A.N.: Merry Christmass to everybody, here I present you the next update as a gift.

A.N.2: Now reposted with less grammar and spelling errors,

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Murakami~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tsunade dragged him through the streets towards her lodgings. Some of the people around stopped and gave them a strange look, but most of them weren't interested. A kid being dragged by his neck by an angry drunk woman was probably a common sight here. Or maybe they thought he was Tsunade's son, so they didn't find it strange. The boy kept scanning the crowd for the familiar tall form of Jiraiya, his white hair should shine like a beacon, but he couldn't see him anywhere. Just where was the old man peeping?

All too soon they arrived at Tsunade's hotel. The Sannin dragged him up the stairs to her room and showed him in the corner.

"Stay here," she commanded. Naruto nodded. "Or should I tie you up?"

"I'll be good," he promised.

"Am I supposed to trust you?" she snapped. "Who do you think I am? I'll just tie you up anyway."

"Isn't that a bit overboard, Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked.

"No," the legendary medic disagreed. "Knocking him out would be overboard. Though maybe I should do it." Naruto paled. He certainly didn't want to be knocked out by Tsunade. She might overdo it and crack his skull instead. He wished Jiraiya would suddenly walk into the room, but that would require more luck than he usually had. And he felt like he had maxed his quota for unexpected encounters for today.

"I'll tie him up," Shizune decided seeing that her mistress was about to do something stupid.

"Well," the blond woman agreed. "But make sure he can't get out."

The dark haired woman walked over to the scared boy.

"Sorry," she whispered. "Tsunade-sama is not bad, but she gets all sorts of crazy ideas when she's drunk."

"So I've noticed," Naruto replied. He held still as Shizune bound his wrists. He knew that if he struggled, it would be only worse. And besides, they didn't block his chakra. If he really needed, he could cut the ropes using his Wind blades. He had enough control over it to do it without slicing off his fingers.

But that still didn't answer the question on what was he supposed to do. He couldn't rely on Jiraiya appearing suddenly, but how was he supposed to keep the woman here himself? He didn't know about anything he could do to make her stay. Maybe if he kicked her backpack, the contents would spill and she'd have to repack? No, that was a stupid idea. It wouldn't delay her for more than a couple of minutes and he'd call her wrath on his head unnecessarily. If he just sat quietly, nothing would happen to him. And once the two women left, he'd get rid of the rope, look for Jiraiya and they would pursue them. Yes, that sounded like a plan. It did have a glaring flaw, namely that it might take a long time to locate the Super-pervert and that it might take even longer before he sobered up, but it was the best he could come up with, so that was what he was going to do.

Finally the two women finished packing.

"Well, brat, we're leaving. So be nice and don't go running off," Tsunade said.

"Shouldn't we untie him now?" Shizune asked.

"Nah," the Slug Sannin waved her hand dismissingly. "He's a ninja. He can get out of it on his own."

"Alright, Tsunade-sama."

The blond woman moved to the door and opened them. And stood still, blinking in shock.

"Oh, Tsunade-hime! What a lucky coincidence!" Jiraiya's voice sounded from the hallway. "Won't you invite me in? Or are you going somewhere?" Naruto sighed in relief. The old pervert was here. He didn't have to decide everything on his own anymore.

"What do you call a coincidence? You were stalking me!" Tsunade accused him.

"Stalking?" Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. "That's such a nasty word. No, I wasn't stalking you. In fact, I had no idea you were in town until I arrived. And then I heard you were here. What teammate would I be if I didn't pay you a visit? It's been so long since we last saw each other."

"Whatever made you think I want to see you again?" the Slug Princess scowled.

"We haven't seen each other in years and you're still so cold," the Gama Sennin pouted.

"And you're still a pervert," the busty woman retorted, seeing how the white-haired man eyed her cleavage. "Honestly, I thought you'd grow out of puberty by now."

"What's wrong with appreciating beauty?" Jiraiya said defensively.

"The way you do it is wrong," Tsunade growled.

As they talked, Naruto cut the rope around his wrists. Shizune didn't wrap them particularly tight, but still it was a great relief to get out of them. He stood up and walked to the door. He spotted Jiraiya standing there at the same time the Toad Sage spotted him.

"Oi, gaki, what are you doing here?" the man asked.

"You know him?" Tsunade scowled. Then she turned to Naruto. "I knew it! You were spying on me!"

"No! I ran into you by accident! Honestly!" the boy defended himself.

"That's true," Jiraiya said. "I've been looking for you myself."

"Than what is he doing here?" the blond woman questioned.

"I'm just dragging him around," the white-haired man answered.

"Well, that being said, we'll be going," Tsunade decided and tried to push past Jiraiya. The Gama Sennin didn't let her.

"And where do you think you are going?" he asked. "I didn't even tell you why I am here."

"Save your breath," the Slug Sannin snapped. "The answer is no."

"I didn't ask you anything yet," Jiraiya replied.

"You didn't have to," Tsunade deadpanned. "I know what are you going to ask."

"Do you?" Jiraiya raised an eyebrow.

"Either it is something perverted or you want me return to Konoha or it is something perverted. In either case, the answer is no."

"Well, you know me too well, Tsunade-hime," Jiraiya smiled embarrassedly. "But please reconsider."

"No," she shook her head resolutely. "There is no way I'm ever returning to that hellhole."

"Konoha isn't a hellhole!" Naruto shouted. Tsunade whirled to him.

"Watch it, brat! You have no idea what are you talking about!" Naruto took a step back. He thought he had seen Tsunade angry before, but that was nothing compared to this. The Killing Intent she released nearly forced him to his knees. He found himself unable to speak. Even breathing was suddenly difficult.

"Tsunade, that's enough!" Jiraiya shouted. The enraged woman turned to him.

"Don't tell me what I should do!"

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune's attempt to calm her mistress down yielded no results.

"Can't we talk about it quietly?" the Toad Sage asked.

"No!" the Slug Sannin stated. "I'm not returning to Konoha and that's final!"

"Sensei wants you back," the white-haired man pleaded.

"Sensei is a fool," she scoffed. "What makes him think I'll return now of all times?"

"We need you, Tsunade-hime."

"Well, I don't need you."

"Please?" Jiraiya accompanied the word with the best rendition of puppy dog eyes Naruto had ever seen. Unfortunately Tsunade seemed to be immune.

"Quit it, Jiraiya," she answered curtly. "Konoha has no right to want anything from me. It already took away everything it could."

"That's not true," the Toad Sage argued.

"It is true," the woman insisted. "Tell me, Jiraiya. Can you bring back Dan? Or Nawaki?" The man only hung his head. "I thought so," Tsunade continued. "I'm done with Konoha. I've been done with it for a long time and nothing you say can change my mind, so deal with it. Shizune, let's go."

"You can't just walk away!" Naruto had gathered his bearings and tried to call her back. When she turned towards him, he had to wonder what had possessed him to speak up. Her eyes seemed red with rage. Or maybe it was unshod tears. He couldn't tell.

"And who is going to stop me, brat? You? Go home to your mommy and stop playing at being a ninja. You'll live longer."

"And spend the rest of my life hiding like a coward? No, thanks." Naruto had no idea where did he find the courage.

"Idiot," Tsunade scoffed. "You'll just get killed like the fool you are."

"Well, I'd rather die of an enemy kunai than liver cirrhosis."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Tsunade's hotel room~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first sensation that registered in Naruto's brain was pain. All of his body hurt. Badly. He tried to figure out where was the pain coming from with little success. All of his body seemed to be the source.

He slowly opened his eyes. The light was painfully bright, but at least it helped him forget how did the rest of his body feel.

"You awake, gaki?" Jiraiya's voice asked. Naruto nodded and immediately regretted it. His head exploded in pain. He waited until it subsided.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You told Tsunade something she didn't want to hear," the Toad Sage answered.

"And?"

"And what else would you like to know?" Jiraiya raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Why does everything hurt?"

"Can't you tell? You pissed off Tsunade."

"And?"

"Do I have to spell it for you?" Jiraiya sighed. "She punched you. You made quite a nice hole in the wall."

"Oh." Naruto blinked. That made sense. Only he couldn't remember it happening and could barely recall what did he say. It must have been that traumatic amnesia he kept hearing about.

"Oh indeed," the Sage nodded. "What were you thinking, goading her like that?"

"Uh..."

"I thought so. You weren't thinking," Jiraiya berated him. "You could have ended up dead. Though, it was good for something. Tsunade decided to stay around to heal you." Naruto didn't know what to say to that.

"And now the brat is awake, we'll be on our way," Tsunade commented. Naruto blinked in surprise. He had no idea she was there until she spoke. He turned after her voice and tried to sit up. He fell back down with a painful moan. It looked like even Kyuubi's healing had some trouble with the damage caused by Tsunade's inhumanely strong punch.

"Careful there," the woman in question said kneeling next to him. "I just finished patching you up, so don't mess up my work."

"You're the one who punched me," Naruto reminded her.

"Don't be cheeky, brat. Or I'll punch you again," Tsunade threatened. But her hand was already glowing green, assessing the damage done to Naruto's ribs. So maybe she wasn't really as angry as she seemed.

"That would be quite an accomplishment, Tsunade," Jiraiya commented. "Punching a child who's barely able to move, you weren't like that before."

"Shut up or I'll punch you," the legendary medic informed him angrily.

"I'm used to it, Tsunade-hime," the Toad Sage shrugged. "But him," he looked at Naruto, "if he weren't what he was, you could have killed him. Really, Tsunade, that was low."

"I've already agreed to stay until he heals," she snapped. "Don't push your luck."

"You didn't used to be like that, Tsunade-hime," Jiraiya said ruefully. "You used to beat me all the time, but nearly killing a child for saying something you didn't like, you've fallen so low."

"I told you not to push it," the Slug Sannin growled angrily.

"Are you going to punch me too?" Jiraiya raised an eyebrow daringly. "Are you going to smash anything you don't like and then drown yourself in sake in a futile attempt to forget? Because no matter what you say, he was right. You are only wasting away."

"I told you to shut it!" she bellowed and punched him through the wall.

"Ero-Sennin!" Naruto shouted in alarm, trying to sit up.

"Don't," Tsunade admonished him, "you'll just hurt yourself."

"But Ero-Sennin..."

"Will be fine," she finished. "He survived worse."

Just at the moment Jiraiya climbed through the hole. He was holding his ribs and his movements were strained.

"Yes, I've survived worse, but I used to be younger back then. But then again, so did you. This barely hurt." Tsunade tried to punch him again, but this time Jiraiya dodged.

"So full of anger," he observed. "The time away from Konoha didn't do you any good."

"That's up to me to decide," she snapped angrily.

Naruto gathered his strength and pushed himself into sitting position. It hurt, but it wasn't as bad as before.

"Well, lady," he spoke, "I don't know how you used to be before, but it looks to me that whatever are you doing now isn't helping. So won't you consider a change?"

"You mean going back to Konoha?" she scoffed. "No. Way. In. Hell."

"Why do you even hate it so much?" Naruto asked. Jiraiya had never explained it to him.

"It took everything from me."

"Now that's unfair," Jiraiya commented. "You can't blame Konoha for what happened."

"I can and I will," she snapped.

"You're just being stubborn."

"Am not!"

"And now you're sounding like a spoilt little princess," he pointed out. "But I guess you've always been a bit of a spoilt little princess, Tsunade-hime."

"Watch your mouth, Jiraiya," she threatened.

"Is anger your default reaction to everything?" Naruto asked.

"Don't be cheeky, brat," she scolded him.

"It sounds like it is," the boy commented, seemingly to himself. "In that case I don't understand why the Hokage wants you back. You'd only end up maiming our own forces."

"Don't say such things about Tsunade-sama!" Shizune defended her mistress. "You know nothing about her!"

"Then enlighten me," he prompted.

"Don't bother, Shizune," Tsunade waved her hand. "Jiraiya must have told him."

"He didn't."

"No?" She looked genuinely surprised. "Then ask him. I'm not going to talk about it."

"Dos it still hurt so much?" the Gama Sennin asked.

"Yes," Tsunade answered.

"Then won't you agree you need a different cure?" Jiraiya proposed. "As a medic, if one cure doesn't work, you should look for another, shouldn't you?"

"I already told you: I'm not going to Konoha."

"You avoided my question, Tsunade-hime. Don't you agree that you need a different cure for your grief?"

"Do you have one?" Suddenly she sounded defeated. Naruto couldn't think of any better word for it.

"Maybe we can find one," Naruto offered.

"Don't think so highly of yourself, brat," she scoffed. "You're just a wet-behind-the-ears kid."

"But doesn't he remind you of him?" Jiraiya asked. Tsunade blinked in surprise, looking at Naruto like it was the first time she saw him.

"That was low, Jiraiya," she said bitterly. "Even for you."

"You forced me to it," he replied.

"Just what are you talking about?" Naruto asked. Everybody ignored him.

"No matter what you say, I won't change my opinion," the Slug Princess stated.

"Still as stubborn as ever," Jiraiya sighed. "Tell me, Tsunade: do you really hate Konoha so much?"

"Why do you ask?" she raised an eyebrow. "You should already know the answer: yes."

"That's what I thought," Jiraiya sighed. "But still, don't you think it's unfair to blame it all on Konoha?"

"No."

"Looks like we're going nowhere," the Gama Sennin commented.

"Yes. Than would you just quit it? It's only annoying the both of us."

"I'm afraid I cannot do that, Tsunade-hime. You see, I have my orders."

"I don't care about your orders," she scoffed. "I'm not returning there ever again. I won't let Konoha take anyone else from me."

"Isn't there anything I could do to convince you?"

"Can you bring them back?" she asked skeptically.

"No," Jiraiya shook his head ruefully.

"So no, there isn't."

"So you're running away from Konoha because somebody dear to you died?" Naruto asked.

"No," she corrected. "Because Konoha killed them."

"You know, Tsunade, I was once in the Hospital," Naruto started.

"So?" she asked in a bored tone.

"And there I saw a doctor explaining to a mother that her son had died. The woman had completely broken down."

"So you see why I can't return there."

"No," the boy shook his head, "I don't. And I'm not finished telling the story. You see, the doctor told the poor mother something: If only Tsunade-sama was here, she could have saved him. But there's no-one in Konoha as good as her."

"Damn right there isn't," she said proudly.

"You didn't get the point, did you?" Naruto asked. "You hate Konoha because you lost somebody. I can't argue with that. I don't know what happened."

"That you don't," she agreed.

"But there are lots of people in Konoha who have a good reason to hate you because their loved ones died because you weren't there to heal them. So is drinking your life away really so much more important than saving people's lives?"

Now he hit a sore spot. He recognized it immediately by the mad look in her eyes. There was both anger and tears. 'Tears?' he wondered. He had no time to consider it further. She swung her fist at him. He had just enough time to try to block. It did him little good against Tsunade's monstrous strength. Her fist connected with his forearm. He felt the bones snapping and the kunai he kept in his sleeve cut into his flesh. Then he was knocked to the ground.

Tsunade looked first at him, than at her fingers. She blinked as she studied the red liquid covering them.

"Blood?" she asked in disbelief. Then she began shaking uncontrollably, standing frozen to the spot. Naruto watched her in confusion, which wasn't suppressed even by the pain in his arm.

"What happened to her?" he asked.

"Tsunade-sama is afraid of blood," Shizune explained. "She's been like that ever since uncle Dan died in her arms."

"That's quite a problem for a ninja," the boy observed.

"It's even a bigger problem for a medic," the dark-haired woman explained. "We can't avoid seeing blood in our profession. That's why Tsunade-sama cannot be a medic anymore. It's tearing her from inside out, even more than the deaths of Dan and Nawaki."

"I had no idea," Naruto said.

"Well, now you know. Are you happy with your work?"

"My work?" Naruto blinked. "She's the one who punched me! And I'm the one with the broken arm."

"Allow me to take a look at it," Shizune offered. "I'm not as good as Tsunade-sama, but I can still help."

"Sure."

There was silence as Shizune worked. Naruto was trying hard not to cry. The wound hurt a lot. Tsunade was still rooted to the ground, staring at her bloody fingers and shivering. She didn't seem to even blink. Jiraiya just sat in a corner and watched the proceedings with a grim face.

"That's all I can do for now," the dark-haired medic declared after a while. "I'm afraid you won't be able to use it for two weeks."

"I heal fast," the jinchuuriki replied.

"That's good for you."

"So what are we going to do now?" Naruto asked. He looked at Tsunade, who still hadn't moved.

"We have to wait until she snaps out of it," Shizune answered.

"How long is it going to take?"

"Who knows," Shizune shrugged.

"Can't we do something to snap her out of it?" Naruto questioned. "Like dunk her with cold water or something."

"Dunk Tsunade-sama with cold water?" Shizune sounded horrified with the prospect.

"But it might work," Jiraiya said. He stood up and headed out, presumably searching for a bucket. Shizune still looked scandalized, but she didn't protest.

Naruto watched the petrified form of Tsunade. He didn't know what to think about her. At first, he had thought she was a coward for running away, but now he had to reconsider. She hadn't left Konoha just because she had felt like it, but because she genuinely was no good for the village. But what was she now? Should he still consider her a coward for freezing upon seeing blood? Or should he consider her ill?

He had very limited experience with phobias. No-one from his closest people suffered from one, as far as he knew. He had seen girls shrieking when they saw a mouse or a cockroach, but never had he witnessed anything remotely close to this reaction. It left him confused. It also made him want to help, but he had no idea how.

"Shizune, why is Tsunade like that?" he asked.

"She's terrified of the sight of blood," the younger woman answered.

"I know, but what made her like that?"

"It happened when Uncle Dan died. They loved each other dearly and wanted to marry. One day, they were on a mission together. I wasn't there, so I know only what I've heard about it. Dan was fatally wounded and Tsunade-sama attempted to heal him, but she failed. There was so much blood there. Tsunade completely froze with shock and grief and every time she sees blood, she's reminded of that time." Shizune finished her story and stared off into the wall. Her face was sad, making it clear that it was a painful topic even for her.

"So that's how it is," Naruto spoke thoughtfully. He tried to imagine how it must have been. What was it like to love someone that much? What was it like to watch them die? He imagined if it was Tenzo or one of his teammates dying in front of him. What would he do then? Would he fall apart too? He always came to the conclusion that he would rip apart whoever did it, even if it meant using the Kyuubi. But then, it didn't really happen to him, so he shouldn't judge.

Then Jiraiya returned carrying a bucket, which he promptly dumped on Tsunade's head. The cold water shook the woman awake. She stopped shaking, looked at her wet jacked and then at the grinning Jiraiya. Then she punched him.

"Pervert! You did it to see me in wet clothes!"

"How can you think that about me? I did it to snap you out of the fit." But the way he was eyeing her now very visible curves told another story.

"I know you." Jiraiya had the good grace to look a bit guilty, though his eyes remained rooted on her breasts. "Stop it or I'll punch you again," Tsunade threatened. "Now look at me, I can't go out in this. And don't even think about watching me change my clothes!"

"Tsunade-sama, I think you should take a look at his arm."

"I see you've already treated it, Shizune."

"But I'm not as good as you and the bone is badly shattered."

"Alright," Tsunade sighed and began the examination. She was so engrossed in her work that she even ignored Jiraiya's eyes on her form.

"You were right, Shizune," she said after a while, "there are a couple of bone fragments lodged in the muscle. If they're left there, it would be very painful for him to move the arm. I should operate..." She suddenly stopped and clamped a hand over her mouth. Naruto couldn't help but notice that she paled.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Blood," she whispered.

"That's bad," Shizune commented. "Tsunade-sama cannot perform the operation for her fear of blood and I'm afraid I'm not good enough."

"You are," her teacher assured her. "It's not that hard."

"It would be better if you could do it," Shizune pointed out.

"No! No, I can't. I just can't," Tsunade replied, shaking. Her student looked at her ruefully.

"As you wish, Tsunade-sama."

"I wish things could be like I wished," the blond woman replied. Nobody had a reply to that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Murakami~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The town didn't have a decent hospital. But after some effort, they managed to find a doctor with a well-equipped office and convinced him to let them perform the operation there. Shizune performed it, under the instructions of Tsunade. It really wasn't as hard as she had thought. She managed to remove all the bone fragments safely and when Tsunade checked Naruto's arm later (completely bandaged so not a single drop of blood was visible), she stated that there were no more problems and commended Shizune for her good work. Then she stated that even with Naruto's enhanced healing, it would take nearly two weeks for the arm to heal. She agreed to stay for the time, claiming she wanted to be at hand should complications arise.

They stayed in their respective inns, visiting each other. Tsunade examined Naruto's arm every day and always said that it was healing well. Jiraiya kept trying to convince her to return to Konoha with them, but she kept saying no. Naruto couldn't be sure whether he was deluding himself or not, but he thought that her 'no' didn't sound as convinced as it did on the first day.

One day, Naruto was sitting on the terrace, holding an air balloon in his uninjured hand. 'Concentration,' he thought. 'Don't break it.' But it wasn't that easy. The water balloon and the rubber balloon exercises had been hard, but they seemed like a piece of cake compared to this. He barely started spinning his chakra inside and it broke. He was going through his supply of balloons at a high rate and he didn't feel like he was making any progress.

'Maybe if I tried it with a bigger ball first? And once I learned that, I'd try with a smaller one?' It sounded like a plan, so Naruto picked one of the balloons and blew more air into it. The balloon broke. 'Crap,' the boy thought, 'what are they made of? Did Jiraiya buy crappy balloons on purpose?' It felt like it. The old Sage definitely seemed to be amused by his failures.

'Maybe I should just forget about the balloons at all,' Naruto mused. 'That way I'll at least see what am I doing. And I'd use the balloon again when it looks like I'm getting close.'

He extended his hand and focused the chakra into his palm. A small vortex appeared there, rapidly growing bigger. It soon formed into a spinning ball with strands of chakra trailing behind it. 'It looks better than it used to,' the boy observed, but it still isn't good enough.' For the next few minutes, he concentrated on making the strands disappear, leaving only the sphere. He had little success, but he thought he managed to make them thinner and weaker. But it could have been just his wishful thinking. He took a little breather and then started again. Maybe he was deluding himself, but he felt like he was improving, though only slightly. He observed the chakra ball in his hand and then compared it with the balloons.

'It looks like the sphere is a tiny bit bigger than the balloons,' he observed. 'That means even if I did it right, that stupid balloons would still explode. Stupid Ero-Sennin. I bet he did it on purpose. I'm going to have a word with him whenever he comes back from his peeping.'

But the first one who came was Tsunade. Naruto blinked in surprise. She usually didn't show up so early in the day. Then he noticed that it was already noon. He had been so engrossed in his training that he forgot about the passage of time.

"Training?" she raised an eyebrow. "You should be taking it easy, you are wounded."

"I'm using the other arm," he answered, though in fact he wanted to say 'and just whose fault it is.' But he didn't want to have his other arm broken, so he held his tongue.

"I hope so, but it's your arm, not mine. Now let's have a look at it." She knelt beside him and activated her diagnosingtic jutsu. "It's healing well," she announced after a while. It doesn't seem like there would be an infection at this point."

"That's great," Naruto smiled.

"For you," Tsunade agreed. "So tell me, why were you practicing the Rasengan?"

"Ero-Sennin showed me to it."

"He's been always an idiot," the legendary healer scoffed. "The Rasengan was the Yondaime's prized jutsu. There's no way a little kid can get it right."

"Hey!" Naruto protested. "I'm already pretty close! Watch it!" He formed the Rasengan the best he could. The Slug Sannin watched it critically.

"I admit you're better than I thought, but I doubt you can make it work. You are just wasting time."

"That's not true!" the boy took offense. "I can do it! And even if I didn't, the training already helped me greatly with my original technique. So it isn't a waste of time."

"If you say so," she shrugged. "But I still say you won't be able to do it."

"I say I will!" Naruto's competitive spirit had awakened.

"I say you won't," Tsunade insisted.

"I will."

"Maybe when you grow up. But I won't be there to see it because we'll part ways in a week."

"Than I'll do it in a week," Naruto declared proudly. Somehow he felt like he could really do it.

"That's impossible," she scoffed.

"No, it isn't."

"I'm not going to convince you, am I?"

"No," he shook his head resolutely.

"Well than, let's make a bet," the sannin suggested. "If you can do it, I'll stick around for longer. I'll maybe even go back to Konoha, just to see how are you going to turn out. If you can't do it, you and Jiraiya won't ever bother me again."

"I can't make Jiraiya do anything," Naruto objected.

"Don't worry about it. I'll take care of that. So are you on?"

"Yes!" he grinned. "So pack your things, Baa-chan, in a week you're coming with us."

"Don't call me baa-chan!" Tsunade' brow twitched. "I'm not that old! And don't be so sure you are going to win, because you are going to lose."

"But I will win. I will master the Rasengan in just a week," Naruto replied with a smirk.

"Ha! You think you are so good? There's no way you can do it."

"Not really," he shook his head. "You just made sure I will do it."

"Oh?" she raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"You bet against me, Legendary Sucker!"

The end for today.

Next time: Naruto trains. Will he master the Rasengan in time?