned to this proclamation. "But why? Shouldn't you be teaching this to Naruto-kun?"
Kushina's expression then became solemn as she now appeared to have been staring off into the distance. "For all I know . . . . I am the last of my clan, and if knowledge is not passed on it will be lost forever. But for Naruto" as she pulled out a small scroll, "I've written everything that I know about fuinjutsu that I will give to him".
"But I don't understand Kushina-san. Why do you want to give these secrets to me?"
"For Minato and I agreed after watching our son fight that Minato would be the better teacher for Naruto during their time away. Additionally I didn't want to burden him with too much to know at once because as soon as Minato gets back we have to return back to our own time".
"But why me? There has to be more talented people then me when it comes to fuinjutsu" as Hinata looked away.
"Give yourself more credit Hinata-chan" smiled Kushina rubbing her head. "I wouldn't be offering it to you if I didn't think you were worthy of it. But more so I wanted to teach you personally. It's one thing to learn from a manual, but it's another to learn it from a teacher".
Hinata didn't know what to say. It was a great honor to be allowed the privilege to be taught fuinjutsu in the Uzumaki ways. Even though whirlpool country has fallen, stories of their greatness still lived on in Konoha to which they are still honored to this day as their symbols are still worn on Konoha uniforms.
"But Hinata-chan, I have only one condition that I ask of you".
"What is that Kushina-san?"
The red headed jinchuriki gave a wide smile as she pinched Hinata's cheeks spreading them out. "When you marry my Naru-chan, you'll only pass this knowledge on to your children OK".
"Ehh!" Hinata gurgled as she became beet red to this.
Kushina couldn't help but laugh at how easy it was to tease Hinata, "just like her mother". Although in a way, she was partly serious about what she said. But then looking up at the clock, she then abruptly stood up. "I'm sorry to leave in such a hurry Hinata-chan. But I have a meeting that I need to sit in on".
"Meeting?"
"Jii-san is planning a discussion with the elders. Although he disagreed, I wanted to sit in on the discussion as I wanted to have the first peek at who our next hokage will be". She then handed Hinata the scroll. "Go ahead and read through it. I'll start formally teaching you when I get back. Now I've got to go, I've don't want to miss even a bit of it" as she soon jogged off.
"OK" Hinata somewhat stammered waving her off. Then taking her seat, she opened the scroll as she began to read through it.
~ Somewhere in Fire Country ~ (several hours later)
Investigation was quick work when you had a couple weapons in your arsenal. High intuition, a silver tongue, and a watch that can bend space time allowing instantaneous travel wherever in the world. Although it had only been a few hours, Minato had covered much ground in his search for Tsunade as his former master taught him well in the arts of investigation and deduction.
Although his father wasn't paying that much attention to him, it was fair to say that Naruto was far too distracted to notice. The young blond couldn't help but admire how cool his father was with how efficiently he worked while also managing his time. Although it had been a few hours as they had already passed through a few cities, Naruto honestly felt they were hot on Tsunade's trail. But soon it began to become dark as they were on their last lead to where the missing medic ninja was.
"Ahh, I was sure where we're going to find her in one day" said Naruto with his arms folded behind his head.
"Investigations take time kiddo. You can't expect to get all the answers in one day" said Minato in a matter of fact kind of way.
Just as Naruto was about to speak, his stomach began to growl.
Minato chuckled at this. "Well it's about dinner anyways. Well have ramen if you like".
"Yeah!" Naruto cheered. "Hey! Let's go to that restaurant! The food there smells awesome!"
Minato chuckled once again as he followed his son in. But upon entering, his head snapped into attention as he grabbed Naruto's shoulder.
"Dad?"
"Naruto, let's go eat at that booth. I know those people".
Giving a slow nod to this, the blond jinchuriki followed closely behind his father as he soon took his seat at the occupied booth as he motioned him to sit as well. Looking to the previous occupants, there was two women sitting across from them. One had black hair with dark colored eyes as she was serving sake to her voluptuous long haired blond compatriot as she was guzzling it down like water. Looking at them, he couldn't help but wonder how his father would know a drunk like this person.
"Excuse me; I don't know how rude you have to be in this day and age to just suddenly sit at someone's booth without invitation. But you were not invited to sit here" said the light blond with a bit of a slur to her speech.
"Pardon my sudden entrance. But I have come here in regards to Konoha".
"Konoha?" the drunk woman slurred. "What the hell do they want with me?"
"Hiruzen-dono has decided to retire. In his place, he's looking for a replacement. Along with Jiraiya-sama, you have also been considered for candidacy Tsunade-sama".
"This drunk is Tsunade!" Naruto exclaimed almost jumping out of his seat.
"And who the hell is this rude brat?" as Tsunade's attention was now directed to the child's outburst.
Minato could only sigh to this. "Definitely has his mother's impulsiveness and lose lips". So trying to defuse the situation, "why don't we calm down and have something to eat". Doing just that, food was ordered as they all calmly ate to which Minato continued to explain the situation as best he could hoping he could sway the medic nin into at the very least to coming back for a little while seeing as there were a few specials cases in Konoha that needed medical attention. "So . . . . What is your answer".
Looking to the elderly man, Tsunade closed her eyes giving a sigh. "I refuse . . . ."
"Then may I ask why?"
"If you don't want to be hokage, that's fine!" Naruto interrupted. "But we need you back to help heal some of our injured! You're the only one who can!"
Tsunade now became irked. "And who the hell do you think you are to jump into our conversation like that?"
Minato thinking about the answer a bit, "he's Jiraiya-sama's student" as by technicality it was true.
"Heh, pathetic" said Tsunade as she carefully looked at the blond child. "He doesn't seem nearly as good as that old farts last student. Minato had it all, talent, skill, intelligence, a real top notch ninja. But look at where he is now . . . . Dead. He gave up his life for the village . . . ."
"Tsunade-sama" said the dark haired girl.
"Don't try to correct me Shizune" briefly looking to her cohort. "Life is different from money. It can't be gambled that easily. Whoever puts it at risk is a fool. My grandfather and great uncle fought harder than anyone else to bring peace to our home. But in the end they died in the middle of their dreams . . . . Like losers".
"That seems a bit uncalled for" said Minato. "They fought for what they believed to be right".
Tsunade then spat at this. "If you ask me, the old man wised up and quitted while he was ahead. Better off than those three dead hokages currently lying six feet under. Being hokage is shit. Only a fool would even consider that job".
"Enough!" as Naruto could not tolerate any further the old medic's bad mouthing of the hokages. For every word she used to insult them felt like needles being stabbed into him. Even these insults were directed at his dad and he didn't know how he could tolerate such things. But if he didn't want to defend his or their honor, then he would. About to jump on the table ready to deliver some good old fashion melee, Minato held him down on his seat keeping him from moving. "Let go of me! I won't let anyone dirty the name of hokage like that! I don't care who she is! I'm going to kick her ass in right now!"
Silence held for a second until the old medic stood up seeming rather confident. "You've got guts brat. Let's take this outside and see what they look like".
"But Tsunade-sama . . . ." said Shizune as she attempted to talk her master out of fighting a kid.
"He's asking for it" as they both then went outside.
Seeing at how things turned out, Minato could only give a deep sigh. However he knew Tsunade was at least sober enough not to become too dangerous while his son hopefully wouldn't do anything took reckless.
Now standing face to face with each other outside in an old fashion showdown, Naruto gave a low growl. "Take it back . . . ."
"No" Tsunade scoffed. "For I don't think you understand little ninja boy. I was one of the legendary three of Konoha. I don't have to be serious to fight a brat like you. At most" raising one finger, "this will be all I'll need to beat you" to which at that moment a leg was already flying at her head. "He's fast" as she blocked it with her finger pushing the attack away.
Flying back grinding against the ground, he stood up temporarily only to drop back onto the ground lifting up his pant sleeve to rub his shin as he saw a little purple bruise where he was blocked. "Damn she's freakishly strong!" Then standing up, "I'll have to give this fight everything I've got". He then dashed in once again getting right in front of her.
"Fool" Tsunade smirked as she prepared to attack with her finger. But just as the young blond got into point blank, he exploded into smoke as out from it ten more Naruto's emerged. "Kage bushin!" as she struck out five of them in one sweep, but then seeing the other five launching their attacks at the same time. ". . . .!" as out of impulse she had to use her other hand to defend her other side.
Seeing all his bushins destroyed, Naruto gave a cocky smile. "Looks like your title isn't that great if a little ninja brat like me could make you use your other hand. Not to mention that" pointing while chuckling a bit.
Tsunade blinked for a bit before noticing something was tapped to her back. Pulling it off it read, 'stupid old hag'. Crumpling the paper in fury, she took a deep breath before letting out a sharp exhale trying to control how pissed she was. "Hey brat, I'll ask you this before I knock you out. Why did you get all rowdy after hearing me talk about the hokages?"
"Because" as Naruto's eyes narrowed a bit at this. "It's my dream to become hokage".
Upon hearing those words, Tsunade became shocked at seeing images of Nawaki and Dan emerge from this insolent little brat. Just recalling her brother and lover, a wave of sadness gripped her heart as she looked away for a moment.
"I don't need to be an idiot to know that I'm out of my league on this one. But I won't give up, not until the end!" So dashing forward once again, he created two bushins. One bushin ran in the front as a meat shield, and one in the back to help create his strongest technique.
Snapping out of her daze, Tsunade refocused herself instantly obliterating the bushin in front of her. "What is that?" as she saw a bright blue light shining behind him, but in the next moment the second bushin suicide jumped in front obstructing her view to which she made quick work of. But then she saw it as the blond little brat was using a technique she thought only three people at best knew. "Rasengan!" as the blue chakra bullet was closing in on her. Seeing how close the attack was to her, she reacted as she instantly replied delivering one of her legendary punches to Naruto's forehead sending him grinding against the ground several feet back. "Crap, I hit him too hard".
"Naruto!" Minato shouted as he was next to his son in a flash.
"Are you OK?" as Shizune was ready to heal with whatever condition the blond was in.
Slowly Naruto sat up rubbing his head removing his headband as that punch left a nasty cut as he started to bleed from his forehead. "Ta ta ta ta ta, damn that really hurted!"
Giving a sigh of relief that she didn't kill the kid, she then cringed at seeing the blood she had spilt to which she turned her back to him. "I'll admit, you definitely got some skill to you. But you're still a pathetic far cry from even dreaming about being hokage. With that kind of strength, you're just a joke".
Naruto growled at this as Shizune had just finished patching up his forehead. So pushing her arm aside, he stood up. "It's not a joke! I'll get stronger you'll see! In five days I'll be ten times stronger than you! Just you wait!"
"Some words brat" as Tsunade turned around. "A man's word should never be taken back".
"I won't back down" Naruto smirked. "Because it's my ninja way!"
Tsunade for the second time that day cringed at hearing some familiar words. But then calmed herself as she pulled out her necklace from her bosom. "One week, I'll give you one week to get stronger as well then have ourselves an arm wrestling match. If you win I'll not only return with you to Konoha but also acknowledge your potential as hokage and give you this necklace which was a momento of my grandfather".
"Tsunade-sama! You can't!" as Shizune was shocked to her master's behavior. No matter how desperate they were for money, that necklace was one thing she would never wager no matter what. "That necklace . . . . It's . . . ."
"However" ignoring her apprentices pleas, "if you lose you'll be my personal errand boy forever, agree?"
"Fine!" Naruto shot back.
"Hmph, Shizune let's go" as Tsunade turned to leave. Shizune gave them a polite bow as she too then left leaving Naruto and Minato alone.
The moment she left, the young blond dropped onto his stomach as he started to do push-ups as fast as he could. "There's no way I'll let her beat me! I'll do everything I can to defend the hokage name!"
"Naruto" as Minato picked his son up by the hem of his jacket straightening him on his feet. "You've really done it this time kiddo".
"She insulted the hokage name! She insulted you! Why didn't you say anything?"
"Well first off" said Minato trying to calm his son down. "I'm supposed to be dead. Secondly Naruto . . . . Tsunade-sama has lived a very painful life. Although she may have been drunk and didn't mean to say the things she said, neither you nor I should be angry for what she said".
Naruto grunted as he looked away. He couldn't understand why his dad could be so cool about this. I mean Hinata always tried to teach him to be an understanding person, but regardless of how a person maybe they shouldn't bad mouth other people like that.
"Now Naruto" as the elder blond gave a soft sigh. "How do you plan to defeat Tsunade-sama? Although Tsunade-sama is notoriously known for always losing bets I just can't see how you can beat her in an arm wrestling match".
"I'll just keeping working" said Naruto smugly. "I'll just keep doing push-ups for this entire week. I should be stronger by then".
Minato then gave another soft sigh. "Even if you were to do a million push-ups you will never come close to matching her strength like that. For you see Naruto, Tsunade-sama didn't earn her title for strongest kunoichi in the world for nothing. Due to her precise chakra control, she has the ability to amplify her strength by fifty folds giving her monstrous power. To put this in an even clearer context, the most serious injury Jiraiya-sensei has ever taken was by Tsunade-sama as she broke a few of his ribs".
At hearing this, the young blond could only feel crestfallen as he had definitely bitten off more than he could chew this time. However he wasn't going to give even before the battle started "Then what do you expect me to do? Give up without evening trying? I'll do a billion push-ups then that should definitely make me stronger".
Seeing his son's dilemma, Minato also saw opportunity for if they won they would be hitting two birds with one stone. Of course he had an idea to how Naruto could amplify his strength significantly, but was it possible for his son to learn such a thing in one week? He then rubbed his chin as he continued to ponder this.
"Do you have an idea dad?" Naruto asked as he could tell he was deep on thought.
"Yes" Minato nodded. "But we're going to need an invitation to Mount Myoboku".
~ Konoha ~ (several hours earlier afternoon)
"I don't really think you should be here" said Hiruzen as he was sitting at his desk smoking his pipe.
"Oh come on jii-san" said Kushina giving a wink. "I promise I'll just watch. No one will hear a peep out of me".
The old hokage could only give a tired sigh to this. He knew arguing with the hot blooded habanero was pointless. Once she set on her goal there was no turning away for her. It was the primary reason why she got into so much trouble in her youth. So looking to the red head, "fine. However on the condition that you do not interrupt as you keep up your henge".
"Yay! Thanks jii-san. I can't wait to see who the next hokage becomes. I'm currently in a bet with Minato who it might be". Then hearing a knock at the door, the pair got everything into order. Hiruzen put on his serious face as Kushina put back on her henge taking a seat on the wall couch.
The door then opened as old teammates of Hiruzen walked in. Homura soon proceeded by Koharu stepped in as they took their seats on the couch sitting across from their old friend and current leader.
"Shall we begin our discussion?" Hiruzen asked.
"Momentarily" said Koharu.
"We are still waiting for him to arrive" said Homura.
The door opening once again, a half crippled looking man walked in as he coldly looked around the room. Seeming somewhat satisfied, he soon took his seat with the other council members.
"Danzo" said Hiruzen showing his former teammate respect.
"Hiruzen" the man replied. "Now let us discuss who the next hokage should be".
To be continued . . . .
Author's notes: I hope everyone liked this chapter as things are going to start speeding up as it's going to be one big thing after another. But if anyone has any questions or concerns I'll definitely try to cover them. Aside the fact I have a bad habit of overlooking things at times, your reviews are taken into consideration when it comes to shaping this story.
So I thank everyone for taking the time in reading this fic and further extend my gratitude if you can review it as well.