A Story of Resolve.

Nothing to gain, nothing owned.

Adjusting the small pack on his shoulder, the old shinobi slowed to a stop in the middle of a crowded marketplace. People were avoiding him, some telling him to move, but he ignored them as he stared at the entrance to a small restaurant called Ginsei's Pub. Even though he had never been through this part of Rain country, he felt a wave of bitter nostalgia creep through his bones, almost giving him goosebumps.

He had a lot of ground to cover. It would be weeks before he was at his destination. He wasn't tired, thirsty, or hungry, and he had plenty of supplies. No reason in the world for him to stop. Taking a whiff of the air, he felt a chill travel down his spine.

Only two people in the world were capable of making him feel this way.

He entered the restaurant called Ginsei's and prayed for fortune to be on his side. He slowly panned the room with his experienced eyes, the small bustling restaurant vibrant with the lunch-time rush. So many civilians, so many possible casualties. His shoulders relaxed when he was able to clearly visualize her energy. Fortune seemed to favor him this day. It was the lesser of two evils. He turned to leave, but hesitated.

It was impossible to just ignore her, sitting at that corner table surrounded by empty sake jars. Besides the fact that she was stunningly beautiful, her chakra signature was almost intoxicating. Even in this bustling crowd of mercenaries and ninjas, she stuck out like a sore thumb. There's a reason she could never go on undercover assignments back when they were jounin. She had this unmistakable glow of vitality about her that just couldn't be suppressed. Even people who have never seen her, or heard the legends about her felt that she was something other than mortal, other than human. People were drawn to her in the same way that moths drew themselves to the flame.

He was also pretty damn sure that the cleavage hanging out also caused some stares, but maybe that was just the author inside him looking for inspiration.

It was impossible to just ignore her. Not just because she was tremendously drunk, or the fact she was still tremendously beautiful. It went beyond that.

They had history. Maybe a bit too much history. He had no doubt that she would ignore him if he was the one at that table, drinking the memories as deep down as they can go. She would refrain from getting involved. She'd turn around and leave as soon as she spotted him.

But he wasn't as strong as she was.

"Drinking these people out of business again I see."

"Fuck you." She kept her back turned and her eyes on her drink.

"Sorry, I'm not really into milfs anymore. If you'd kept up with my literary growth as an author, you'd know that."

If she was as drunk as he thought, then she would let the comment about her age slide. If she wasn't as drunk as he thought, then she would beat him within an inch of his life...

...again.

"What do you want?" The misery in her voice was palpable.

The mountain hermit released a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Looking at the cushions around her, he saw no indents from where anyone else had been sitting with her.

"You're alone here? Where's Shizune?" Jiraiya asked, silently berating himself for not realizing her absence sooner.

Tsunade slammed the sake cup on the table. "How the hell should I know!" Her angry face quickly turned haggard, the bags under her eyes were clearly visible when Jiraiya moved to the other side of the table to face her. As soon as he got a good look at her, however, the legendary healer lowered her head to rest on her arms. The two individuals were silent. It was obvious that Tsunade did not want him around, and he honestly believed the more he got involved, the more messy things would be for him in the long run.

Plop.

The sound of a body hitting a cushion got Tsunade's bleary eyes to peak out from her arms, and she saw the old pervert helping himself to some of her sake.

"I don't want you here." She said.

"Of course you don't." The old man said as he sipped the lukewarm alcohol.

"I don't want your help." She said.

"Of course you don't." The old man said as he traced the rim of his empty cup with a calloused finger.

"If I needed your help, I would have asked." She said.

"That's a goddamn lie." The old man said in a lazy, calm manner, pouring himself more booze. "Now then, where's Shizune?"

Tsunade didn't want this bastard to help her.

But wants and needs are two very different things.

After meeting up with their bizarre teacher, the three genin hopefuls knew deep down in their hearts that excitement was moments away. They followed him to the Hokage's Tower, where their trial to become full-fledged ninja was waiting for them. In mere minutes, destiny would play its hand...

Too bad for them, Kakashi made everything last longer. Everything.

As he leaned against the wall, arms crossed, Sasuke slowly shifted his weight from one foot to the other, feeling antsy about what was going on in the Missions Room. To his immediate right was Sakura, who was sitting on a ridiculously large backpack. And to her right was Naruto, sitting Indian style and leaning against the wall with his forehead protector pulled over his eyes. For all Sasuke knew, Naruto was passed out, but neither he nor Sakura were in any hurry to wake him up. Sasuke glanced towards the door once again, for what seemed like the one-hundredth time since they've been waiting. Since the three youngsters were technically still civilians, they weren't allowed inside. Sasuke still remembers the verbal scolding he received from his father after he tagged along with his older brother to accept a mission.

'The Hokage's Tower is a place of serious business! Escorted or not, a civilian child does not belong in such affairs. If you're so keen on seeing it, boy, then I suggest you work on your hand signs, sloppy as they are.

After that scolding, Itachi took responsibility and got Sasuke some chocolate covered mints. It was a good memory. A happy memory. A memory that made Sasuke's blood boil and teeth grind against each other in a pained grimace. Looking back on happier times just made things more confusing. How did life turn so rancid, so quickly? Thirteen was too damn young to be nostalgic about the good ol' days.

Sasuke knew he was starting to go down a bad train of thought, but he was having a hard time stopping himself. Of all the people he loved, Itachi was the most caring, the most honest, and the most understanding. He always knew exactly what to get Sasuke for his birthday.

The only gift that Sasuke wanted from his big brother now was a free stab at the neck-

Sasuke was brought out of his unhappy reverie by Sakura calling his name. Snapping his features to a more neutral tone, Sasuke lifted his gazed and saw Sakura and Kakashi staring at him. How long had he been lost in thought? Sasuke ran a hand through his hair, and vowed to keep focused on the matters at hand.

Kakashi held up a document for them to see, a manilla folder was in his hand, instead of the typical scroll that was normally utilized. Sasuke could clearly see the stamp on the folder, ACCEPTED, in bright red lettering.

"Come." Kakashi said, turning away from them. They followed behind him as they left the Tower.

The small hallway was still and quiet...

Five seconds later, Sakura sprinted back in and kicked the still sleeping Naruto in the shin. "WAKE UP!"

"I'M AWAKE, I'M AWAKE!"

Kakashi swiftly weaved through the morning crowd without bumping into anyone, his head not once leaving the mission document. Typical Kakashi. The crowd paid him no heed.

Right behind him was Sakura, having a tougher time and getting some faces from the crowd as she bumped into everything with her Haruno Survival Kit. A mixture of pity, humor, and disbelief from the crowd made her blush in slight embarrassment.

Behind Team 7's new pack mule (although he didn't have the guts to call her that out loud) was Naruto, still limping slightly from the second most rude awakening of his life. He didn't need to bump into people to solicit a reaction. He was already such a popular guy. A mixture of pity, resentment, and 'you probably earned that limp'from the crowd didn't faze Naruto for more than five seconds, before he started handing out middle fingers free of charge. What a generous guy.

And bringing up the rear, keeping a respectable distance from his per-determined failure of a team, was Sasuke, who was honestly almost ready to go back to the academy and try again next year. Giving up and cutting his losses with this team was a totally valid option. Unaware that he was thinking such uncool thoughts, each passerby regarded him with a combination of pity, admiration, and calculation. Sasuke might have launched a few hand-signs of his own, but Naruto seemed to have everyone covered.

They felt him move before their eyes processed it. Academy training kicked in and each of the young children felt a spike of chakra and a sudden shift in the wind as Kakashi jumped onto the roof of a small Antic store. He said nothing, still engrossed in the folder he held. The three young ones took this silence as orders to follow. Each of them jumped up, Sasuke, Naruto, and then Sakura leaped up to meet with Kakashi.

Sasuke landed with the heels of his feet barely tipping over the edge of the building. He allowed his knees to bend into a crouch as he hit the roof, so as to absorb the impact from his landing. His forward momentum allowed him to simply stand up and walk without balancing himself.

Naruto's jump lacked grace and form. More akin to rocket than human, the boy's jump overshot both Sasuke and sensei, and he nearly cleared the whole building. It was hard to tell whether it was an effort to outdo Sasuke or a lack of self-control. Like Sasuke, he landed at an edge of the building, but his forward momentum did not aid him here. Naruto spent two seconds windmilling his arms, trying not to fall forwards off the roof. Luckily, his frantic arm motions helped him to land on his rump, his legs hanging off the side.

Lastily, Sakura tightened her straps before taking her leap of faith. Like Sasuke before her she landed with the front halves of her feet hitting the edge. Unfortunately her momentum wasn't quite enough, given the behemoth that was strapped to her back. Copying Naruto from earlier she tried to rotate her arms forward to give her balance. To no avail however, as she felt herself slowly tip backwards, as if in slow motion. She saw Sasuke start to reach for her, but Kakashi's hand reached out and grabbed the Young Uchiha's shoulder. It was then she saw that he was looking at her with a gleam of what she could swear was passing interest. 'He wants a show?' Sakura thought. 'Fine.'

Sakura wasted no time and pooled chakra at the soles of her feet, concentrating most of it in her toes. Naruto and Sasuke watched in shock as Sakura's form disappeared beneath the roof. Except her feet. Her sandals were still seemingly glued to where they landed, her body bending over the roof at her knees. "No freakin' way!" Naruto shouted as he rushed over to look at how she was doing that. Soon as he peeked over the edge, he got a smack in the face. Fumbling backwards, he caught what hit him and looked in his arms to see he was holding Sakura's backpack. He peeked over the top of the massive thing just in time to see Sakura straighten up her knees and come to her full height on the roof, standing there casually as if she hadn't just made physics her bitch.

Sasuke did not want to be the one to ask...but it had to be asked...

"The fuck you just do?" Naruto's tone was awestruck.

'Thanks Uzumaki' Sasuke said to himself, glad he was able to keep his composed image.

Kakashi's lazy drawl stopped Sakura from opening her mouth to explain. "No time for that. Let's keep going." His gaze seemed to size her up once more, before turning and beginning to hop between roofs, heading towards the West Gate. Sasuke's gaze lingered a moment longer before he turned to do the same.

Sakura started towards Naruto to retrieve her pack, but took on a look of surprise as he put it on himself. It looked even more comical on Naruto, being the shortest out of all of them. Smiling that mischievous grin of his, Naruto turned to follow Sasuke and Kakashi. Sakura opened her mouth to protest, but couldn't really find a good argument. Her shoulders were killing her, and she was still feeling the burn from that burst of chakra. A ghost of a smile graced her lips as she followed behind Naruto's unsteady jumps a little closer that she might have before, as if ready to catch him should he fall.

"So an old debt collector of yours is spotted around these parts." Jiraiya repeated Tsunade's explanation once more as they exited the restaurant.

"Yes." She confirmed, shading her eyes with her arm as she adjusted to the harsh sunlight.

"Then you and Shizune get into a lover's spat-" Jiraiya started...

"Oh grow up." Tsunade interrupted, elbowing him in the ribs.

"-over something or other. And she storms off." Jiraiya finished, resolved to heckle her despite the possibility of physical pain.

"It's more complex than that, but yeah, basically." She confirmed once more.

"And this debt collector of yours is very desperate to get his cash." Jiraiya rubbed his side, making sure she didn't leave a bruise

"I know what you're thinking," She responded, "but this guy isn't stupid or skilled enough to take on Shizune."

"I don't doubt it, but who does their own dirty work in this day and age?" The old hermit shot back.

She didn't like where this was going, and she made that very clear. "Crap. What did you hear, Jiraiya?"

"Rumor is that a certain missing-nin is scouring these parts and selling himself for any job."

"Give me a name already!"

"Perp's a traitor to Suna. Name's Takahiro. Supposedly he was an underling of Sasori of the Red Sands."

"Well, that might do the trick." She responded. As soon as the words left her lips, they both felt a huge spike of energies go off in the forest on the outskirts of town.

"It might have already done the trick. We gotta hurry." Jiraiya said.

They ran in the direction of the disturbance.

The fluctuating chakras were almost like beacons, opening acts for the violence that was soon to come.

Author's note:

Didn't take long for me to write this up. Took forever for me to feel like doing it though. Sorry about that.

Inspiration just hits me when it wants to. Hopefully some of you still have a little interest left in this story.

Next chapters gonna have a fight scene. God I hope I don't suck at writing those. Let's find that out together, shall we?

Writing another story for Adventure Time, and it makes this story look serious by comparison. WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T READ IT!

Reverse Psychology for the win.

Also, you guys think I should bump this thing up to M? I can't control Tsunade and Naruto's tongues for the life of me.