I don't own Naruto….But I did have fun turning him into a girl!
Yes, I know the sections are a bit short but they make a nice sized chapter altogether! Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter.
-Miharu Hasegawa is my own fun creation as such I hope yall don't mind or hate the poor chick.
Chapter 5
Genma huffed, in frustration as he ran Tsunade had been in a bitching mood since they had met at the gates that morning and he wanted nothing more than to suffocate her. Or for her to knock herself out with her own tits, sometimes he wondered about Tsunade. He had always been curious about the Sanin how they had managed to become so emotionally weak in comparison to the rest of Konoha, he could say he didn't understand the consequences of being a ninja it had cost him heavily in his life time.
Rumors and questions always floated around the great three, once upon a time Tsunade and Orochimaru were considered to be the strongest members of the trio. Now it seemed that Jiraiya-sama had risen up from the depths and become one of the best, he had once been the irresponsible flirt now he seemed to be a relatively responsible ninja that loved a little girl along with the one and only Kakashi.
"Would you please shut up?" Genma finally spoke up. I can't even hear myself think over her bitching! He thought silently, before a sigh escaped his lips at the volatile look sent his way. He understood that she didn't want to return to Konoha because she blamed the place for taking everything from her but damn, bitching about it didn't help anyone. He wanted to be back home with his girlfriend and snuggle up against her warm small body, but no he got stuck with the bitchy old woman.
Tsunade nearly snarled at the younger man before she actually looked closely at the man he was obviously exhausted and wasn't all too keen to be on this particular mission. And that was something she had to wonder about, what had changed so much that Konoha wouldn't want a Senju in the village. "What's changed about Konoha?" She finally asked after much deliberation, she almost wanted to ask why he and her Sensei's son had been less than pleased to find her.
Genma studied her, for once she'd stopped complaining and he had to wonder why she would care it had nothing to do with her. Even if Tsunade stayed in the village there was a number of people that wanted nothing to do with the woman. "We've learned not to rely on heros." The tone was sullen as if he was remembering a particularly bad dream, " We've learned that the only way to protect Konoha , to protect what we love….is to fight for it ourselves, not even Minato could protect what was most important to himself." The statement was cryptic but anyone in the village with a brain would have been able to make the connection, he forcibly cut himself off. He could feel anger course through him, frustration seemed to well up inside his heart. He had to wonder how many people might have lived if Tsunade and her talents had been in the village, there were just so many thoughts and worries inside him mind.
How many people would have been living? It was a question that could never be answered, it was something many nin's of Konoha tried not to think about. Their medical techniques had never been amazing, once upon a time Tsunade had begun teaching them and the medic-corps flourished. One by one her students died after Tsunade ran from Konoha with all the pain rising up in her heart, and Konoha was left with morons who were no were near as talented as they should have been. No one in good conscious would blame the hot headed Senju princess for leaving, but many wondered what life would have been like if the older kunoichi had returned.
The older woman couldn't help but to notice the dip in voice, the inflection as if thinking about the aftereffects of the war followed by the Kyuubi had killed some part of him. He was so young, almost all Nin's were young they rarely managed to make it past 40 and those that did generally retired. Studying the boy, Tsunade could only frown something besides what was happening in Konoha was eating at him and she had to wonder at it. She could easily tell that he was too young to have gone to war and come back completely unaffected, "What else is eating you kid?"
"Nothing I'm willing to talk about outside the village." Genma scoffed at himself, it had been stupid of himself and Asuma to talk about such things outside of the village. Both of them knew it, he would never ever put his family in such danger again. Not only that but he had to think over the fact that both of those two nin's of unknown origin had known information that none should know. "In fact we have a mole inside the village, Asuma and I were only given this assignment a short time ago."
The older blonde frowned, that could spell disaster for Konoha it could mean the destruction of Konoha something her grandfather had worked so hard for. Something her Uncle and teacher had continued, it made her heart ache thinking of them. She loved them and cursed them all the same. Closing her eyes she left the silence fall cold between her current traveling companion, before they both began to speed up each of them needed the time to think to themselves about the difficulties that were fast beginning to approach.
O o O o O o O
"It's been awhile, Sensei." Jiraiya smirked, slightly at seeing his teacher as well as the four clan heads helping him jump in utter surprise at his voice. He could easily see that they had worked through a lot of information and it made him wonder exactly what had happened to put the lot of them into such a tizzy. He knew from walking among the civilians that they were upset about some ruling involving his god-daughter and the Kurama heir. The fact that they thought the boy didn't deserve any punishment for what had happened showed that the civilians had utterly lost their minds.
"Jiraiya, why can't you ever use a door?" Sarutobi asked, before moving from his stooped position to sit in one of the chairs that surrounded the table that was loaded down with books. He'd known his student had arrived that morning at around 2 am because of the guards and ward signature that recorded everyone who entered Konoha, he'd also been thankful when the younger man had gone somewhere to sleep instead of waking him from a relatively peaceful sleep.
"That would make things far too easy, now what exactly has happened?" Jiraiya wasn't usually forceful and was in fact damn good at being as subtle as needed. It was why he was such a good spy in comparison to others, he had also trained a number of men and women to take his place should that time every come that he needed to retire.
"I suppose you didn't read the whole letter?" Hiruzen sighed, looking over the younger man. Jiraiya in a way was exactly like the six year old that looked up at him used to being ignored and used to having to try his hardest to get the smallest amount of attention. At the same time, the man before him had grown so much in the same way, Jiraiya no longer tried to get the approval that would come from his sensei or even the people of Konoha. Instead the man did what he felt was right and often proved he had a bigger moral code than many knew.
"Oh no, I read it but I want the details old man," Jiraiya rarely felt angry but for once it was riding up inside him with a type of rage he'd never felt before. The white haired man had been angry at Orochimaru for turning on them, he'd been angry when Minato had been killed, and the middle aged nin had been furious when he'd been denied the right to take his god-daughter and Kakashi away from the village.
The Hokage could only sigh, "Well it all started about a month before this incident happened.." The older man replied, before going on to talk about the unfair grading. The fact that he'd had the young girl retested before having the Academy gone over with a fine tooth comb. How Naruto had moved in with Kakashi and actually started making friends, before running into the Uchiha boy who'd tried to hurt the girls because he felt that he was above the laws. By the time the hokage was done explaining things Jiraiya was literally putting of enough chakra to knock the building down.
"Good god, old man what had you been doing while I was away?" Jiraiya knew he shouldn't blame his former teacher, but wasn't his job to be on top of things? The white haired ninja simply sat before rubbing his hands over his face he was so tired and exhausted, he wanted nothing more than to sit down and relax.
"Yes, well battling with Danzo and the Clan Heads have been eating up my time. I'm tired of playing games Jiraiya, I've had enough of this. There was another reason I called you back." Sarutobi had a bit of a twinkle in his eye that made all sane ninja nervous, the elderly man was plotting and that was never good for whoever it was directed at. When Jiraiya simply raised an eyebrow, Hiruzen continue, "I want you to take the Hokage's hat."
Jiraiya simply had to pause before turning a disbelieving look at the old man, he was mildly amused and appealed. Something in him cringed at the idea of taking that hat knowing that it had been Minato's dream and it had killed him, Orochimaru had wanted that hat and it had driven him insane. What did he know of power of politics? Certainly he'd been forced to report to the capital several times during his life as a ninja, but that didn't mean he'd be the best choice. "Have you lost your mind old man?"
"I think that you are the best person for the job Jiraiya, as much as you play at being a pervert and slacking off. I more than anyone know that you work hard and are quiet involved in a steady relationship." Hiruzen could see that this didn't sit well with his former student and he could understand the distaste for the job. When his own Sensei had passed the torch to him it had been in the middle of war, and it had ultimately killed a part of Sarutobi that he hadn't known he still had.
"I'll think about it old man, I'll need to talk to my partner's first." Jiraiya stopped there, he would need to talk to the spies he had trained, he would need to talk to Miharu and he would have to talk to both Tsunade and Kakashi as the three of them were all involved with one little girl. When his teacher simply nodded his head toward him, Jiraiya could only huff before disappearing out into Konoha. He needed time to think and was positive that the tower would just because for distraction.
O o O o O o O
Tenten sighed, two days ago Naruto had been put in the hospital and Konoha as a whole was rift with rumors. Some were that Naruto had done this on purpose, but those were being shot down by a majority of the senor nin's specifically clan Ninja and others who had apparently watched over her friend since she was a child. This of course caused the young female to have a whole host of questions, why had Naruto who had been forced to live at a ratty orphanage in eastside need to have Anbu guards? For another matter, why did Naruto know Hatake Kakashi or the Sarutobi clan so well? Simply in case of demographics, she shouldn't have run into either one of them.
Though there had been a slight relief today while sitting with Naruto, most of the doctors and nurses that were working there didn't think anything about talking around the children. Which was actually a very bad thing considering the fact that if she was an enemy Tenten would have more information on most of the hospital that she should have. They talked about injured nin's that were in the hospital, high ranking officials and all sorts of things that made the young girl's insides squirm. Allowing civilians to take over the hospital had been an awful idea, and the young weapon mistress was surprised someone hadn't been assassinated already because all the gossip.
Though with all the gossip that was flying around Tenten was able to listen in on what one of the doctors were saying about Naruto, and it pissed the young girl off like nothing else. They wanted to do all sorts of test on Naruto because they didn't understand how her chakra could be so condensed, they didn't have permission from the Hokage but they didn't much seem to care. They also talked about how Naruto was a monster and they didn't understand why the Hokage and so many of the Medi-Nin's were trying to protect the girl, in fact sometime last night something had occurred and all civilian doctors had been ordered not to come into the room at all. Naruto had been taken out of their care and was now in the medi-nin's ward, the room was till rather large but it was cozier.
By the time lunch rolled around Tenten's eyes were wide with the amount of information she'd gotten from careless adults. The things that went on in this hospital couldn't be exactly legal in some cases and she knew that when she got home that afternoon she was going to have a long talk with her dad. Was it even safe for Naruto to be in a place like this?
"Ah, Tenten…" As her name was spoken the bun-haired girl looked up to find one of Naruto's classmates looking at her with a curious glance he also had two different stacks of school work. One was for her and the other was more than likely for Naruto, Tenten could say she felt sorry for her younger friend. Naruto was going to have to play catch up again after having to do the same the weeks that school was canceled.
"Shino right? Thanks for bringing my school work. Naruto's is over in this stack." The brown eyed girl informed the young Aburame boy, because Naruto had been moved they had to rearrange everything in her room. But in a way this was a good thing there was no telling how long it could take for Naruto to get better, though from the way the blonde acted she was going to hate being coped up in this "hell hole" as she would likely call it.
"Hai, It's nice to see you again." The younger boy bowed lightly before moving to sit across from the older girl. He didn't know much about Naruto but she had seemed like a nice girl and she'd managed to get Yakumo to open up which was something most of the clan heirs hadn't been able to do. Though the few times he'd heard the blonde girl speak the Aburame boy had been blown away at her language and her disregard for social norms. When he'd asked his father about her, Shibi had simply shook his head before telling his son that he needed to get to know the girl himself and form his own opinion.
Shino would be the first to admit that he was rather anti-social, and that he had a hard time expressing himself. Though the Aburame boy was eternally grateful that some people didn't mind his oddness, like Hinata or Kiba, neither of them had a problem with his insects. But for a similar reason he disliked Ino and Sakura because they always made him feel bad when they spoke about his insects and clan. The young boy knew that they didn't really mean any harm with what they said but it hurt nonetheless to be talked about in such a manner.
Tenten smile, "So what did you go over in class today? You know I never thought that I would miss classes, but the longer I was here the more I wanted to be in class." It had been painful to watch Naruto all day, but it was looking better the little blonde wasn't so pale and seemed to be getting a bit of color into her cheeks.
"Nothing much, we had a Genjutsu lecture as well as a very long history lecture. I like Umino-sensei, but he gets very dull with history you can tell he don't like teaching it though he is very thorough and makes it easy for us to learn. He much prefers speaking about Fuuinjutsu or Ninjutsu, he's one of the few demolition specialists that work in Konoha." Shino liked Umino-sensei, the man was kind and relatively informal and always insisted on being called Iruka.
"Oh, we've had him as a lecturer in the upper level classes before. It's almost always about Fuuinjutsu, they said he could be a master if someone was available to teach him. But the Yondaime died, and Jiraiya of the Sannin is never here long enough to teach him. Actually he supplies a lot of the seals and tags that we have at Da's shop." Tenten had never really met the man but knew that her father liked him well enough.
"I'm not surprised, Umino-sensei is more like a scholar than a fighter. I'm not sure how he came to be a ninja." Shino replied easily, it was refreshing to have a simple conversation with another person. Generally, he spoke with Hinata, Kiba, Shikamaru, Choji or Sasuke, none of them liked to speculate or have long discussions about anything and Choji and Sasuke were both still very awkward around him as if they weren't entirely sure what to make of him.
Tenten grinned, she had to agree with him on that and the young teacher was just a tad on the effeminate side. "Oh…I have a question for you and this isn't meant to be offensive or intrude on your clan policies or anything. But can you really talk to bugs?" It was something she had wondered about often, the Aburame clan rarely came into her Da's shop other than to replace Kunai and on occasion seals they group of them were disturbingly self-sufficient at least according to her father.
Shino blinked in surprise before a smile that was hidden by his high collar appeared on his lips. "Yes. But it's closer to telepathy than speaking to them, insects don't have a structured language like people do. It's closer to a movie, they don't have words or opinions."
"So every time you ask them a question you get a picture response?" Tenten had to admit that she was terribly curious about it. It sounded so interesting and when Shino nodded at her question, more ideas and questions began to pop into her mind. The young girl couldn't help but to ask, "Can you speak with other things in that way like humans or other animals?"
"I don't honestly know, I've never heard of anyone in the clan trying anything like that. Though I have heard rumors that we've been trying to cultivate a different species, I can't really say more or my family will get mad at me." That was one thing that all clans had, a rule of not speaking to in depth about the abilities of the clan. The first offense could get you kicked out of the clan and there was no higher form of shame than being removed from the clan register.
Tenten could only nod, "I was just wondering, but thanks for answering my questions I'll try not to pry." It gave both of them something to wonder on, Tenten found the idea of speaking to someone else inside their head to be fantastic but it was a lot like the Yamanaka clan. Yet at the same time it was nothing like the Yamanaka clan, the Yamanaka clan had a lot of draw backs that came with their ability to throw themselves into someone else's body, one of the biggest was if they didn't get out before an enemy was killed then they were killed to.
Shino nodded, "It's alright." A quiet relaxed air seemed to settle over the two of them but it didn't stop the two of them from speaking about other things like Konoha and who their favorite ninja happened to be. Shino would say his favorite happened to be someone from his clan, the man who had been the first to discover the Kikaichu and create the bound that made the was what made the Aburame clan what it was. Tenten on the other hand was extremely found of the Lady Tsunade and Shino couldn't fault her for it, there was a sad lack of well-trained Kunoichi in Konoha.
It was uncommon for different grades to mix so it hadn't been surprising when they realized they didn't know much about the other. Tenten had been surprised she discovered how many clan heirs were in the same class and could only ask about the security nightmares it must cause for Anbu, which caused the young Aburame boy to snicker in agreement and over the next several hours the two enjoyed getting to know one another and developed a healthy respect for the other.
O o O o O o O
Asuma sighed, this would be the eight house they had gone to in the land of fire and the youngest Sarutobi boy was actually truly amazed at the amount of money that Tsunade had been able to spend and that was saying something. The payout and put a nice dent in her creditors but Shizune wasn't out of money yet, and had informed him that her mentor had debts in Cloud and Wind country. But most of them were in here in Fire country and that if she got to pay most of them off, Shizune would be ever grateful.
But that was something that did concern the Sarutobi man, Shizune seemed to be going above and beyond to help Tsunade and while he understood the need to pay the woman back Shizune didn't seem to be living a life on her own and that was never healthy. Light brown eyes studied the woman in front of him, she was just as cute as she had been when they had gone to the academy. Those dark eyes seemed to have a relatively happy shine to them, while her hair was in the same style it had always been longer sides cut at an upward angle to a short back with shorter choppy bangs. She was still petite, thin and in a lot of ways not so different she'd grown into her figure wasn't as clumsy as she once was.
"Ano…Sarutobi-san?" Shizune was looking up at her male companion with concern, Asuma had bene quiet for most of the run but she could tell he was slightly horrified that all the money Tsunade had managed to make was going into paying off investors. The young medic couldn't help but agree with the expression because this was probably six or seven times the budget of Fire Country.
"Call me Asuma please, Sarutobi is my dad." The young jounin reminded, and had a hard time hiding the smile that ran across his face at the blush that settled on hers. The was another thing that surprised him, Shizune hadn't outgrown the formalities that she'd grown up with. Most of the nin's of Konoha got over that relatively quickly unless they were in polite society with the lords or Daimyo, there was just little point when most of their clients were common people that generally looked at them with disdain.
"Alright, but I was wondering why you simply didn't go back with Tsunade and Genma?" Shizune had to admit to being curious, he hadn't be required to go back though Genma had seemed positive that Asuma would stay with her throughout the whole thing.
"If anything happened to you, Tsunade would blame the two of us then Konoha. Neither of us really thought it was a good idea to take the chance, we both know you can take care of yourself. It's always wise to have backup and that's really what I am at the moment, though I do feel for Genma when he gets back home." Asuma replied easily, the last thing he needed was a female that was willing to take his head off. He could see that she was accepting of the answer if not entirely pleased with it.
Shizune had to sigh, they were right if anything did happen to her Tsunade would blame them and become extremely angry and would probably take it out on the two of them if for no other reason than she could. Her mentor no longer had respect for anyone except perhaps her teammates or her former teacher, because of this the older woman didn't care who she hurt and Shizune was often times forced to clean up after her.
"This is the next place right?" Asuma looked up at the place in question, it was rather shoddy and it concerned him that Tsunade would be taking money from people like these.
Shizune simply sighed before nodding, this was the one that she was dreading the others had been delighted to get their money back with all that interest that had to be paid back. This one on the other hand wouldn't mind just getting his hands on Tsunade as a sex toy, the man was a coward and just about worthless as far as being a king happy human could be. She hated it when her mentor went to men like this, it wasn't as if Shizune could retaliate the man was still a civilian even if he was slime.
"Hello, I was wondering if Miho was in?" Shizune started, if she could get away with it she would talk to the man's daughter. The daughter was just as bad as the father but she wouldn't try to group the young nin.
The young man looked up before shaking his head, "You'll have to talk to Kirahara, Miho took off about six months ago and ain't about to come back. Sorry, lady. The back door is open so go on in." The young man looked to be in his late teens and wanted nothing more than to run out the door but he was holding his own, he wasn't about to quit he needed the money working here provided, once he had enough he planned on making a run for it to get the heck out of this hell hole just like Miho.
Shizune cursed silently and in that instance was very grateful that Asuma had come along with her, the male beside her was big and brawny and Asuma wasn't afraid to take his anger out on a civilian that was acting out of line. Shivering to herself, Shizune did the only thing she could think of at the moment dragging Asuma to the side and ask for help. "I need your help for this one…"
Asuma raised an eyebrow at the smaller ninja, "What do you want me to do?" This could end badly or it could go extremely well. Thought he had to wonder as to why she was suddenly so happy that he was around, not that he minded.
"Kirahara is the lowest of the low, and possibly the worst type of scum I've meet in a long time. He's also a pervert, not like Jiraiya-sama, I think he's hateful toward woman. I was hoping you could be intimidating, I really don't want him to touch me." Shizune wasn't usually this candid with what she was thinking but Asuma wouldn't mind.
Asuma sighed as he looked at the smaller woman, before simply nodding he could play big bad relatively well. Most people men and women were intimidated by his size anyway, being tall and broad hadn't done him any favors. Instead he simply rubbed the back of his head before agreeing. The Sarutobi man just hoped this didn't get him into more trouble with his dad, they were slowly or so slowly beginning to mend the relationship that had been torn apart when he'd joined the Fire Guardians in the Capital.
Shizune smiled, very grateful that he was willing to help her in this endeavor; she was going to have to warn him that this would be happening quiet often until they were finished. The more Tsunade the harder it had been to find someone to fund her gambling, and if it was left up to Shizune her mentor would never be allowed within 5 miles of a gambling hall again.
When the two returned to the inside of the loan shark's office the boy that had been their gave the two of them a mildly amused look before nodding to the hallway on his left. Both nin's shared a look, before heading down the hallway eventually they came to an office were quite a lot of shouting went on before the door swung open and a woman stormed out cursing.
Looking in Asuma found himself weary of the man inside the office room, his hair was a white blonde that showed he had very odd genetics, and his skin was a dark tone for someone who spent a large amount in the sun. His eyes were a deep gray color that seemed to boar into a person's body, and from the way Shizune was stiffening up he was beginning to wonder if this was Kirahara at all.
"Ah, ah Tsunade's little apprentice. I never thought I would see you again, did that old hag finally kick the bucket?" The man asked, those dark eyes lighten with sick amusement at the thought of death. This business did a lot of things, sold women, sold men, assassinations, loaned money, it was a very lucrative business without the morals that was needed to run a ninja village.
"Tsunade-sama is fine. She finally managed to win back enough money to pay off some of her debts." Shizune replied, her tone cold while her eyes seemed to be looking over the place as if looking for a trap.
"Oh really, am I the first to get my money back?" Kirahara looked intrigued at the idea that Tsunade could actually hit the one time lucky moment.
"No, this is actually the eight lender I've seen today," Shizune replied in a very dismissive way, as if it wasn't that much of a big deal but in reality it was a very very big deal.
Kirahara snorted in amusement, "Then let's see a 500,000 ryo loan, at 34% interest per month. You've only had the loan for four months….well that's roughly 1,203,052 ryo…" What he didn't expect was a rolled scroll to be thrown onto his desk that created a definite heavy thump. Raising a brow, the older man channeled a small amount of Chakra into the sealed item and was pleased as could be when the contents were ejected. It was a small mound of Ryo that would need to be counted, "Were can I get into contact with you to end our dealings?"
"A messaging bird will work fine." Shizune replied primly before standing to leave what she didn't expect was Asuma's quick movement. The bigger man had a hold on both the slender man's wrists in one hand, while the other was wrapped around the man's throat not tightly enough to suffocate him, but enough to allow the smaller man to know that he meant business.
"Now, why would you do that? I recognized that face, as a mission nin you probably don't want me to say anything but hand Shizune the receipt and allow us to be on our way or I'll simply take your head in to the next merc station that we come across." Asuma hissed, he'd seen the man go for the senbon needle he kept hidden in his pocket. Unfortunately for the man, Asuma could see hidden weapons from a mile away because of that it was easy for the Sarutobi make to identify what the other man was going for.
"Very well." Kirahara muttered, trying to get loose it had been a long time since he'd been caught in such a hold or been forced up against his own walls because of carelessness. The man in front of him wouldn't regret killing him in the least and would simply walk out with the money to pay someone else who wouldn't think about double crossing him.
Once the big fellow dropped him, Kirahara couldn't help but to grumble those eerily light brown eyes were watching his every move as if waiting to attack. He was going to have to move his business, he'd been working in the same town for six years and one young hotshot Konoha bastard was going to make him move.
When Shizune got the receipt and they were leaving Asuma simply watched with weary eyes until they were both out of the building. Shizune on the other hand was practically hoping with delight she'd never seen the older man loose his cool in that way and it delighted her. Shizune couldn't help but that the taller man repeatedly which simply got an amused grin in return, this was going to be so much easy with someone like Asuma around.
O o O o O o O
Jiraiya sighed, he'd spent time wondering around Konoha trying to wrap his head around the fact that he the "dobe" of his team was being asked to be the Hokage. He had expected Tsunade to be the next in line, then again at least he was sober most of the time in comparison, and he wouldn't run the risk of gambling away Konoha's cash flow. Returning to the apartment, Jiraiya found himself sitting on the couch wondering what the devil he was going to do. The white haired ninja didn't want to put up with the Head Clan council, or the Civilian Council, or the three advisors to the Hokage. Then again Konoha by itself needed to be restructured anyway, the defense it might had had was slowly corroding away because the land was being clear cut far too close to the cities defenses.
"Raiya, what are you doing? You look silly just sitting there." A warm sultry feminine voice spoke softly in his ear while slender shapely fingers danced down his chest. He could feel a soft female form pressed against his shoulders as well, he could also feel silky hair rubbing against his cheek it was a nice warm feeling for him to be home with someone that did care.
"Sarutobi asked me to do something that I never thought he would." Jiraiya replied easily, laying his head back across her shoulder. The older man really just didn't know how to respond, he'd wanted so badly to be the Hokage when he was younger but he'd given that dream up when he'd heard Orochimaru speaking about it to their teacher. He'd never brought the subject up again, in a way it was cruel for his former sensei to do this to him to through this into his face again after so much time. It would mean a lot of reformation in himself, but it would also require a lot of reformation of Konoha itself. As much as the toad nin loved his home it needed a massive overhauling, the academy system was out of date the economy was down. Slums had started springing up across the board and the Uchiha police corps weren't doing their jobs considering the higher rate of crime that was pretty much across the border, it would be a lot of work and he didn't know if he wanted to sink that much more of his life into such a place.
The female pressed against the back of the couch and her lover could only blink in surprise, "Oh really, and what did he ask?"
"He wants me to be the Hokage." Jiraiya answered, but he could only think of the responses and regrets of childhood. The white haired man had been the kindest out of them, the one who was willing to help the less fortunate. Tsunade was too involved in her family, while Orochimaru…well the older man had always been all about himself.
Miharu quieted for a moment before she spoke honestly, "I think you should do it. The spy network that you have is more than extensive and you have enough members to replace you. There are close to thirty of us all across the elemental nations to get you the information that you need, but Konoha needs someone with a firmer hand. Which is something it has only had for brief moments in time, during the war Sarutobi was strong and unshakable. When the old man was ready to pass it on to Minato, we ended up getting a sweetheart that was happy to play the hard ass to get the results that he wanted. But when Sarutobi went back into office…he let things slide, has been letting them slide. The civilian council was never supposed to sit in on meetings of the head, and the Daimyo is less then pleased with some of the reports coming out of Anbu."
"Really Miharu, a firmer hand in me?" Jiraiya could only snort at the idea, it had been a long time since he'd trained Genin but this is what control of Konoha was starting to sound-like.
The violet eyes woman sighed, before moving to straddle the man's lap. Taking his cheeks in hand, she forced the older man to look at her "Konoha is dying. It is dying because of negligence and greed. Danzo has caused more problems for us in the last six years than any other. If he is not stopped Konoha will be understaffed, undertrained, and without hope because a war is stirring and we both know this. Homura is about the only person left on the council's staff that actually gives a damn. Koharu and Danzo, they aren't doing things because it benefits Konoha, they are doing as they will because they can. I know you very well Jiraiya, I have known you since I was a child irritating the great Jiraiya to teach a little annoying academy student jutsu when you were just a genin. Do you realize how long that is to know someone inside and out? Thirty years, and in that time I became a friend and lover. I know you can do this, but we need you Rai." One thing the assassin was sure of, they needed someone who would tell everyone to shut up and sit down because they were going to do things one way and one way only. So many ideas would fly about during these meetings that nothing would be decided and another meeting would be called a few days later. In all honesty they should only be having meetings once a week at most and bi-weekly was preferred.
Jiraiya could only stare at the woman before him in shock; it felt good to know that someone believed in him from intimate knowledge. It was also a relief that she believed he could do this on his own merit instead of being a substitute for someone else. There was a deeply scholarly person buried under a rough and tumble exterior, many people forgot exactly how hard Fuuinjutsu, how much knowledge one had to acquire to be able to use that type of skill. As much as a pervert as Jiraiya was he had basically raised Minato by himself, and the boy had been a beautiful achievement until his death.
"Now, can we stop being serious I have something else I'd much rather be doing." Miharu purred out, her violet eyes seemed to have gotten darker with lust, and it always made his gut jump in excitement.
Jiraiya could only snort when a hot open mouth descended on his neck to leave lite bite marks in its wake while amorous hands seemed to be wondering under every opening in his clothing. Holding the underside of the woman's thighs, a husky groan could be heard from both of them when the white haired nin moved the two of them to the bed room. He was too old to be rolling around on the floor or couch and there was a perfect large available bed in the next room there was absolutely no reason for him not to make use of it. Strong hands shifted grips so he could push open the door, and once the bedroom was shut and the sound seals activated it wouldn't be until morning before either one of the nin's emerged.
O o O o O o O
Iruka sighed softly as he signed out of work, ever since Naruto had been admitted to the hospital he'd had to deal with angry parents. When the academy had closed for three weeks, the kind man had to deal with angry parents then too. Most of the civilian parents put their children in public school for a reason, their children got the chance to be pampered and that just wasn't going to happen at least not in his school if it could be helped. Some civilians realized that becoming a ninja wasn't easy though it was a lucrative position if you lived long enough, and children expecting to be hand feed were cut pretty much from the get go.
The young man could only sigh while rubbing the scar that ran across his nose, it was so easy to become frustrated with the civilians. Yet there were several civvies, that made damn good shinobi. Genma Shiranui was a good example, he was young only twenty-five and was more than likely marry into a clan once Suiren's child was registered as a second generation bloodline limit. Either way, Genma was well known in ninja circles as unpredictable yet efficient at getting the job done.
Chuckling to himself at the idea, he waved at some of the other instructors as he left before turning just outside the Academy walls to head toward the hospital. It was odd for him to look up at the hospital, it had been a number of years since this incident that he'd had to see the inside of those ugly walls. Maneuvering through the hall ways, Iruka was slightly surprised to find that Naruto had been moved. Generally people weren't moved from one area of the hospital to the other, but in this case she'd gone from civilian care to the medi-nin care (which in his opinion was where she should have gone in the first place.)
"Ah, Tora-san do you know why Naruto was moved?" Iruka asked, the Anbu in question. It was good to see that someone was keeping watch over the door, it was a concern that something else might happen to the girl.
The Anbu in question simply sent the man several silent hand signals that had Iruka sighing, apparently Naruto's case was on shut down and no one was allowed to talk about it. This ultimately meant that if the young teacher wanted information he would have to talk to the Hokage himself; which would ultimately mean a lot of waiting considering how much of a bitch the man's secretary was.
Iruka could only shake his head at the idea before slipping passed the quiet guard outside to find that both of Naruto's friends had been getting ready to leave. It was only five o'clock but many clans had work for their children even after school closed. Shino was more than likely learning more about the insects he controlled, and while Tenten didn't have a clan her father owned a well-known store that catered exclusively to nin's and the young girl would have to learn how to run it.
"How was your day?" Iruka's smile widened when the two of them jumped in surprise, they probably hadn't heard him come in which wasn't that surprise. Both of them were still being trained in situational awareness, but it would eventually develop over time.
"It was good Umino-sensei." Shino replied slipping into a monotone that his family was known for, there was just something about Aburame's that when they got nervous they shut down emotionally.
Tenten snorted, "I've learned more about hospital politics than I ever wanted to know and fully intend to have a debriefing with Da." The girl replied in dry sarcasm, though he could hear some anger in those words as well.
"Well I suppose the two of you better be off then, I'll see you in the morning." Iruka wasn't about to say anything to either of them. If Tenten had managed to hear something she wasn't supposed to then it was a good thing she planned on talking to her father about it. Shino on the other hand, they were really going to have to see if they could get the boy out of the monotone. On occasion Shibi managed to act like a relatively normal nin, but in comparison to his clan the one who was the most well-known happened to be Muta. The fourteen year old was damned good at what he did and proved it by becoming chunin this year.
Watching the two of them leave Iruka could only sink into the chair, he spent most of his day standing and because of that on occasion his legs just ached like no bodies business. Iruka could only close his eyes and before he knew it, he was out like a light the Anbu on guard so no reason to wake the man in question instead Tora rearranged the younger man into a more comfortable position before throwing a blanket over him. If the little girl did wake up at least she would have someone she knew nearby, considering her guardian was currently on a mission because of the Hokage. Tora sighed, looking over the girl he knew she was going to change Konoha the question was how much?