Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the Star Wars franchise!

Sorry it took a while to get this chapter out, have been brainstorming pretty hard to figure out the path I want this story to take. Right now I feel like I have succeeded in rendering Naruto as a perfect blank slate, he is neither Light nor Dark and can easily head down either route. So with that thought in mind, I decided to lay it down and hammer out the details of what I wanted this story to be.

Now I won't spoil the surprise by letting you know what I've chosen, you will just have to read and find out for your own! Now the path I've chosen may not be as obvious, always remember to look underneath the underneath and that nothing is as it seems. Hope you enjoy the ride!

Chapter 4: Slugging It Out!

"So… this is Tanzaku-Gai huh?"

The town of Tanzaku was one of Hi no Kuni's (Land of Fire) most renowned place of interest, its popularity was only matched by the size of the town itself. The town was as large as Konohagakure, if not larger, and similarly surrounded by a large ring of tall concrete walls to serve as some form of defence against both wildlife and bandits. Tanzaku-Gai was famous amongst both locals and foreigners as the 'Town that never sleeps' due to its twenty-four hour Casinos, wild night life and an assortment of various beautiful female escorts.

"Tsk. What a cesspool of corruption…" Naruto muttered as he walked down the street alongside his white-haired teacher, his Force senses could feel the greed, corruption, lust and many other negative emotions that filled the people of this town.

"Hey! I happen to like this town!" Jiraiya said with a blush on his face, his eyes leering at the scantily-clad females that paraded the streets.

"You would, seems like your kind of place." The blond scoffed, inwardly lamenting the fact that he could not get any training done.

"So remember what I told you, no chakra usage whilst in sight of the inhabitants. They get real antsy when in the presence of shinobi, making it harder for us to move about without notice." Jiraiya explained as he made a gesture, signalling the blond to stow away his shinobi headband.

"I just started learning the Rasengan two days ago and now you want me to stop?" Naruto deadpanned as he held a balloon in one hand, mentally focusing on stabilising the shell of the Rasengan inside the balloon.

"You already mastered the first two steps within two days! I took months to learn the Rasengan! And a year to master it! Damn brat…" Jiraiya scowled as he remembered how easily his blond-haired student had completed the first two steps.

Naruto smirked even as the balloon in his hand burst when the Rasengan destabilised, thankful that he had the Force as it had made learning the Rasengan so much easier. For the first step, he had asked Jiraiya to demonstrate a few times. Each time using the Force to get a feel on the man's chakra and analyse the water within the water balloon. The trick was to just spin your chakra in multiple directions at once, easily accomplished once he knew the trick.

The same could be said for the second part of the training, all he had to do was burst the rubber ball using the trick he learnt in the first step. This step was even easier to accomplish due to the emphasis on power, all he had to do was pump and condense his chakra into the ball. It burst after the first few attempts, much to the disbelief of his teacher.

The third step was the toughest for him, having to combine both the first and second step inside a normal balloon without it moving. The speed of the rotations along with his powerful and dense chakra made this a tall task, the sphere always either ended up exploding or imploding. Though this just made the blond all the more determined to accomplish the task, diving headfirst into it without distractions.

Naruto heaved a deep sigh as he grudgingly trudged down the road, he started expanding his Force senses across the town in hopes of finding a large chakra signature. One advantage his Force sensing had over chakra sensors was that even though the target could suppress their chakra output against chakra sensors, they could not hide the large amount of life energy that they gave out. This enabled him to sense anyone with a decent sized chakra pool within his sensor range, which at the moment could not stretch to cover even half of the entire town.

Though fate seemed to have the duo covered as right at that moment, a massive explosion sounded across the town. Leaping onto the closest rooftop, he immediately noticed that a portion of the Tanzaku Castle had been demolished. Having been briefed about Tsunade's legendary super-strength as well as legendary temper, he deduced that there was a high probability that she was the cause of said destruction.

"I'm pretty sure that's Tsunade-hime…" Jiraiya chuckled as he inwardly sighed, dealing with her in a bad mood would easily make the mission ten times harder to accomplish.

"Let's go."

Several minutes later they arrived at the scene, though it appeared to be several minutes too late as the area was devoid of life besides a construction crew. Whilst Jiraiya went to work checking the surrounding area for clues, he decided to do some snooping of his own. With that in mind, he approached the man who seemed to be in charge of the others.

"Excuse me."

"What do ya want kid? Can't ya see I'm busy?" The man had glanced over for a second before dismissing him, something that irked the blond.

"It would just take a second, I just want to know what happened here?"

"Can't say, we arrived after everything was done. Probably a bunch of shinobi making a ruckus again. And as usual, we are the ones that have to clean up after them!"

"I see…"

Turning away from the man, he caught sight of a shady figure darting into an alleyway between two shops. Deciding that it was the closest thing to a lead he had, Naruto made a split second decision and pursued the target into the alley. Following the path of junk strewn around from the hasty retreat, he easily managed to track down the guy despite his head-start. Catching up to him proved to be more of a hassle due to the amount of junk the man kept throwing around whilst running, creating numerous obstacles in his wake that caused him to waste valuable time.

"You're pretty good at running away aren't you… fuck this." Naruto braced himself before kicking off the ground and launching himself into the air, grabbing a protruding bamboo pole.

He pulled himself up, perching himself upon the pole for a second before leaping off and latching onto the edge of a nearby roof. Kicking through the window in front of him, he swung himself into the room. Closing his eyes for a moment, he locked onto the fleeing suspect's Force signature.

"Sorry."

After the quick apology to the shocked inhabitants of the room, he dashed through the house and leapt out an open window. Landing on his feet on the rooftop of the adjacent building, he augmented his speed through usage of the Force and disappeared in a burst of wind. Traversing the rooftops proved to be much easier as there was nothing to obstruct his way, he managed to catch up to his target in a few seconds. The man seemed to have taken a short breather, thinking he had managed to lose his pursuer.

His mistake was rewarded by a boot to the face, courtesy of a spinning kick delivered by his pursuer. The blow sent the man stumbling back into the alley wall, to which he was pinned by an invisible force when the blond-haired male performed a gripping motion with his hand. Scrambling and gasping, the man attempted to break the invisible hold on his neck to no avail.

"Look, I had a shitty week. I don't really want to do this and trust me, you don't want me to do this either. So if you would just kindly hand over any information you have about the fight that happened over at Tanzaku Castle, that be great." Naruto said to the struggling man, loosening his Force Grip on the man slightly so that he could speak.

"…Boy… do you even know who you're dealing with? I'm… with the Izayoi family… the biggest Yakuza family in this town! Once they know what happened here… you're fucked! You… your family… we'll kill them all!"

"Geez I didn't ask for your life story, I just wanted to know what happened at the castle…" Naruto sighed, silently channelling the Force in preparation for a technique he had been practicing during his meditations. "Now I'm going to have to fuck with your head…"

The thug was about to make another witty comment, however his voice died in his throat when he made eye contact with the blond. He was instantly mesmerized by the twin pools of deep, cerulean-blue that produced an ethereal glow, it seemed as if nothing else mattered except staring into those orbs forever.

"Now… what happened at Tanzaku Castle?"

To the man placed under the Mind Trick, it seemed as if the voice was a chorus of a thousand angels. His mind hazy and enthralled, he proceeded to spill every single detail that he had witnessed at the scene.

"Tsunade of the Sannin and her companion, they were battling against Orochimaru and his companion. Their battle caused the castle to collapse when Orochimaru summoned a large snake at the start."

"Who were their companions? What did they look like?"

"A lady in a black kimono, shoulder-length black hair. She carried a pig in red clothing and wearing a necklace of pearls. She was following Tsunade around, I assumed from the fight that she was apprenticed to Tsunade. The man following Orochimaru wore a dark purple high-collared shirt and pants, he had ash-grey hair tied back in a ponytail and wore black rimmed spectacles."

"Hmm… an unknown and Yakushi Kabuto." Naruto mused to himself, having been briefed about Kabuto's betrayal and the man's true skill level. "Why were they fighting?"

"They were arguing about something before fighting, I was not close enough to hear their conversation. I had assumed, due to the state of Orochimaru's arms and Tsunade's status of being the best Medic in the world, he wanted her to heal his injuries and she refused."

"That seems to be the most likely scenario… anything else you noticed during the fight?"

"During the fight, Orochimaru said something to Tsunade causing the fight to stop. She seemed to have put some thought into what he said, then both parties spoke some parting words before leaving."

'That's problematic, Orochimaru might have offered her some sort of deal… I will need to inform Jiraiya about this.' Naruto cursed quietly before releasing his hold on the thug's mind, the man blinking a few times as he took in his surroundings.

"What the fu-!"

The rest of his statement was cut off when Naruto planted a Force-enhanced right hook into his face, shattering the cartilage in his nose and knocking him out. The blond turned around to walk off before he paused and looked back over his shoulder, deciding to leave a parting remark.

"By the way, I'm an orphan. I don't have any precious people for you lot to threaten."

"So Orochimaru already made contact with Tsunade-hime huh… that's bad." Jiraiya sighed as he mentally ran through the information that his student had just relayed to him.

"No shit, he had probably proposed some sort of deal to her."

"Knowing the snake, he probably offered something he doesn't plan on making good on. If Tsunade was her old self, she definitely would not take any offer he proposed but…"

"You don't know if she is the same person you knew before she left?" Naruto finished, earning a nod from the white-haired man.

"Well sitting around won't get us anywhere, it's getting late so I say we go get some dinner!"

"Fine with me."

5 minutes later

"You have to be fucking kidding me…"

Naruto could feel the twitch building in his left eyebrow, along with the uncontrollable urge to punch someone in the face. The reason being that after walking into a random bar for dinner, the first person they saw happened to be the person they had been looking for the entire time. A certain blonde-haired Sannin and her apprentice, who was currently trying and failing to restrain her master from downing an entire bottle of Sake.

"Well… that's a stroke of luck right there." Jiraiya muttered under his breath before a large grin broke out across his face as he swaggered up to the table. "Tsunade-hime!"

"Jiraiya…?" Tsunade whispered as her eyes widened in disbelief, she slammed her head down onto the table and looked up again. "Oh… you're still here…"

"Ouch, what's with that reaction?" Jiraiya chuckled as he slid into the booth, his blond student silently sitting himself down beside him.

Taking a quick glance at the quiet blond, she moved her gaze back onto her white-haired ex-teammate.

"What are you doing here Jiraiya?"

"Why so cold Hime-chan? We haven't seen each other in forever! Is that you Shizune-chan? Man, you've really grown up into a fine woman!" He giggled perversely, earning annoyed looks from both blonds in the booth.

"Hai Jiraiya-sama, it's good to see you again." Shizune replied with a smile, her tone polite as she was used to dealing with his eccentric personality.

"Quit screwing around pervert, I know you're here for a reason."

Her tone seemed to have toned down the cheerful atmosphere in the booth, Jiraiya schooling his features into a stern frown as he prepared himself for the imminent talk. Naruto took the time to casually break apart a pair of chopsticks, muttered a soft 'Itadakimasu' and picked up a piece of breaded calamari and placed it into his mouth.

"I know you made contact with Orochimaru… what did he offer you in return for healing his arms?"

"So you knew… it doesn't matter. The situation doesn't concern you anyway." Tsunade scowled as she drank another mouthful of Sake, much to the dismay of her apprentice.

"Sensei sacrificed his life to seal away that traitor's arms after his failed invasion of Konoha, so yes. I have to say that the situation, does in fact, concern me." Jiraiya countered, a hint of anger entering his tone.

"So what he said was true… Sarutobi-sensei is really dead."

"Hai, killed by the very same man that you are currently considering a deal with."

"…I can handle it. Plus you're not telling me the entire story, there's no way you came all the way out here just to talk about Orochimaru. You were definitely searching for me before that meeting with him even happened, so spill."

Holding back a sigh of frustration, Jiraiya calmed himself before looking straight into her bored visage.

"With the death of Sarutobi-sensei, the council has elected you to be the Godaime Hokage in his place. I was sent to inform you and escort you back to the village."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes slightly and shifted her gaze over to the other blond in the booth, "And who is he supposed to be? Don't tell me you decided to take on another apprentice?"

Just as Jiraiya was about to introduce him, Naruto raised a hand as to indicate silence.

"I can introduce myself. My name is Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto. A Genin from Konohagakure no Sato, currently apprenticed under Jiraiya of the Sannin. Before you ask, yes I do know who my parents are and what I contain."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow in surprise, she looked over at the other male and received a nod of confirmation. Shizune seemed to have a bigger reaction to the name, her eyes growing wide in shock. Fortunately her shinobi training kicked in and she reigned in her surprise, figuring that she could have her questions answered another time.

"Will you be returning to Konoha?" Jiraiya steered the conversation back on track, earning a snort from the Slug Sannin.

"Return to Konoha and become the Godaime Hokage? Hah, no thanks. Only a complete fool would choose to become the Hokage." She scoffed, taking another gulp from her Sake bottle.

Her response caused a frown to appear on the white-haired Sannin's face, though Naruto seemed surprised at her answer and decided to interject before his teacher could say anything.

"Why would you claim that? Are you implying that all the past Hokage's were fools?"

"Yeah, all of them. My grandfather was a fool, my granduncle was a fool, Sarutobi-sensei was a fool and your father was a fool as well. All of them accepted the title… and all of them died as a result. The Shodaime, Nidaime and Yondaime all dying before their time and leaving their families and loved ones behind, as I'm sure you can relate."

"No, not really. I only just found out who my parents were, I've lived the majority of my life ignorant as to who my birth parents were. Plus many people died that night, I could have easily been one of another dozen orphans. So my father dying as the Hokage would not have made any more of a difference than if he died as a random shinobi protecting his village, isn't that what being a shinobi is about? Trained from young so that we can fight for and die for our village? Why would becoming the Hokage change anything about that fact?"

"It's not just the Hokages! That cursed title even claims the lives of people that aspire to attain it!" Tsunade growled, her inebriated state causing her temper to flare.

"You're speaking of Kato Dan and Senju Nawaki, your lover and younger brother respectively." Naruto stated calmly, earning wide-eyed looks from Jiraiya and Shizune at the risks involved with bringing up her deceased people. "Dan and Nawaki both chose to pursue the title of Hokage, so are you saying that they are fools as well?"

The Force-user barely flinched as the table splintered under the harsh grip of the angered Slug Sannin, her eyes glaring death at him even as she grit her teeth and hissed out her response.

"They pursued their dream of being Hokage and look where it lead them, they died and left me all alone! Yes! They are complete and utter fools!"

"You don't honestly believe that, no… more like you are forcing yourself to believe that. Anybody knows that the moment you sign on to be a shinobi, you had to be ready for a life of hardship, loss and death. Being the Hokage just meant that your responsibility extended beyond that, your life was meant to be placed before the village as a shield for your people. Senju Hashirama, Senju Tobirama, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Namikaze Minato… all of them understood this. They gladly laid down their lives, so that the village would continue standing."

Naruto paused as he allowed the information to sink in, he could see the angry flush spreading across the Senju princess' face.

"Dan and Nawaki understood this as well. Yes, it was unfortunate that they died. However, they death was not any more special than any others. So what if Dan was your lover, so what if Nawaki was your brother? Every person that died as a shinobi has a mother and a father. Maybe they had a husband or wife, a sibling or child. What makes their loss any less significant than yours? So what if you're Senju Tsunade? So what if you're one of the Sannin? So what if you're the best damn Medic the world has ever seen?"

Jiraiya and Shizune could only stare with eyes wide and mouths agape, shock stunning them into silence at watching the blond-haired Genin calmly and ruthlessly tearing into the Slug Sannin with words alone.

"All I see is a coward who is too afraid to face up to her losses. Choosing instead to drown herself in alcohol and gambling, hoping that it would take away the pain. I have a teammate back in Konoha, his name is Uchiha Sasuke. He watched his beloved older brother slaughter his entire clan, including their parents right in front of him. He lost more in one day than you had across your entire life, yet he did not run away from his problems. He chose to turn it into a driving force. And while I do not approve of his methods, at least he is doing something with his life. You've had years to travel freely and get over your losses…"

Naruto stood up from his seat, wiping his mouth with a napkin before walking over and stopping directly in front of the silent female Sannin.

"So it's about time you got over it."

Naruto heaved a sigh of relief the moment he exited the establishment, allowing himself to bask in the sights and sounds of the night life of Tanzaku-Gai. While he appeared to be calm on the surface during his lecture, inwardly he was struggling to contain his emotions from boiling over during the entire time he was speaking to her.

'She really pissed me off with her 'woe is me' attitude! That bitch doesn't even know the meaning of true suffering, I swear I was this close to punching her in the goddamn face!' He raged to himself inside his mind.

"Brat!"

Tilting his head slightly, he noticed that it was Tsunade who had shouted out from the entrance of the bar.

"I'm not sure who this 'brat' you are referring to is. I have a name, I'd appreciate if you would actually use it."

"Naruto…" Tsunade visibly struggled with reigning in her legendary temper, fist clenched tightly and trembling slightly. She took a deep breath to calm herself before looking him dead in the eyes, though the effect was somewhat ruined by the drunken flush across her face.

"Nobody has ever spoken to me like that in a long time… Jiraiya and Sarutobi-sensei, both of them let me do whatever I wanted due to taking pity on me. Being the heiress of the Senju clan and granddaughter of Senju Hashirama, I got used to getting everything I wanted and everything going my way. Becoming a Sannin alongside Jiraiya and Orochimaru only served to cement my way of thinking… your words finally made me realise this."

"While I'm glad my words managed to knock you out of your slump, I don't see what this has got to do with me? The question still remains the same as before, will you be returning with us to serve as the next Hokage of Konoha?" Naruto asked bluntly.

"Hmph, there was something I couldn't overlook in your speech though… I'll prove to you right here and now that Senju Tsunade isn't a coward! A spar between you and me brat!" Tsunade replied with a smirk, though that fell off her face at the young man's next words.

"I fail to see how that would concern me or how it would prove that you aren't a coward…"

"Grrr! Well how about a wager, a bet if you will? If you win the spar, I will go back with you to Konoha to serve as the Godaime Hokage. However if I win, not only do you leave me alone… you will have to pay back all of my outstanding debts as well!"

Ignoring the overly smug look on his ex-teammate's face, Jiraiya turned to address the black-haired kunoichi beside him.

"Exactly how much is Tsunade's debt at the moment…?"

Shizune let out a nervous chuckle as she withdrew a small notepad from within the confines of her kimono, mentally tallying up the total sum of outstanding debts that she had recorded down.

"Umm… 8,500,000 Ryō…"

"8,500,000 Ryō?!"

The white-haired Sannin felt the blood drain from his face at the amount that had been presented to him, that was the equivalent of performing eight S-ranked missions. And while Jiraiya could definitely cover her debt due to the amount of money he had earned from all of his publications, it was not something a Genin like his student could afford.

"I accept."

"WHAT?!" Jiraiya could not stop the exclamation from leaving his mouth upon hearing the nonchalant reply from his student. "Naruto are you insane?! You don't have that kind of money to back up your claim!"

"Oh? Isn't that your job dear Godfather of mine?"

"Urk!"

Jiraiya visibly flinched as he was reminded about his own outstanding debt to his student, a debt that was definitely much more severe than Tsunade's own. The blonde-haired Sannin and her black-haired apprentice blinked in unison at the scene, both wondering why the veteran shinobi was being bossed around by his student. Deciding to add it to the list of questions she had for her former teammate, Tsunade cracked her knuckles and pointed at her fellow blond with a single finger.

"Listen up brat, I am Senju Tsunade, a member of the Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three Ninjas) of Konohagakure! I don't even need more than this single finger to defeat you!"

Naruto felt his eyebrow twitch in annoyance at the declaration, he did not enjoy being underestimated and felt that a win with such a handicap would be far more insulting than losing in a straight up fight. Meanwhile on the side-lines, Shizune seemed confused as to why Jiraiya was grimacing at her master.

"Jiraiya-sama, you seem upset with Tsunade-sama's decision?"

"Shizune… Naruto took down a rampaging Ichibi (One-Tail) on his own. Tsunade is going to need to take this fight seriously or she is going to lose… badly." Jiraiya replied, drawing a wide-eyed look from the woman.

"Suit yourself… one finger or ten…" Naruto said as he drew on the Force, the dust at his feet slowly drifting upwards through a non-existent breeze.

[Music play: Escape – Hemenway]

Gripping the handle of his katana, he unsheathed the weapon in one smooth motion and levelled the blade at his opponent's face. The atmosphere was packed with tension, civilians had immediately vacated the street the moment they saw the impending fight. Lowering his stance, blade positioned off to his right, eyes narrowed.

"You won't win this fight."

Kicking off with a burst of speed, Naruto went for a direct attack with his katana. A simple horizontal slash that was dodged by his opponent leaping back, he quickly followed up by a flurry of slashes that aimed to keep her on the defensive as she weaved through the multiple strikes. The Slug Sannin was surprised by the speed that the Genin was showing, it was mid-Chunnin and that was enough to put her on guard despite his mediocre skills in swordsmanship. A lull in the fighting was broken by a whispered technique.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone technique)."

Tsunade found herself surrounded by around eight copies of the blond-haired swordsman, with the original mixed in somewhere, she cursed under her breath as the fight just got a whole lot tougher. At some unseen command, the battle resumed as she found herself struggling to dodge the perfectly synchronised attacks of the clones. There was barely a moment where she was not dodging or redirecting attacks with her chakra-reinforced finger. Quickly tiring of being on the defensive, she dropped to the ground and released a burst of chakra as she flicked the ground.

The resulting destruction was a reminder of why the blonde-haired woman was once considered the strongest kunoichi as well as a member of the legendary Sannin. The ground fractured under her strength, causing shards of rocks to jut out from the earth and deforming the terrain of the street. Half of the clones were dispelled from being impaled by the shards of rock and the rest were forced to pull back, they utilised their chakra to cling to the sides of the buildings that ran along the length of the street. The original was standing atop the roof of one of the buildings, observing the fight and taking note of his opponent's fighting style.

"I highly suggest you start taking this fight seriously now that you've seen my capabilities first-hand, beating you with a handicap would grant me no satisfaction."

"Tsk, cocky brat…"

Despite her words, the woman grudgingly admitted that she had to stop holding back as she was not delusional enough to believe that she could defeat the swordsman with her handicap in effect. A grin broke out across Naruto's face when he noticed that the Slug-Sannin had dispelled one of his clones with a punch to the face, it was immediately followed by a grimace when he got the memories of the clone's demise.

'So that's what it feels like to have your skull punched into your brain…'

Having decided that he had gotten a good grasp on her fighting style, he allowed himself to sink into his Force Trance before leaping off the rooftop and launched a volley of shuriken at his target. Proving her skills once again, she dodged around the assault in such a manner that placed the remaining clones in the path of the approaching projectiles. The fight was once again one-on-one as the clones had been destroyed by the shuriken, Tsunade took a quick side-step to avoid the descending blade of her fellow blonde. She made an attempt to disarm him with a quick strike to his hand, but it was rebuffed when she was sent skidding back by an invisible force.

"What the heck was that?" Tsunade asked as she regained her footing, curiosity peaking when she noticed the splayed fingers of her opponent. 'A seal-less wind jutsu launched from his hand?'

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

Naruto was clearly reluctant on revealing any more than he needed, already pretty miffed that he had to resort to a Force technique to prevent himself from getting disarmed as well as acquiring a pair of fractured wrists. Deciding that he did not want to risk exposing more of his hidden skillset by allowing the fight to drag onwards, a plan was concocted in his mind as he formed the familiar cross-shaped handseal.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

Several puffs of smoke later, it was revealed that he had made a smaller amount than before.

"Running out of steam already?" Tsunade taunted as she kept track of the three clones that moved into position around the original.

He chose to ignore the taunt in favour of sending the three clones to attack her from separate angles, he clenched his fist and started building up a minute amount of Force energy into his hand. He waited until the moment that his clones engaged the Sannin before releasing an underpowered Force Push towards the ground, kicking up a curtain of dust from the rubble of the street.

Tsunade cursed as she instinctively closed her eyes to prevent the dust from blinding her and took several steps back to escape the dust cloud, dodging the clones' attacks by hearing the displacement of air from their strikes. She caught one clone by the wrist and forced it to skewer the one to its left, the captured clone was then dispelled after being forced to take the blow from the remaining clone. The last clone flung his katana at her and charged in afterwards, he watched as she snatched the blade out of the air and swung it towards him.

However she did not expect the clone to mentally dispel the katana, this left her open to the clone as it delivered a straight jab to the face that left her disorientated. The silence of the battlefield was suddenly broken by a powerful hum of power that echoed throughout the street, a figure darted out from the dust cloud and leapt straight at the recovering Slug-Sannin. The source of the sound was revealed to be the fist-sized sphere of rotating chakra held within the hand of the figure, revealed to be Naruto as he thrust the attack forward.

"Rasengan!"

Brown eyes widened in alarm at the name of the attack, she managed to recover in time to smack the last clone aside and lurch backwards causing the sphere to barely miss her. That was not the end as the attack collided with the ground, a second later and it exploded with a force strong enough to crater the ground and sent the blonde Senju stumbling back. Before she could get her guard up again, she felt the familiar sensation of cold steel being pressed against the back of her neck.

[Music end]

"I could have easily decapitated you as you were being forced back by the power of my last attack… looks like it's my win." Naruto said with a smirk, the blade of his katana tickling the back of her neck.

"…you used a clone to attack with the Rasengan and took advantage of the opening given by your clone to sneak behind me." Tsunade stated with a sigh.

"That's right."

"How do you even know how to use the Rasengan? That move is an-"

"A-ranked jutsu created by the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato and taught by the man to his sensei, which happens to be that white-haired pervert over there." Naruto interrupted and gestured over to the man, who currently had a look of utter disbelief on his face.

"He taught you the Rasengan? I didn't know you had been under his wing for such a long time."

"Oh no, we didn't even know each other before this month. He only started teaching me the Rasengan three days ago, I managed to complete the final step last night as I meditated on it."

Silence greeted this declaration as the other three ninjas stared at him with shocked expressions, the blond-haired Jinchuuriki stared back at them in response.

"Y-you do know that the Rasengan is an A-ranked jutsu that took the Yondaime Hokage three years to create? And Jiraiya, a Sannin, an entire year to learn. Yet you just did it in three days…" Shizune stuttered out.

"Minato was Minato, Jiraiya is Jiraiya and I am myself. Neither of them are me, so why should it matter how long it took for them to perform the Rasengan? The Yondaime Hokage, Jiraiya of the Sannin… I will surpass them and become the strongest." Naruto's voice did not waver as he said that, instead a smirk formed on his face as he looked over at the Slug Sannin.

Seeing the smug look on his face was enough to remind Tsunade about the wager, "Yeah I remember, I lost fair and square… I'll head back with you to Konoha and take up the title of Godaime Hokage… and here, a little bonus for your win."

Naruto adopted a puzzled expression as he caught the crystal necklace that the blonde Sannin tossed at him, his eyes narrowed in thought as he could sense that the necklace had a powerful connection to the Force. It seemed to absorb the ambient energy in the air and store it, each crystal on the necklace acted as a kind of storage unit for a large amount of Force energy.

'Interesting… I will have to look into this further once I have the time.'

"Tsunade-sama! That necklace?!"

"Relax Shizune, I think it's about time I let go of my past… and put some faith into the future." Tsunade said, a soft smile on her lips as she saw her fellow blond placing the necklace around his neck.

Naruto moved his hand up towards the foreign object around his neck, his fingers curled around the cool crystal-like material of the necklace. The surface was smooth to the touch, but beneath the crystalline surface of each crystal was a literal reservoir of Force energy that responded to his presence. He could feel the stored energy flowing into his body and augmenting his ability to sense and use the Force, it was like stimulant that boosted his current level past their limits.

"It looks good on you brat."

Her comment snapped him out of his thoughts, he accepted the compliment with a simple nod before clearing his throat to address another issue with the blonde Sannin.

"Since we seem to have arrived at an understanding, there is something else that I would like to ask of you."

"Well… I guess I can give you an answer if it is within my capabilities."

"I know that you encountered Orochimaru earlier today, evident by the destruction at the castle, but I picked up more interesting information from one of the witnesses that was on the scene. Apparently the snake spoke to you during the course of your fight, something that seemed to give you pause and break off the fight. So tell me… what did he offer you?"

Stunned silence filled the air as Tsunade stared at the cold, unflinching blue eyes, her own eyes wide open in surprise at the fact that the young shinobi opposite her knew about the offer that her ex-teammate had made her. Jiraiya had a sombre expression while Shizune had a conflicted look on her face, Tsunade eventually let out a soft sigh as she glanced to the sky.

"He… he offered to bring back both Dan and Nawaki to life, in exchange for my services to heal his crippled hands."

"You do realise the nature of your old teammate don't you? Though I may not have had the pleasure of knowing the man as intimately as either of you, I have heard of how cunning, slippery and manipulative he is. Orochimaru is not a man who would uphold his end of the bargain if it did not hold any benefit to him… or worse." Naruto sighed softly, not believing that he had to lecture the veteran kunoichi on her own ex-teammate. 'Like the Edo-Tensei that I heard about…'

"I don't need you to lecture me on my own teammate brat!" Tsunade burst out, a vein throbbing on her forehead before turning sombre. "I… I wasn't in a very good place these few years. The offer was extremely tempting, even more so in the inebriated state that I was in…"

"Hime/Tsunade-sama…"

While both Jiraiya and Shizune looked at the morose Sannin, the younger shinobi chose instead to close his eyes and allow himself to slip back into his Force Trance. Utilising the clarity of mind the state granted him, the blond debated on the next step that would be the most appropriate in their situation. A few seconds later he turned towards the trio standing behind him, eyes sharp and in a clear tone asked.

"When was your meeting with Orochimaru meant to happen had you chosen to accept his offer?"

Startled by the sudden question, she took a few seconds to gather her thoughts before responding just as clearly.

"In two days' time at a large, empty field to the north of this town… I chose it so that any collateral damage was kept to a minimum should any unforeseen circumstances occur… I wasn't that drunk alright!" Tsunade added as an afterthought upon seeing the sceptical look from the younger blond.

"Well that makes this much easier than I thought, we're going to catch the snake in our own trap!"

"Naruto, I don't think you know who you're talking about. This is Orochimaru, the slipperiest shinobi I've ever known and someone I've been trying to put down for years!" Jiraiya would have gone on further had his temporary student not held up a hand to shut him up.

"We've got the element of surprise on our side, he most likely thinks that Konoha would be diverting all of her resources towards rebuilding after his joint attack during the Chunnin Exams. There is a ninety percent chance that he would not expect Konoha's only remaining Sannin to be out of her walls during this trying period, thus giving us a significant advantage."

"What about the other ten percent?" Shizune asked tentatively, only to receive a shrug in response.

"Nothing is certain in this world, merely a margin for error."

"Well then brat, let's hear this plan you have to catch Konoha's most elusive traitor." Tsunade huffed as she crossed her arms underneath her chest.

"Jiraiya is a seal master right? Then it would be a pretty simple trap if he could…"

The three veteran ninja stared in amazement as the plan unravelled before them, the cunning and tactical mind of the blond shining through as he explained each point in detail. And the more he explained, the more stunned they were at the simplicity of the plan, though the seals he talked about would take some time to implement but that was an insignificant point since they had two days to set up the ambush.

"Well I have to say brat… that's a pretty solid plan." Tsunade stated with a grin, inwardly praising the blond further. 'While he isn't a Nara, the plan is definitely not something to scoff at!'

"All that's left is to implement it… and stop calling me brat!"

His rebuttal was just met with a snort and some laughter.

"That wasn't part of the wager brat!"

Naruto could feel a twitch developing in his brow as he watched the Slug-Sannin walk away with her apprentice in tow, he grudgingly followed after a few seconds later with a certain thought echoing in his mind.

'I just know I'm going to get a headache from this…'

"Oi wait for me!" Jiraiya shouted out as he attempted to chase after his companions, only for a firm hand to clamp down around his shoulder.

Turning around, the white-haired man came face to face with the rather stern visage of a Yakuza member. The man did not seem to be intimidated by Jiraiya's appearance, instead gesturing over his shoulder with a grunt. Taking a look, he saw the numerous signs of destruction that was once a pristine street.

"You gonna pay for that? Or do I let my lord know that he has to issue Konoha a bill for these counts of property damage?"

Jiraiya felt tears waterfall down his face as he mentally tallied up a rough estimate of the damage his bank account would take, it was not a measly sum.

'Kami-sama why me?!'

I know, I know… I've been gone a long time. My writing spark seemed to have faded, ideas just couldn't seem to take shape in the ways I wanted and it frustrated me. However I decided to give writing another shot due to certain circumstances in my life, and I hope to complete at least one story in this duration!

Yet I am again hounded by the temptation to write a new crossover story with some of the newer anime that I have watched recently, some of the more notorious ones being: Re:Zero, Re:Creators, Grimoire of Zero and strangely enough, Shokugeki no Soma.

What to do, what to do…