One week later, Gohan found himself walking around Konoha and enjoying the sights by himself, not feeling a particular need for company at the moment. Over the course of a week, he'd come to know the rest of the rookie nine a little closer and had even met Gai's students Lee, Neji, and Tenten. He slowly familiarized himself with the layout of Konoha as he explored the village and what it had to offer in the ways of entertainment and shops and found that the word village hardly described the place. Sure, there were no automobiles and the only skyscraper was the Hokage tower, but as for the sheer size of the village and the size of its populace the word village seemed like a gross understatement. Also during that time, he continually practiced the tree climbing exercise and also a few of the basic jutsu he'd learned in order to improve his chakra control, which was going at a steady rate. He found himself itching to learn more complicated techniques such as what Sasuke had used against him, but was quick to remind himself that he needed to master the basics before he took things any further.
Gohan was currently chatting with the guards at the north gate when he sensed four energies heading towards the village. Normally this wouldn't have caught his attention, but two of them he recognized as Naruto and Jiraiya. He grinned in anticipation as the two drew closer, hoping that maybe Jiraiya had more advanced chakra control exercises for him or at least a simple jutsu he could teach him. The gate guards curiously asked him why he was staring out the gate, so he told them about Naruto and Jiraiya so the chunin strained to see out the gate, but decided Gohan must be playing a trick on them when they didn't see anyone. Seeing the suspicion in their eyes, Gohan explained to them that he could sense a person's life force, and that the stronger their life force was the farther away he could sense them from. As he said this, two two figures entered the edge of his vision followed closely by two more. As the four figures made their way closer Gohan immediately recognized the first two as Jiraiya and Naruto, but the other pair were women he'd never seen before. So, apparently the new Hokage was going to be a woman. Once the travelers reached the gate Naruto bounded excitably up to Gohan and was failing miserably at trying to talk about the new jutsu that Jiraiya had taught him. Jiraiya rolled his eyes at the boy's antics but chuckled as he bopped him on the head. Naruto clutched his bruised cranium and glared at the toad Sannin.
"Ow! What the hell was that for Ero-Sennin?!" Jiraiya's eye twitched and he knocked Naruto upside the head hard enough to introduce his face to the ground.
"Baka! Nobody can understand what you're saying if you're going to talk so excitedly! If you've got something to say then calm down! And don't call me that!!" Naruto barely got up and out of the way in time to dodge another punch and stuck his tongue out at Jiraiya.
"If you don't want me calling you that then spend more time training me and less time peeking in the women's hot springs!" Jiraiya just hmphed and crossed his arms.
"I'll have you know that my research is vastly important to a large number of people. Just because you can't appreciate a true work of art doesn't mean you have to take it out on me." The well endowed blond behind Jiraiya had her own twitching fit before sending the self-proclaimed super pervert soaring through the air with a chakra enhanced punch.
"Stop being an idiot Jiraiya!" Jiraiya got up and grinned at Gohan while rubbing the lump that had appeared on his head.
"Hey there kid. How do you like our big happy family?" He chuckled a bit. "Ah, I see you've gotten yourself a headband. So you've decided to become a leaf nin eh?" Gohan beamed as he nodded.
"Yep, Iruka-sensei is letting me live with him for now until I can get my own place, and he taught me the basics of being a shinobi. The council agreed to let me in as a shinobi and Kakashi-sensei took me into his team." Naruto brightened up at the mention of team seven.
"So you're on my team? That's awesome!"
"Yep, but we probably won't be going on many missions with Kakashi-sensei for a while, cause the jounin and chunin have been getting a lot of missions lately to keep the other villages from seeing Konoha as weak. From what I understand though, we'll be more likely to get more dangerous missions as well." Gohan looked closely at the two women that had accompanied Jiraiya and Naruto to the village, trying to determine which one was to be the new Hokage. He looked to the older blond woman.
"I take it you're supposed to be the next Hokage?"
"Yes, I'm Tsunade, and this is my apprentice Shizune. What's your name kid?"
"I'm Son Gohan. It's a pleasure to meet you Hokage-sama." He gave a short respectful bow. Tsunade cringed at the title. Even though she wasn't going to back out now that she was here in Konoha, she was still a bit reluctant to take the position, though for different reasons than before. Now, instead of just thinking it a fool's job, she just felt that being called Hokage-sama all the time would make her feel old, and if the illusion of youth she kept over herself was anything to go by, it wasn't something she'd enjoy. Ah well, it was just something she'd have to put up with. She looked at Naruto with a mixture of awe and frustration.
'Damn that brat! How could anybody have guessed that he'd master the rasengan so quickly? I get the feeling he's going to be the source of a lot of headaches for me in the future.' She took another look at Gohan and corrected her earlier thought. 'Never mind that, something tells me this Son Gohan will be just as bad, if not worse.' She pinched the bridge of her nose as she felt the migraines coming already.
"Well, as much as I'd like to stand around and chat all day, Jiraiya and I have to report to the council." Jiraiya walked up next to her and waved Naruto and Gohan off.
"You two get out of our hair. We're probably gonna be busy for the rest of the day." He, Tsunade and Shizune walked off, leaving Gohan and Naruto to their own devices.
"Well, what do you want to do Naruto?" Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment, trying to decide between meeting up with the others or eating Ichiraku ramen which he'd been so horribly denied over the past month. It didn't take long for him to come to a decision.
"Eh, I wanna go see Sakura-chan and the others and see how they've been doing." Gohan nodded and the two walked off in search of one of the other rookie nine or even one of Gai's team members. Naruto was awed at the completely repaired state of the village and the minor changes that had come about as a result.
"Doesn't it look much better now? Repairs finished only a week or so ago." Gohan took a look around at all the buildings and took in the much more pleasant atmosphere that hung in the air than when he'd first shown up. "Now that I've witnessed what Konoha is like when it's whole, I can see why it could be considered the greatest of the shinobi villages. The people here have a certain air about them, a certain will to live life to its fullest. From what I've heard and read of the other villages, they focus on gaining power too much and it sacrifices the morale of their people." Naruto's thoughts drifted to one Sabaku no Gaara and the horrible fate thrust upon him by his own father just for the sake of power and found he couldn't help but agree.
"Eh, once I'm Hokage I'll find a way to change the other villages and make them treat their people better!" Gohan looked at him doubtfully.
"Are you sure you could accomplish something like that? The other villages won't just bow down to whatever you tell them to do, especially villages like Iwagakure that would rather see Konoha ground to dust." An evil grin formed on Naruto's face.
"Easy, I'll just bug them until they're willing to do anything to get me to leave them alone." He chuckled a bit, but quickly turned serious. "Once they see all the changes I'm gonna make around here they'll have to admit that Konoha isn't so bad after all, especially when I change those bastard Hyuugas!"
"Are you sure you'll be able to do that? It won't be easy you know. I've read a few things on the history of the Hyuuga and they seem pretty dead set on keeping things traditional."
"Hell no it won't be easy, but that's all part of the fun!" Naruto flashed Gohan his biggest grin and Gohan couldn't help but believe that Naruto would somehow find a way to achieve his goals in spite of the apparently overwhelming odds against him. It seems that his father wasn't the only person with boundless confidence and the ability to inspire said confidence into others.
"You know Naruto, I think my Dad would've really liked you. You're a lot like him. You somehow rub your confidence off on the people around you." Naruto blushed, not really knowing how to take the compliment. It didn't take the two long before they came across an annoyed Sasuke and a dejected looking Sakura. Naruto developed a twitch at the sight and, quickly forgetting about Gohan stormed up to Sasuke, getting in his face.
"Oy, did you coldly turn Sakura-chan down for another date teme?!" Sasuke looked at Naruto as though he hadn't noticed him until just then.
"Hm? Did you say something dobe?" Naruto growled and forcibly pushed a finger into his forehead.
"Sakura-chan's always nice to you and all you ever do is turn her down coldly. You don't even have the decency to be nice about it!" Sasuke smacked Naruto's arm away and snorted in annoyance.
"When Sakura realizes that I'm not interested and stops bugging me for dates all the time then I'll stop acting that way, but if she insists on acting just like another of those fangirls who won't respect my privacy then she doesn't deserve any respect." Naruto said nothing, only glared daggers at Sasuke who only happily returned the glare to the point where Gohan thought for sure actual daggers were going to start flying. Gohan heard chuckling beside him and saw that Sakura had taken to standing next to him. He cocked an eyebrow at her, wondering how she could go from dejected to amused in such a short amount of time.
"Don't worry about us Gohan-san, it's just something we do for fun. Well, at least part of it is. Ever since our first C-ranked mission those two have had a fierce rivalry. Gohan nodded in understanding, remembering all too well the rivalry his father had shared with a certain Saiya-jin prince. When it seemed that Naruto and Sasuke's verbal match was going to turn into a fist fight, Sakura bashed him on top of the head in mock anger.
"Quit bothering Sasuke-kun Naruto! Doesn't he have enough to worry about without you interfering?" She smiled and bopped him upside the head again for good measure.
"It's about time you came back you baka! Konoha just hasn't been the same without you around to annoy us!" Naruto couldn't help but smile while he nursed the bumps that had formed on his abused head.
"Eh, I'm glad to see you too Sakura-chan, but could you try to be a little gentler next time? My head isn't that hard you know." Gohan laughed at their antics and smiled warmly. 'So this is my team huh? I think I could get used to this.'
Orochimaru howled in agony and rage as he stood in the shower, blood seeping down his arms in small streams and mixing with the water on the floor.
"Damn that old man and his cursed technique! If he were alive right now I'd gladly sacrifice him to Manda!" He stepped out of the shower and headed to his throne room, where Kabuto awaited him with bandages and other medical supplies with which he would disinfect Orochimaru's dead appendages.
"Don't worry about it Orochimaru-sama. There's no way you could have known he would use such a technique, and even if you did it is very powerful indeed." If Orochimaru had use of his arms he would've viciously backhanded the boy. Instead he settled for a sharp glare and an angry hiss.
"Don't patronize me or I'll kill you!" Kabuto briefly halted in wrapping up his master's arms and bowed respectfully before continuing.
"My apologies, that was not my intention." Orochimaru just snorted.
"So, what have you found out about this Son Gohan I've heard so much about?" He would've asked earlier, but there hadn't been time while they were trying to find Tsunade and even less when they'd had to fight her, Jiraiya and Naruto. Kabuto snipped off the excess wrapping that dangled from Orochimaru's arms and inspected his work, finding it acceptable he put his supplies away.
"He's powerful indeed, though it will be difficult to persuade him to trust us. He knows of our involvement in the invasion of Konoha and it seems that he has allied himself with them." Orochimaru frowned at this.
"That could prove to be problematic. But," His frown turned to a smirk. "Everybody has their weaknesses. I want him watched. I want to know what makes that boy tick." Kabuto nodded.
"There are a couple of things that you might find interesting." Orochimaru watched him patiently, waiting for him to continue.
"First thing is that he seems to have grown quite attached to the Hyuuga heiress. When I administered my...test, he had been walking her home after eating with her. Also, in the middle of our fight he appeared to have a mental breakdown of some sort, which leads me to believe that he is currently...less than stable. This may be a side effect of Itachi's attack on him." Orochimaru chuckled evilly as he took in Kabuto's assessment.
"Excellent work as usual Kabuto-kun. Do you believe that you can lure him out with this information? The medic nin took on a sadistic smirk and nodded.
"Good. Perhaps I should switch bodies a little early this time. I had been hoping to wait for Sasuke-kun, but if we can convince Gohan-kun to take my little gift, then not only will Sasuke come to me for power, but we'll have gotten rid of a certain major thorn in my side as well. I want you to get the candidates for my body switch ready and after I change bodies we can discuss how we're going to lure Gohan-kun out. Kabuto bowed respectfully to his master and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Once he was gone Orochimaru's face twisted into a look of insane bloodlust.
"Yes, once Konoha realizes that their precious last Uchiha and his hero have come to me for power their morale will drop through the floor and then I will stand over them laughing when I burn their precious village to the ground."
Tsunade groaned as yet another large stack of paperwork was dropped on her desk. She quickly looked around, checking to see if her assistant Shizune was in the room with her. When a sweep of the room revealed her absence, Tsunade opened a drawer on her desk and pulled out a sake bottle that she quickly took a few swigs out of before slipping it back in. She growled as someone knocked on the door and prepared to throw the nearest heavy object within reach, but held back when she saw that it wasn't another chunin loaded down with more paperwork. The young man quietly closed the door behind him and approached her desk, having missed her putting the paperweight back down. Even though he wasn't bringing any more work for her, Tsunade still frowned at him.
"What do you want Gohan? In case you can't tell I'm very busy here." He nervously gave her a respectful bow as he could almost feel the tension and annoyance rolling off her in waves.
"My apologies for bothering you Hokage-sama, but I need to speak with you on a few things." She crossed her arms and scowled. She could already tell this was going to be trouble.
"Well? Speak. I don't have all day and I'm in a bad mood." Gohan just sighed and turned to leave. It had been hard enough to come here now, and he wasn't sure if he could do it again, but Tsunade clearly didn't wish to speak with him and he didn't really want to bother her.
"Well, if you're too busy I can always come back. I guess it really isn't a life or death matter." Tsunade's face softened at the disappointment in his voice.
"Wait. I'm sorry I was short with you. I'm just a little overwhelmed with all this paperwork. If you have something you feel you need to say then go ahead." Tsunade was glad to see him turn around with a grateful smile on his face.
"Thank you Hokage-sama. I'm not sure if I would've been able to attempt this a second time." She raised an eyebrow at him out of curiosity.
"What do you mean?" Gohan took a nervous look around the room before locking eyes with her.
"Can you assure me that we won't be overheard? This...isn't exactly something I want to be common knowledge if it can be avoided." Tsunade was taken aback by the mixture of seriousness and fear that she could read in his eyes. Whatever he had to say must be pretty sensitive if he wanted her to take such measures. She went through a few handsigns and muttered something under her breath before speaking to him again.
"Very well. I've put a soundproofing jutsu over this room. Nothing either of us says can be overheard now. Just make sure the door is locked so that nobody can walk in on us." Gohan quickly locked the door and took a seat in front of Tsunade's desk at her insistence.
"Now, let me make one thing clear Gohan. This information of yours will only remain private so long as I don't consider it a security risk to this village. Do you understand?" Gohan nodded solemnly so she smiled and gestured for him to begin.
"Well, I guess I'll have to figure out where to start." He sat in thoughtful silence for a moment before he made his decision.
"I guess the first thing I should say is that I'm not completely human." As Gohan looked into Tsunade's eyes he could see a mixture of emotions running through them. Shock, disbelief, amusement, and finally confusion. Could he be another Jinchuuriki like Naruto? She didn't get that impression, as she couldn't see the telltale loneliness and pain there, but one could never be too sure.
"Please explain, I'm not too sure I follow." Gohan sighed. He really didn't want to do this, but he needed for the village to trust him, and if he suddenly found himself in a situation where he had to unleash his full power, the village would probably be much less likely to trust him for keeping his powers secret.
"Well, my Mom is human, but my Dad wasn't." This only served to confuse Tsunade even more. It was already clear that he was no Jinchuuriki, but what could his father be if not human? Could he have been some type of demon?
"I still don't follow you Gohan. What could your father have been if not human?" Gohan had hoped that she would've picked it up from there, but apparently he was going to have to give details, something he'd hoped against hope that he could avoid.
"He's what is called a Saiya-jin. The Saiya-jins were a powerful race from another planet that look just like humans." He didn't really go into detail about tails, considering there was no longer a Saiya-jin alive that had one Gohan felt it was unnecessary information. Tsunade stared at Gohan for a moment before bursting into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.
"Another planet huh? That's a good one Gohan. I must say you've managed to brighten up my day quite a bit with that one." She forced out between laughs. Tsunade's laughter slowly died down as she stared into Gohan's unamused and unflinching gaze and she paled.
"Y...you're serious." It was more of a question than a statement. She found herself having a hard time believing it. Sure, as a Sannin wandering throughout the elemental countries she'd seen many strange and bizarre things but aliens? That seemed to be pushing it a bit, and yet here this boy was saying he was half alien with a completely straight face. Either he was telling the truth or he was a very good actor and Tsunade would've (though thankfully she didn't) placed her money on the former. She had a feeling there was more to it than just that, so she settled back into her chair and resisted the urge to bring her sake back out. Gohan took this as a sign to continue and nodded.
"As I'm sure you've already guessed, there's much more to it than that. You probably noticed that I spoke of the Saiya-jins in the past tense right?" Tsunade nodded. It hadn't really registered at the time but now that he mentioned it she could remember hearing him say that.
"Well, that's because there's only one full blooded Saiya-jin left. Their home world was destroyed when my Father was a baby, leaving only six of them alive. One of them, my Father's brother, came to Earth in the hopes of recruiting my father, but died fighting him after trying to force him to join them. Two of the others came to Earth for revenge (he wasn't quite ready to tell her about the dragonballs yet, if he decided to tell her at all). One of the two that came for revenge was killed by his own comrade for losing against my dad while the other lost as well but managed to escape. Now, about two years ago we came across two more Saiya-jins that we'd never heard of before. One of them had been driven insane at some point during his childhood and was being controlled by the other, but he lost control and was killed for it. The other fought my Father, his friends and I and was killed as well, leaving only my Father and one other Saiya-jin alive." When it became clear he wasn't going to continue yet, Tsunade asked him a question that had been bugging her ever since she heard about the second group of Saiya-jins.
"What happened to the other Saiya-jin? You said there's only one left now. Did he come back to fight as well?" Gohan shook his head.
"The other one, whose name is Vegeta, later decided that it was in his best interests to fight with us. Though he fights alongside us for his own selfish reasons, he is no longer our enemy." Just from Gohan's choice of words, Tsunade could already tell who the last Saiya-jin was, and she felt sorry for Gohan's loss.
"Two years ago, only a few days to a week after we killed the other two Saiya-jins, we came across a powerful enemy that we had a hard time defeating. Because of my own arrogance, my Father was forced to sacrifice his life in order to allow us to defeat the enemy." It was brief, but there was a flash of intense grief in Gohan's eyes that a kunoichi of Tsunade's level couldn't miss. Her heart went out to the boy and she wanted to comfort him, but he clearly wasn't finished yet. If possible, his face became even more serious. We've fought more enemies than what I've just mentioned, but one thing you must understand is that these enemies were not just threatening individual people. They were, quite literally, threats to the entire planet, and some of them were threats to more than just Earth. My father took it upon himself to protect this planet with his life, and has passed that responsibility to me through his death. This is why I've become a shinobi of Konoha, so that I might become stronger so I can protect my family and friends. Now, there is one more thing I must address before I'm done. Being a Saiya-jin gives me a...kekkai genkai of sorts. I not only have superhuman reflexes, but I have superior senses and also the ability to transform into a Super Saiya-jin." Though she wanted to laugh at such a cliché name, Tsunade had to ask what a Super Saiya-jin was, lest the curiosity kill her.
"So what is this Super Saiya-jin? It sounds like something out of a bad movie." Gohan just chuckled in agreement before answering.
"Well, Super Saiya-jin is a transformation that gives me an enormous power boost. It's kind of like the difference in power between a genin and a jounin. Also, two years ago we discovered that there are multiple levels of Super Saiya-jin, each more powerful than the last." Tsunade got the feeling that this was pretty much all he wanted to say, so she took the opportunity to ask a question that had been bugging her since he'd asked her to soundproof the room.
"Why are you trusting me with this information?" Gohan sighed and took a moment to collect his thoughts.
"Well, based on a couple of fights I've already had with a few ninja, I'm worried that I may have to reveal my true abilities at some point, and I figure that I'd look less suspicious if I were to tell the Hokage. Also Hokage-sama, I ask that you keep this as secret as possible. I won't mind if you feel that there are people you must share it with, but please only do so with those that you know can keep a secret. Also, I would ask that you not tell Kakashi or anyone on team seven as I'd like to be the one to tell them that once we've gained each others' trust. If anyone else asks, please just tell them that it's a kekkai genkai that I inherited from my Father and that its name is unknown due to its rarity." Tsunade nodded.
"Those are reasonable requests. Though, I'd like to see this Super Saiya-jin transformation of yours." Gohan rubbed the back of his head and grinned nervously.
"Well, the thing is that when I transform the power kinda comes out violently, so if I do it in here it'll probably mess up the room." Tsunade looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Very well. While I find some of the things you've told me to be difficult to swallow, I don't think you're lying to me and your power doesn't seem to be a threat to this village, so I'll keep your secrets." Gohan gave Tsunade his thanks and a respectful bow before turning and leaving the room. As he left, he nearly bumped into Hiashi who was headed to the very office he'd just left. Hiashi simply brushed past him, not even acknowledging his existence as he closed the door behind him.
'Hmph! What an unpleasant guy. I can't believe someone like that is Hinata's father.' He quickly pushed the thought out of his mind as he focused on more important issues, or more specifically, training. He knew that most of the jounin were probably busy, so perhaps he could find Jiraiya or maybe Naruto, since he probably knew Jiraiya's usual hangouts. Since Gohan didn't really know where Naruto lived, he opted to see if he could find him at Ichiraku Ramen. As luck would have it, that's exactly where he found the blond in the middle of one of his favorite pastimes, getting Iruka to pay for his ramen. Naruto was speedily shoveling ramen into his mouth while Iruka smiled over at him and ate his own bowl at a more human pace. Gohan chuckled at the sight of Naruto nearly inhaling his food. It made him think of how his father ate. Of course, that didn't mean that Gohan ate at what would be called a normal pace, but Goku and apparently Naruto ate at a speed that left one to wonder if they even bothered chewing it.
"Hey Naruto, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto merely grunted, too absorbed in his eating to do anything more, but Iruka turned to him and waved.
"Hey Gohan. Would you like some ramen? My treat." Gohan just gave the chunin a blank stare for a moment.
'At the speed Naruto's eating, could he really afford to pay for mine as well? He must have a pretty large stash of money somewhere. I'll just have a couple bowls.' Mentally shrugging, Gohan accepted and took a seat on Iruka's other side. He glanced over to Naruto, who was still stuffing his face and decided to take a chance.
"Uhhhh...Naruto?" Naruto glanced over at him, his mouth bulging unnaturally with food. "I was wondering if you might know where I could find Jiraiya-sama. I was hoping he could give me some training." Naruto tried to speak through a crowded mouth, which caused his words to come out in an unintelligible jumble. Gohan sweatdropped at this and Iruka suddenly developed a dangerous looking twitch over his left eye.
"Swallow your food Naruto! Nobody can understand what you're saying if you're gonna talk with a mouth full of food!" He bonked Naruto on the head, causing the blond to accidentally swallow his food before he was ready, which lead to him turning blue as he choked on it. After beating himself on the chest a couple of times and clearing his airways, he glared at Iruka.
"Why'd you do that?! I would've heard you just fine without you hitting me on the head!"
"Ha! And it would've gone in one ear and out the other! Knocking you upside that thick skull of yours is the only way to make anything stick in there!" Gohan felt another sweatdrop forming as he watched the two bicker.
"Uhhhh...guys? I'm still waiting to hear where Jiraiya is." Naruto just looked at him and snorted in irritation.
"Knowing Ero-senin he's probably peeking at one of the women's hot springs." Gohan said his thanks and left as Naruto and Iruka resumed their arguing, with Iruka getting Naruto in a headlock the last thing he saw.
Not really knowing where the hot springs were, and not really wanting to ask anybody, Gohan just wandered aimlessly through Konoha until the sound of lecherous giggling reached his ears. Now, this was a very familiar sound to Gohan due to the time he'd spent around Master Roshi on Kame island, so he was instantly able to pick it out and locate Jiraiya who was crouched on a high tree branch overlooking his oblivious victims. Though Gohan found Jiraiya's activities rather distasteful, he wanted to remain on the toad Sannin's good side and so felt that the subtle approach was best. He called out to the super pervert in as loud a voice as he could without alerting the women relaxing in the hot spring.
"Jiraiya-sama?" Jiraiya didn't even bother looking at him and just waved him off. Gohan twitched an eyebrow and called out to him again, only this time he was completely ignored. A vein began sticking out on his forehead as he became increasingly irritated at being ignored in favor of such...immoral behavior. He formed an evil smirk as his Saiya-jin side kicked in and gave him some advice.
'I know it's not your normal behavior, but he can't just get away with ignoring you like that. I bet he'd be a little more willing to listen if he was given some...motivation. Give him one more chance, but don't warn him. If he ignores you again...well, you know what to do.' Gohan called out to Jiraiya one last time, but was again ignored so the malicious grin returned as he cupped his hands around his mouth and called out at the top of his lungs.
"QUIT PEEKING ON THE WOMEN YOU PERVERT!" Gohan's smirk turned to one of satisfaction as there were suddenly at least a dozen screams coming from inside the hot spring and Jiraiya was shocked into losing his balance and falling...right into the hot spring. For a brief minute all activity in Konoha ceased as the tortured cries of a pervert being subjected to the righteous fury of at least a dozen women echoed throughout the village.
Meanwhile, in the Hokage's office, Tsunade was plotting Jiraiya's demise until she remembered that she was currently in a meeting with Hiashi. She sighed as she forced herself to push her retribution to the back burner and focus on her guest.
"Now then Hyuuga Hiashi, you say that you do not trust Son Gohan. Am I understanding you right?" Hiashi's face twisted into a grimace of utmost distaste at the mention of the boy's name and he nodded.
"That is correct Hokage-sama." Tsunade leaned forward and began tapping her fingers on her desk, appearing thoughtful.
"Okay, could you please reiterate to me your reasons for this? Just to make sure I heard you correctly." Hiashi eyed her warily for a moment. Something about her tone...he mentally shrugged it off and did not allow his suspicions to show outwardly.
"Very well Hokage-sama. I don't trust the boy because he is a complete unknown. He just appeared in the hospital one day out of nowhere, having been brought in by one Maito Gai with claims that he fought and somehow survived an encounter with Uchiha Itachi. I find it dubious that someone so young, and claiming not to have been trained as a shinobi, could last two seconds against someone like that, let alone get in a few good hits as the reports suggest. This leads me to believe that he is hiding his true abilities. There is also the fact that when the council was interrogating him, I scanned him with my Byakugan and what I saw does not coincide with his story." This last part caught Tsunade's interest.
"What is it that you saw that could make you say that?" Hiashi looked thoughtful for a moment as he thought back to what he saw.
"To begin with, the boy has very thick chakra coils. In fact, most ANBU don't have coils that thick. Also, I noticed some oddities in his chakra network. From what I saw, he not only has more tenketsu, but that very few if any of his tenketsu are placed in the normal locations. Also, his chakra network seems to have broken off where his tailbone is, suggesting that there was at least one appendage there at some point. This leaves the possibility that he may not even be human. Perhaps he could be one of the tailed demons in disguise, or something else entirely." Then, if possible, his face showed even more disgust, as though what he were about to say was going to make him unclean. "Of course, all of that pales in comparison to the fact that he saved that boy."
Up until that point, Tsunade's intention had been to merely tell him that Gohan had told her some of his secrets. Not in detail, mind you, but that what he had told her pretty much nullified any surprise she might have at hearing this. However, when he'd spoken that last sentence, her entire demeanor changed, though once again she didn't let her emotions show.
"And what boy would you be talking about Hiashi?" She didn't need to ask, not really. She knew exactly who he was talking about, she had after all, kept in minimal contact with her old sensei the third Hokage while she was gone. She'd had many reasons to stay away from Konoha for so many years, but when she'd learned of how the villagers were treating the poor boy, she began feeling something she'd never thought she'd feel for her home village, disgust. The way Hiashi spoke of Naruto sent her into a rage so great that words failed to describe it. It was only a testament to her self-control that she didn't smash Hiashi through a wall right at that instant. Hiashi, none the wiser, chuckled.
"Forgive me Hokage-sama, I seem to have forgotten how long you've been away. I'm talking about Uzumaki Naruto." The instant those words left his mouth, Hiashi knew he was going to severely regret them when Tsunade's face twisted into a nearly inhuman snarl of rage. Before he could react, Tsunade slammed her fist into her desk, splitting it in half before gripping him by the throat and throwing him against the wall so hard that cracks spider webbed out from the point of impact. Hiashi groaned in pain as Tsunade put her face only inches from his. When she spoke, her voice had a dangerous edge to it that allowed for no argument.
"You know, you almost had me fooled Hiashi. For a moment I thought that you actually had genuine concerns for the safety of this village, but with that one sentence you've just revealed the heart of the matter. Can you tell me of one instance, just one, where Naruto has threatened this village?" Her question met only silence, so she pushed him even harder into the wall, eliciting a grunt of discomfort from him.
"No?! I didn't think so. Don't think that when I left this village that I didn't keep in contact with Sarutobi-sensei. I know full well how Naruto has been treated by this village and its shinobi and you know what? It killed the third just a little bit every day that he could do nothing to stop it. I left Konoha because of bad memories, but I still thought of this place as the greatest shinobi village in existence, until Sarutobi-sensei told me how Naruto was being treated. This is not the Konoha I left. This is not the Konoha that my grandfather and granduncle died to protect. This is not the village that Sarutobi loved. This is not the village that Namikaze Minato sacrificed himself to save from the Kyuubi. This village has allowed itself to become rotten to the core, to allow itself to turn on and abuse not just a human being, but a child no less, because of something they're too blinded by hate and fear to understand!" Tsunade's face had lost it's sneer as she spoke, and now she had the beginnings of tears in her eyes.
"That boy, that poor boy. He's had to endure so much pain because of this village's willful ignorance. From the first time I saw him, I could see it. So much pain and loneliness behind those eyes, and yet he can forgive this village so easily." She had lost control, and the tears now spilled down her face. Hiashi tried to speak, but she cut him off.
"And the worst part, the worst part of all is that it's just been an excuse from the start. You all claim that he's the Kyuubi itself, or that the demon is or could control him, but if you really believed that, you would have treated him with respect. No, this village has never seen him as the Kyuubi, Naruto just happened to be the container, and so was the closest you all could get to the demon. Naruto was nothing more than your scapegoat, your fall guy. And you Hiashi, you've got the least excuse out of anyone! You were Minato's closest friend! You knew that his last wish was that Naruto be viewed as a hero! You've shamed his memory Hiashi! This entire village has shamed itself!" Tsunade suddenly felt weak and dropped to her knees, losing her grip on Hiashi as she did so. Hiashi's hand immediately went to his bruised throat as he sucked in much needed oxygen. He bowed deeply to Tsunade as he headed for the door, but stopped in the entrance. He spoke in a quiet voice.
"It appears Hokage-sama, that I have much to meditate on." Thus, Hyuuga Hiashi left the Hokage tower a humbled man. As soon as he was out of earshot, Tsunade lost all strength to hold it in and broke down sobbing. Moments later Shizune rushed into the room.
"Tsunade-sama! Hiashi-sama said..." Her eyes widened at the sight of Tsunade, on her hands and knees and sobbing like she'd just gotten news of a loved one's death. She instantly rushed to Tsunade's side and pulled her into a tight embrace. Shizune's mind was racing. What could have caused this? The only times she'd ever seen the strong woman cry were when Dan and Nawaki had died. It wasn't too long before Tsunade made the reason known, and later, when she was alone, Shizune wouldn't be able to help but break down and weep herself.
"I...I know Shizune. I know why they're called Jinchuuriki now." Shizune immediately knew she was talking about Naruto. "I...had always thought it was because of the demons they carry, because of the burden they carry of protecting their villages. I...I was wrong. I was so horribly wrong." She had to stop momentarily to choke back a sob that threatened to overtake her.
"Why Tsunade-sama? Why are they called Jinchuuriki?" Tsunade continued as though she hadn't heard the question.
"When I read in Sarutobi-sensei's reports, I thought I understood what was going on and I became ashamed of this village. When Hiashi mentioned Naruto, I saw his eyes and I knew, I just knew that up until now I haven't even had the slightest clue about what he's suffered through. I saw it in Hiashi's eyes. So much loathing, so much hatred and fear, I couldn't even begin to describe it. I...how could Naruto endure it? How could he withstand that from the entire village and keep his sanity? Why didn't he become just like that Gaara child? How can he still want to be the Hokage of such a place? This village, it doesn't deserve someone like him Shizune." Shizune sighed sadly.
"I know Tsunade-sama, but Naruto doesn't care about that, because he's a hero. A real live hero."
And that's it for chapter 11. What did y'all think? I hope that ending wasn't too sappy. I know you're probably anxious to see how Jiraiya reacts to Gohan's little surprise attack, but you'll just have to wait till next chapter. I know, I'm evil.