Author's note: After a great delay, I finally present you the next chapter. I have no good excuse for it being too late. I just ran into a bit of a writing block with this one and I've been more inspired to write my other stories, so this one ended up on the back burner. I hope I'll be able to present you the next chapter sooner, I already started working on it.
A.N.2: Now reposted with less grammar and spelling errors.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Do I really have to repeat it every time? There isn't actually anybody who believes I do, is there?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Murakami~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naruto was sitting on the porch of the inn, spinning a ball of chakra in his right palm. He scowled as he saw the lines trailing behind it, forming a vortex. He had barely improved since he had made the bet with Tsunade. Sure, it was still the same day, but if he wanted to win, he had to progress faster.
"What are you doing, gaki?" Naruto nearly jumped, when he heard Jiraiya's voice right next to his ear. "Low situational awareness, that just wouldn't do," the Hermit shook his head. "I wasn't even trying to sneak up on you."
"Sorry," the boy answered sheepishly.
"Sorry?" Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. "You can't tell an enemy ninja sorry, I wasn't paying attention. Could you please try sneaking up on me again?"
Naruto had to laugh when he imagined the situation.
"That's no laughing matter," the Toad Sage informed him. "If I were an enemy you would have been already dead."
"I'll pay more attention to my surroundings next time," Naruto promised.
"You better do. And now to the original question: what are you doing?"
"Training the Rasengan."
"Why aren't you using the balloons?" the Sannin inquired.
"They always pop. This way I can at least see what I am doing wrong. And Pervy Sage, those balloons are too small. They pop even if I do it right."
"No, they aren't," Jiraiya disagreed. "I can form a Rasengan inside one without any trouble. Look." He picked up a balloon and...
"I can't see anything," Naruto frowned. "The balloon is in the way." Jiraiya sighed and formed a Rasengan in his other palm.
"It's small enough to fit in, see?"
"Yes," Naruto admitted. Jiraiya's Rasengan was indeed small enough to fit into the balloon without any trouble. "But it shouldn't matter if my is bigger, should it?"
"It should."
"Really? Why?" the chuunin asked a bit disappointed.
"The smaller the orb, the more concentrated the chakra," the Sannin explained. "And the more concentrated chakra, the stronger the jutsu. It can drill through harder materials and do more damage."
"Oh," the blond blinked in disappointment. "But I can't make it that small in a week."
"A week?" the white-haired man raised an eyebrow. "Why would you want to complete it in a week?"
"I made a bet with Tsunade." And he explained the terms of the wager.
"Well, gaki," Jiraiya spoke when he finished, "you have a lot of work ahead of yourself. Because this one is a bet even the Legendary Sucker would have a lot of trouble to lose."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Naruto muttered sarcastically.
"You're welcome," the Gama Sennin smirked. "You are going to need it."
"Hey! You should be more helpful here! Any tips for me?"
"No," the white-haired man shook his head.
"I did it to help you!"
"Well, you took it by the wrong end," Jiraiya shrugged. "When you lose, I'm going to have a lot more trouble convincing Tsunade to return."
"When I lose?" Naruto asked incredulously.
"Well, you don't really expect to win, do you?"
"Of course I do," the boy answered, offended.
"Then I shouldn't bother you anymore. Good luck with your training."
"Hey! What about the help?"
"Help yourself!" the Toad Sage answered and then he was gone, probably to peep again. Naruto sighed. Jiraiya was no help again. It looked like he had to figure it out on his own. And he should hurry. A week was an awfully short time. He spun the chakra in his palm again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Near the inn~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shizune watched as the boy trained diligently. She had no idea how far along in his training he was so she had no way to tell if he improved, but in the hour she spent observing him she didn't notice any progress. Not that she really expected it. She sighed. She wished him success, but so far it didn't seem likely. Her thought turned to what depended on his performance.
It had been years since she had left Konoha with Tsunade-sama. So many that she had lost count. Back then, she had been just a young girl following her greatest idol and the closest thing she had to family after Uncle Dan's death. She had graduated the Academy shortly before and she was looking forward to the adventures awaiting her in the world outside with wide, eager eyes.
Oh, how naive she used to be. Sure, there were some adventures to be had and she had learned a lot in the way of medicine from Tsunade-sama, but too often she had to drag her drunken mistress back from a bar or help he shake debt collectors. She still admired the Legendary Sannin and she had no-one else in the world, but she had gotten tired of this lifestyle years ago and she didn't know how much longer she could go on.
Her thoughts turned to Konoha. It had been so long since she last saw the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Would she even recognize it still? So much must have changed since she left. There must have been a lot of construction work after the Kyuubi attack. Was her old house still standing? She had no idea. And the Hokage Monument. Last time she saw it there had been only three faces. How did it look now?
And what about the people she knew? Her family had been dead before she had left, but there were still her friends and classmates. What had become of them? She had asked herself the question occasionally, but ever since meeting Jiraiya and his apprentice, it refused to leave her mind.
Yes, she wanted to return to Konoha very much and it all depended on one spur-of-the-moment bet and the results of this boy's training. She observed quietly as another chakra orb was nearly obscured by the trails following after it before dissipating. She sighed. So far, her return didn't seem likely. She'd have to help it if she wanted Naruto to succeed. She wanted to see her home again, no matter that it was currently at war. Maybe her skills would be needed to save some of her old acquaintances, who would have died otherwise.
She left her hiding spot and slowly walked over to the boy. He failed to notice her approach, being too focused on his latest attempt. Only when it dissolved he noticed and whirled to face her. By that time, she was just a few steps away from him.
"Shizune-san!" he greeted.
"Hello, Naruto," she smiled. "Do you realize that if I were an enemy you would have been already dead?" The blond looked sheepishly.
"I got the same lecture from Jiraiya earlier. It's just that I have to concentrate really hard to make it work at all."
"I can imagine," the dark-haired medic nodded. "I know how much concentration some of the medical techniques need, but you still have to remain aware of your surroundings. You can't do much if you're dead, can you?"
"No," he admitted. This was the second time in so many days he got surprised and he was feeling really ashamed of himself.
"Fortunately I'm not an enemy. I just came to see how were you doing."
Naruto grimaced. "I feel like I'm making no progress at all."
"What's the problem?" she inquired.
"What?" the boy blinked.
"I asked what the problem was, maybe I could help," Shizune elaborated.
"Why?" he asked with suspicion in his voice.
"So you can win," she explained like he should have already known it.
"I know, but why?"
"So we can all return to Konoha."
"Oh. You mean you can't return if I don't win?" Naruto questioned. She sighed.
"My place is with Tsunade-sama."
"Doesn't she want to return to Konoha as well?" the boy asked.
"Tsunade-sama?" Shizune nearly laughed. "Never."
"Then why did she make the bet?"
"She loves betting."
"I noticed, but why did she set such stakes? She could have wagered anything, but she bet she'd return to Konoha. That means she does want to return, at least a part of her does," the boy explained his reasoning.
"You don't know Tsunade-sama as well as I do," the woman disagreed. "She hates Konoha."
"But why would she make the bet then?" Naruto's face scrunched in concentration. "She must be prepared to lose."
"Tsunade-sama?" Shizune shook her head. "She always believes she'd win."
"That makes no sense." The chuunin shook his head. "She is known as the Legendary Sucker far and wide."
"Well, it doesn't," the dark-haired medic shrugged. "A lot of things make no sense."
"Yeah, I noticed," the boy grimaced.
"So back to the original question: Do you need help?"
"Some help would be welcome," he admitted. "Only I don't see what you can do. It's just a matter of concentration."
"I know a lot about concentration," Shizune answered. "I believe I already told you. Medical ninjutsu are based on it."
"Oh, sorry." Naruto gave her an embarrassed grin.
"There's no need to apologize," the healer smiled warmly. "So how are you with your control?"
"Well," he scratched his head, "it always gave me trouble, but I train it a lot so it's okay, I guess."
"But this seems like a jutsu that needs more than just okay control," Tsunade's assistant pointed out.
"Yes, it seems so," the chuunin agreed.
"I can teach you some advanced control exercises," Shizune offered.
"That would be nice, but do you think I can master in time and still master the Rasengan?"
"Well," the medic thought back to how long it too her to master them and she had been older than Naruto at the time.
"I thought so," the blond sighed. "There just isn't enough time, is there?"
"A week really isn't a long time," she admitted.
"It's only six days now," Naruto corrected. "But it doesn't matter. Can you show me the exercises anyway? Maybe it will help. And if not, well," he shrugged, "at least I would learn something new."
"You have a point," Shizune smiled. "Let's start. Do you know the needle-balancing exercise?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The inn, evening~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was nearly dusk and Naruto was still sitting on the porch, spinning chakra in his hand. He was feeling tired, but he refused to quit. There was so much to do yet. The exercises Shizune had shown him were really interesting and he would remember them for later. He had the Rasengan to concentrate on. But learning better concentration would help, the healer was right about it. If he could only do both at once, but that would require Shadow Clones, which would require the use of handseals which would require using his injured arm and that was something Tsunade had expressly forbidden if he wanted it to heal anytime soon. But he really needed the extra help if he wanted to win the bet, and he did. So maybe once wouldn't hurt?
He looked around, checking whether someone was observing him. He felt a bit stupid doing it. Should he be afraid of his own allies? But he was glad when he wound nobody familiar. Not that he would spot them if they didn't want to be spotted, they were too good for that.
He brought his uninjured right hand to the injured left one. He winced. It hurt, but he had survived worse. He slowly began forming the necessary seals. It was gratingly sluggish, but his injury didn't allow him to move faster. But it didn't really matter, he was in no rush. He finished and ten clones appeared around him. He sighed in relief when he could finally let his wounded arm hang on the sling again.
"You know what to do," he told his clones and each of them began an exercise from Shizune's arsenal. Some seemed to struggle, because they could use only one arm, but most could train without any trouble. Naruto returned to spinning the Rasengan. He could only hope that the extra control would help.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Several days later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tsunade stood silently as she watched the blond brat train. She had to admit she was impressed with his determination, if nothing else. Every time she came to check on him, he was training. And she had to admit, he was making progress. It wasn't enough to make it in time in her opinion, but it was far better than she gave him credit for. The concentration and chakra-control exercises the clones were working on must be helping. She couldn't even find it in herself to scold him for using his injured hand. When she had checked it yesterday, it had been healing just fine, so there was really no need. In just a few days, the boy would be fully healed and they would be on their merry way, never to see each other again.
Tsunade sighed. She felt a pang of some unpleasant emotion at that thought, she didn't bother to analyze which one. But she had no reason to be unhappy, right? Sure, seeing Jiraiya again had brought back some unpleasant memories, but they tended to pop up on their own from time to time, so it was really nothing new. And soon everything was going to be just like it used to. Then what reason she had to feel uncomfortable?
Then a traitorous thought entered her mind. Maybe she didn't want everything to get back to the old status quo? Well, of course she didn't. If she could return time to when Dan and Nawaki were still alive, then she would be happy, but she realized the impossibility of such occurrence. Getting back to wandering the world with Shizune was all she had to look forward to. Only she wasn't really looking forward to it.
'I'm getting all mushy today,' she thought. She had noticed before that the blond brat bore certain similarities with her late brother. It hurt her, but it also comforted her. Even Jiraiya reminded her of the good old times before everything went to hell. She realized that she didn't want the week to end; she wanted to spend more time around them. But they would only try to drag her back to Konoha and there was no way she was returning there. The pain was still too sharp, even after so many years have passed. And she didn't want to lose anyone else again. She had only Shizune left now and she couldn't imagine what she would do without her. And she was sure that Konoha would take her away eventually, and probably in some gruesome manner, because they were in war after all.
But maybe... maybe things would be different this time? Nah, she shook her head fiercely. Even the Legendary Sucker wouldn't bet on such odds. But what was she to do? Wait for Naruto to fail, pack her things, leave and drink to forget? What else could she do?
She sighed and returned to her silent observation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~With Naruto~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The boy sighed. He was making progress but it was too slow. Only two days remained until the deadline and he could already tell that he wasn't going to make it at this pace. He spun the ball of chakra on his palm again. There were much less strands trailing behind it now, but that was still too much. He scowled. He wished he could just swat them away, and he would have done so, if he could. But his left arm was still in a cast. He scowled deeper. Stupid Tsunade. First she breaks his arm and then she makes that bet, which would have been hard to complete even if he were able to perform to his full capacity. Damn it, this way it looked like the Legendary Sucker was actually going to win a gamble. And because that would mean he would lose, he was determined not to let it happen. But what could he do?
"Something bothering you, boss?" One of his clones asked while balancing a senbon needle on each of his fingertips.
"I just can't get it right," the original Naruto complained.
"I see. Well, at least I'm doing well, Look," he boasted just as the needles fell.
"Or maybe not so well," the original chuckled.
"Sorry," the clone grinned sheepishly.
"Nothing makes a person as happy as seeing another's misfortune," the original said. "Only you aren't really someone else."
"Yes, it looks like we both suck," the clone nodded philosophically. "Or should I say you suck twice?"
"You shouldn't say anything or I'm going to dispel you," the original threatened.
"Maybe it would improve your control enough to actually do it," the clone suggested half-sarcastically.
"Maybe," the original Naruto sighed. "I just want to beat that stupid ball until it works right, but I have only one arm."
"I think if you really tried to beat it, then you would really have just one arm afterwards, boss," the clone pointed out.
"I know," the original nodded. "But I still wish I could go at it with two hands."
"You have one hand, I have one hand, that means we have two hands together. And because I am you, that means you have two hands!"
"You're crazy," the original shook his head. "Are you really me?"
"I am," the clone nodded. "And if I am crazy, that means you are too."
"Don't even remind me. But... hey! That's an idea?"
"Uh, what?" The clone tried in vain to figure out what did his creator mean by it.
"That you have one hand and you have one hand, that means we have two hands together!"
"Uh, sure," the clone scratched his head, still not getting it.
"You'll lend me your hand and we'll do it together."
"You know that if you take my hand I'll dispel," the clone asked.
"I don't mean that, silly," the original reassured him. "Honestly, are you even me? I'm sure I'm not that dumb."
"I'm not so sure."
"Seriously, don't push it or I'll really pop you and make a new one," Naruto threatened.
"I'm quiet now," the clone threw up his healthy arm defensively. "So what's your plan?"
"I'll form a Rasengan and you try to keep that strands under control. Got it?"
"I think so. But how do you figure out I should do it?"
"Uh..."
"I thought so," the clone smirked. "You have no idea."
"I already told you to shut up. Let's just do it and we'll figure it out on the go. That's what we are best at, isn't it?"
"Of course."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Inn~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It healed well," Tsunade stated when she concluded the examination of Naruto's arm. "Now hold still for a while longer, I'm going to remove the cast."
"Thanks, Tsunade-baa-chan," Naruto grinned. "I couldn't stand it."
"How did you just call me?" a vein pulsed in her brow. "Watch it or I'll give you a reason to wear it for another month." The boy grimaced. A week had been bad enough. A month... he didn't even want to imagine it. He stayed silent as the legendary medic removed the bandages from his arm. When she finished, he sighed in relief. He flexed his muscles experimentally.
"Not so fast," Tsunade berated him. "You don't want to tear something so soon after healing, do you?" But it was just too good a feeling to be finally able to move his arm freely.
"It's all fine," he grinned. "You are the best healer after all."
"That I am," she grinned back, "so don't mess up my work."
"I won't," he promised. "Or do you think I like being all bandaged up?"
"Gaki, you haven't been all bandaged up yet," she reminded him.
"Yes, that's true," he nodded. "My best attempt was three-quarters."
"That aside, do you remember what day is today?"
"Yes," the boy nodded in apprehension.
"You don't look too sure of yourself," the woman observed. "Could it be that you haven't completed the jutsu yet?"
"I still have until sunset," he blurted out.
"Oh?" she raised an eyebrow. "I suppose you do. Our bet didn't state what time today you have to show it. But honestly, do you think you can complete it in," she looked at the position of the sun, "five hours? That's not much time. Better show me now and spare yourself the anxiety. Or can't you do it?"
"You bet I can!" he boasted, despite feeling quite unsure.
"I think not," she shook her head. "I've already bet you can't do it, remember?"
"I do," he nodded. "But if you bet that I can do it, you'd win for sure." Tsunade laughed.
"That won't be much of a bet. So can you do it or not?" she prompted. "I don't have a whole day for you."
"You don't?" he questioned. "What's so important you have to do it today?"
"Stuff."
"Stuff?" the boy asked skeptically.
"Yes, stuff," she answered in a tone that said 'don't ask.' Even Naruto got it.
"Okay," he nodded. "Here it goes." He joined his hands in the Ram seal and created a clone.
"Kage Bunshin?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "That looks nothing like the Rasengan."
"I know," he nodded. "I'm getting to it right away."
"I'm waiting," she prompted.
Naruto took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment to compose himself. He had made great progress in the last two days, but he still couldn't eliminate the stray strands completely. But he almost had it. Sometimes, for a moment the Rasengan looked perfect before some of the chakra strayed from its intended path again. He could only do his best and hope it would be good enough for Tsunade.
He extended his palm upwards and spun the vortex of chakra in it. It quickly formed into a ball with strands of chakra trailing behind it. The clone extended his hand over it, adjusting the flow of chakra so that the strands would disappear. But it still wasn't perfect. There were still strands trailing behind and there were more of them than the last time he tried. Damn it, he was so worried about the bet he couldn't concentrate properly. And Tsunade looked just about ready to call him a loser. And that just wouldn't do. If he just had another hand to... wait, he did! After a week, he could finally use his left hand too. He quickly brought it to the sphere, the clone mirroring his action. Together they shaped the chakra in the jutsu, eliminating the strands completely. They held it that way for about two seconds before letting it dissipate.
Naruto dismissed the clone and turned to Tsunade with a victorious smirk. "So how did you like it?" She didn't look happy.
"Well, though I have to admit that you made a perfect Rasengan for a while, I honestly cannot say you completed it."
"What?" the boy blinked in shock. "Why?" She lifted her hand and started counting the reasons on her fingers.
"For once, you needed a clone to form it. That's too inconvenient in battle. Second: you needed both hands to form it and both of the clone's hands. True Rasengan is formed with just one hand."
"Oh come on, I formed it, didn't I?" Naruto whined in dismay.
"Three," she continued. "When you formed the sphere, it was completely surrounded by your hands. That means you couldn't smash it into anything. Therefore it's useless."
"I can remove the extra hands before I attack," he objected.
"Oh, I'm sure you can, but can you keep the chakra properly concentrated afterwards?"
"Uh..."
"I thought so," she nodded. "You can't. I'm sorry but it looks like you lost."
"It's not evening yet," he reminded her.
"And you think you can improve before then? Well," she shrugged, "I can wait for you to make a fool of yourself again."
"I won't," he assured her. "I will do it."
"Strong words, boy, but I doubt you will be able to back them up. Either you can perform the Rasengan with just one hand before evening comes, or I'm going to be rid of you and that old toad for good."
"Oh, come on, Hime, don't be so harsh," a familiar voice sounded form nearby. Tsunade sharply looked around. Her eyes narrowed in irritation.
"Jiraiya. How long have you been here?"
"I just arrived," the Hermit answered. "And you have to agree that the boy did form a perfect Rasengan. You're just grasping for straws so you won't have to come with us."
"You're the one grasping at straws to make me return," she shot back.
"That's not true," the Toad Sage defended.
"It is, and don't try to deny it," she snapped back.
"Then I'll just have to learn to make the Rasengan with fewer hands before evening," Naruto interjected.
"Don't be ridiculous," Tsunade scoffed. "There's just no way you can make it."
"Wait and see, baa-chan." He made the familiar cross-seal. "Kage Bunshin!" a whole army of his copies appeared around him. "Now this gives me a lot of extra training time."
"There's just more of you to do it wrong the same way," she opposed.
"What do you know?" he shrugged. "Come back this evening and see for yourself."
"I will," she promised. "And now excuse me, I have to pack."
"Do so, because you're going with us!" Naruto called after her retreating back.
"In your dreams!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Tsunade's inn~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So did he make it?" Shizune asked when her mistress returned.
"No," the Sanin replied. "He insists he still have time until sunset, but there's no way he's going to make it."
"I see," her assistant replied, looking at the ground.
"What is it, Shizune?" Tsunade asked upon seeing her apprentice so downtrodden.
"Nothing, Tsunade-sama."
"Don't give me that. I can't remember the last time I've seen you so down. What is it?" Shizune didn't answer. "Did you want him to win?" The younger woman averted her eyes.
"I just hoped I could see Konoha again. It's been so long."
"You can go with them if you want," the legendary medic offered. "I don't hold you here."
"No," Shizune shook her head, "My place is with you, Tsunade-sama, wherever you go."
"You look sad," the older woman remarked.
"It's nothing."
"It doesn't look like nothing."
"It really is nothing," Shizune shook her head. "Let's just pack." Tsunade didn't answer. She just stood there, observing her apprentice with a pensive look on her face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Inn~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naruto dismissed the clones one by one, slowly absorbing their memories. One look at the sky showed him that sundown was very close now. Only minutes remained before the shining orb would touch the horizon and the time would be up. It was both too soon and not soon enough. He was nearly exhausted now. All the training drained his chakra faster than even Kyuubi could replenish it. If he had to do another half-hour of it, he would have collapsed. But now was the time to examine the results of his training.
He extended his right palm, spinning the chakra in it. It was better than his previous attempts, but still not good enough. He helped it with his other hand. The jutsu improved immediately, but it still wasn't a perfect sphere. He gave up, let the technique dissipate and created a clone. Using three hands, he could form a perfect Rasengan, but that was still using two hands too many. He sighed. Tsunade would never accept that as a completed jutsu and he couldn't argue with her. This way it was really useless in a battle.
He looked at the sky again. The sun had already disappeared behind the nearby buildings, but their roofs were still illuminated by its rays. He had merely minutes before Tsunade would show up. There was no way he could complete the jutsu in that time.
"Don't be so down," Jiraiya tried to cheer him. "You came much further than I expected. I'm sure soon you'll be able to do the Rasengan no problem."
"But we're still going to lose the bet," the boy reminded him.
"So what?" the Sage shrugged. "I never counted on you winning anyway. I'll find another way to convince Tsunade-hime to return. In fact, I'm already working on something." He winked conspiratorially.
"Really?" the boy asked skeptically.
"Really," the porn writer confirmed. "What do you think I've been doing the whole week?"
"Peeping?"
"Is that what you think of me?" Naruto's expression was answer enough. "Gaki, in case you haven't noticed it yet, I can do my job if I want to."
"And how often do you want?"
"More often than you think."
"That isn't much," Naruto muttered. "So what did you do?"
"That I can't say. It wouldn't work if I did."
"Then how do I know you aren't pulling my leg?"
"You don't and you don't need to know. Oh, and look, our guests of honor are here." Naruto turned his head to see where Jiraiya was pointing. Sure enough, Tsunade and Shizune were slowly walking to them. He put on his best smile. Or he tried to. It came off as a strained grimace instead. Meanwhile, the two women reached them and stopped.
"So brat," Tsunade prompted. "Show me what you have."
"Sure," the boy nodded, licking his lips nervously. He showed her his three-handed Rasengan. He feared he wouldn't make even this, being barely able to concentrate, but he managed. 'What's wrong with me,' he thought. 'I'm usually calmer on battlefield and there's no enemy around here.' Yet his heart beat too loudly when he watched Tsunade's face for her reaction. He knew she was going to scorn him again, but he still couldn't help but hope.
"Well," she said slowly, "I guess it will have to do."
"Yes," he hung his head sadly, "I know... what?" he blinked in surprise. "What did you just say?"
"I said it would have to do, brat," she repeated. "Or should I examine your ears? You seem to have some trouble hearing."
"No it's just... you said earlier..."
"What's so hard to understand?" the Slug Princess shrugged. "I just decided that it was good enough after all."
"So you are coming back with us?" the boy asked.
"Yes," she confirmed.
"Thank you, Tsunade-sama," Shizune said tearfully.
"Don't thank me," the older woman replied.
"I'm so glad you decided to come, Tsunade-hime," Jiraiya grinned. "Konoha's hot springs just weren't the same without you." A vein pulsed in Tsunade's forehead.
"Jiraiya," she spoke slowly, "I agreed to come back, but if you push it, I might still change my decision. And besides," she continued cracking her knuckles, "nobody ever said that you have to return too."
"I'm sorry," he apologized hurriedly. "I'm just overjoyed to have my princess back."
"Well, I suppose I can forgive you this once," she shrugged. "You were always a moron. But remember this: I'm not your princess."
"Whatever you say, Tsunade-hime," the Toad Sage replied with a face-splitting grin. "Whatever you say."
That's it for now.
Next time: The return to Konoha and some action. Things have been too quiet for Naruto recently.