A/N: This is my first try as an author so bear with me. English isn't my first language so don't hesitate to pm me with any fault you find, I am always eager to learn.
To answer a review that asked if Itachi and Kisame were in Konoha before attacking Naruto last chapter, the answer is no. I find it highly unlikely that two S-rank missing shinobi would openly walk into a major shinobi village like that, no plan, no henge, in broad daylight in order to get Naruto. Even the "artist" combo Sasori and Deidara had a plan. Therefore Sasuke did not interfere in my version.
Now onto another good question, someone asked if Naruto frees Natsuki he will lose a huge part of his powers. The answer is also no, since except in his second battle with Gaara I voluntarily never made him use youki. He doesn't depend really on it so he won't miss it, and that's assuming that the "unsealing" happens that way.
Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Kaze No Kami.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other manga for that matter.
Chapter 16: Princess Hunt
Tanzaku Gai
Naruto and Jiraya arrived in Tanzaku Gai at noon, it was a pretty huge town and since the last accident Jiraya decided it would be a better idea to stay close to his disciple at all time. That also meant that the old hermit could not go on his solo "information gathering" missions anymore.
They decided to start looking for Tsunade in the more touristic part of the town, known for its cultural monuments and mostly in this case for its gambling houses. According to Jiraya, Tsunade was supposedly a big time addict on gambling games. This made Naruto wonder if this was really the right person to succeed his Jiji in becoming the next Hokage.
When they arrived in the touristic area, they came across the ruins of what was supposed to be a huge historical castle from before the shinobi era. This surprised Jiraya since it was still here the last time he went here.
They spent the whole afternoon looking for Tsunade in the several gambling houses in the area but did not find her. It was starting to get dark outside and Jiraya decided to stop looking for the day. They made their way to a local inn to eat dinner.
Inside the Inn
As they went inside the inn, Jiraya suddenly stopped in his track and stared at the back of the room, his eyes widened at the sight of the person they had been looking for all day.
"Tsunade !" Said Jiraya with a loud voice.
"Jiraya ! What are you doing here ?" Replied a young woman who stood up from her table in the back of the room.
Naruto was stunned, this woman was their target, the last person on Ero-sennin's team with the traitorous snake. She did not look to be in her fifties at all, Naruto could honestly admit that she was extremely beautiful and that she could give Natsuki a run for her money. There was another woman sitting next to her, she appeared to be younger, most likely her assistant.
"Please … if she's really the pervert teammate then she's probably using a henge to hide her true appearance." Said Natsuki.
Naruto followed Jiraya and they all sat at the same table. After ordering some food, Jiraya started to engage the conversation with his old teammate.
"It's been a long time Tsunade, Shizune." Started Jiraya.
"Indeed it has, nevertheless I can't help but feel a little nostalgic, you are the second ghost of the past I've met today." Replied Tsunade.
"Orochimaru huh, what did he want ?" Asked Jiraya.
"Nothing much, it was just a greeting. What do you want with me though ?" Said Tsunade as she exchanged a look with her disciple Shizune, telling her to keep quiet for now.
"Sensei has issued an order for you to come back to Konoha, you are to become his successor as the Godaime Hokage." Replied Jiraya bluntly.
Tsunade's eyes widened for a second before she closed them and took a deep breath.
"I refuse, I'm not going back to that place. Besides Hokage is a shitty job, only a fool would want to become one." Said Tsunade with a mocking tone.
Naruto suddenly snapped, he jumped from his seat on the table and tried to punch Tsunade. Jiraya stopped him in time.
"Why did you stop me ? I won't let anyone badmouth Jiji or any other Hokage in front of me, even if she is your ex teammate !" Said Naruto with rage.
"Calm down Naruto, she is the best person to succeed the old man, she's the granddaughter of the first Hokage and the best medic ninja in the whole world. Don't you remember there are still lots of injured people back in the Leaf that need her help, including that mini Gai clone." Said Jiraya.
"Who is this boy Jiraya ?" Asked an irritated Tsunade.
"That's Uzumaki Naruto, newly promoted chunin and my part time apprentice." Replied the toad sage.
Tsunade was surprised to meet the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko, son of the last Hokage and her distant relative Uzumaki Kushina from her grandmother's side Uzumaki Mito.
"I don't know about her medical skills but we could probably find much better than her to be Hokage. Look at her seriously, a 50 year old drunk who uses a henge to look young and spends most of her time gambling." Said Naruto.
"You've got some guts Gaki, want to take this outside ?" Replied Tsunade.
"Fine by me !" Said Naruto as they all left the inn.
Outside the Inn
Tsunade and Naruto faced each other on a deserted street outside the inn, Jiraya and Shizune were on the side of the road.
"I only need one hand to beat you, chunin." Said Tsunade.
Naruto ignored the jab and charged at her, unfortunately for him she proved that she was indeed one of the Legendary Three. Her taijutsu skill was a lot better than his own, she managed to evade all his hits. She immediately took advantage of a moment of hesitation from him to send a devastating punch to his ribs. He flew fifty meters backwards and could feel that she most likely broke some of his ribs.
"Before I send you to the afterlife, tell me why do you care so much about the Hokage?" Said the medic as she made her way towards him.
"You wouldn't understand, because unlike you, to become Hokage is my dream !" he replied with conviction as she stopped for a second, seemingly lost in her thoughts.
Seeing an opening and despite the pain he felt in his chest due to some broken bones, Naruto managed to stand up and charge at her.
"It's still in the development phase but I have to pull it off, she will see through everything else I may launch at her." Thought Naruto as he charged a Rasengan in his hand then started to channel wind chakra in it.
Tsunade was pulled out of her musing when she saw the approaching orb. Thinking fast she decided to punch the ground in front of her using a special taijutsu move, "Okasho !" she said, the hit pulled large rocks out of the ground, blocking Naruto's path.
Naruto managed to pull through the first rock but was stopped by the second one. His technique lost stability then dispelled, leaving him unprotected as an avalanche of rocks buried him.
Shizune quickly pulled him out and started to heal his body as Jiraya made his way to Tsunade.
"That was overkill Tsunade …, you didn't need to go all out against a chunin." Said Jiraya.
"It's your own damn fault Jiraya, why did you teach him the Rasengan, a move he obviously can't master at his age. That's why he sprouts shit about the being Hokage !" Replied Tsunade.
Naruto who had been healed by Shizune joined them at that moment, "That wasn't Rasengan you old woman, that was my elemental version of it. I just mastered the Rasengan last month, I only started training to add elemental chakra to it since yesterday. Just give me three days and I'll master the new one !"
Tsunade was so stunned by the fact that Naruto already mastered the Rasengan and that he was trying to add elemental chakra to it, a feat that even its creator the Yondaime could not achieve, that she completely forgot he just called her an old woman.
"A man doesn't go back on his words Gaki." She said with a smirk before adding "Want to make a bet ?".
"What kind of bet ?" He asked.
"If you manage to complete that jutsu of yours you win, I'll even let you five days to do it. If you can't complete it after that time then you will admit that the position of Hokage is shit and then you with Jiraya will leave me alone." She said.
"What if I win ?" He replied.
"Then I'll come with you, I will even give you this." She said as she showed him her necklace, making Jiraya and Shizune gasp.
After Jiraya explained to him where the necklace came from, Naruto accepted the bet and they all left the street to retire for the night.
Timeskip – 4 days later
Naruto was training just outside the town, several holes in the trees, ground and surrounding rocks could be seen. Shizune had chosen to stay with him, to help him if he injured himself during his training. Jiraya and Tsunade were in town, most likely drinking in some bar at the moment.
Shizune had a kind and caring attitude, she was a great medic like her mentor. Naruto enjoyed spending time with her, it felt like he was with the sister he never had.
He sighed as he just failed again another attempt to mix wind chakra to his Rasengan.
"Can I help you in anything Naruto-kun ?" asked the brunette.
"I don't know what I'm doing wrong, I can make a perfect Rasengan and my control over wind chakra is top notch." Replied a dejected Naruto.
"I see what you mean, it's like you're trying to look left and right at the same time, maybe your brain is just no supposed to work that way." She replied trying to give him a medical or scientific point of view on his problem.
Naruto's eyes widened at her remark, the solution was so simple he didn't even consider it.
"You rock Nee-chan ! How could I not think about it, thank you so much !" He said then made a swarm of Kage Bunshins and started to train again.
Not understanding what she did for him but seeing that he cheered up, Shizune smiled and continued to watch over him.
Hotel room – That night
Shizune made it back after she just healed Naruto. He trained until he had chakra burns on his hand and lost consciousness after using too much chakra. She thought that he would be out for two days at least, a little sad that he would lose the bet.
As she was about to go take a shower, Tsunade came back. She asked her master if she planned to accept the mysterious deal Orochimaru proposed. Seeing Tsunade hesitate, she tried to threaten her against betraying the Leaf. It only serve to anger the blond medic as she sent a powerful punch into her apprentice stomach, effectively knocking her out.
The next morning
As Naruto woke up, he saw that he was back in the hotel. He immediately jumped out of the bed when he saw an unconscious Shizune lying on the floor. He managed to wake her up but she panicked, thinking that it was already too late to stop her master from going to Orochimaru. She was relieved when Naruto told her that only a few hours passed since she brought him back to the hotel.
She was about to run out of the room by the window when Jiraya stopped her. He had been drugged by Tsunade, most likely to prevent him from following her to Orochimaru. Shizune told them everything, Orochimaru needed Tsunade to heal someone for him and he offered in exchange to bring back to life the two people Tsunade lost in the previous war.
They decided to head out to the place where Tsunade was supposed to meet Orochimaru.
With Tsunade
Tsunade made it to the place where she met Orochimaru and his henchman the last time, the snake was already there waiting for her.
"Have you come to accept my offer Tsunade?" Asked Orochimaru.
Tsunade closed her eyes, the faces of her little brother and her fiance flashed through her mind. She took a deep breath, opened her eyes and then replied "No I refuse, I may not have always hold Konoha in high esteem but I will never betray what my brother and my fiance died for. Now I will kill you for even trying to make that deal with me.". As she finished she threw a punch to a wall behind her, shattering it into dust as if it was made of glass.
"Come to think of it we never seriously fought against each other in the past." Said Orochimaru.
As he was about to charge, Orochimaru was interrupted by his subordinate Kabuto. He was following Shizune and discovered that she was on her way, but what worried him was the people who were coming with her. He told his master of the incoming interruption and they tried to flee, only to be pursued by an angered Tsunade.
Naruto and the others arrived a few minutes later only to see the damage caused by Tsunade and deducted that she refused the deal and Orochimaru did not take her answer well. They then followed her trail.
Tanzaku Gai Outskirts
Tsunade was getting tired, fighting a fellow sannin and his assistant at the same time proved to be a lot more complicated that she thought. Orochimaru found that they lost too much time so he used a weakness of Tsunade to incapacitate her, her fear of blood. She was instantly paralyzed at the sight of blood, and rapidly took several hits.
As they were about to take her out, a smoke bomb was thrown between them. When the smoke cleared out, Naruto and his group were all around Tsunade.
Orochimaru gritted his teeth at the sight of the two men who prevented his invasion plan from working. His old teammate the toad sage and the fox brat.
Shizune started to heal her master immediately, Tsunade was still in shock due to her phobia of blood. Jiraya was not ready to fight either, the effect of the drug Tsunade gave him still hindering his movements. Naruto knew he was the only one at one hundred percent on his side.
"Kukuku, nice seeing you again so soon Jiraya and you must be the Kyuubi brat, Uzumaki Naruto it is really nice to finally meet you." Started Orochimaru.
"Naruto you take the assistant, I'll handle Orochimaru." Said Jiraya as he saw Shizune still healing her master. "Shizune cover us as soon as your master is better."
Orochimaru immediately summoned two giant snakes, he jumped on top of the first one while Kabuto took command of the second one.
Seeing this Jiraya tried to summon his battle frog too but failed miserably, not being able to use his chakra correctly.
"You are still an idiot Jiraya, well I guess this is Tsunade's work since even you wouldn't mess up that kind of jutsu." Taunted Orochimaru.
Seeing his master being insulted, Naruto decided to participate in the battle as well and went through hand signs, "Ninpo : Kuchiyose no jutsu !" he chanted as he slammed his hands on the ground, then two giant dragons appeared.
The first one was the fire dragon Hiryu that he already summoned during the chunin exams. He didn't knew the second one. It had a very long green serpentine body with short limbs and large claws, it had two long horns on top of its head and red piercing eyes.
"It is an honor to be summoned again Naruto-sama." Said Hiryu.
"Greetings Naruto-sama, I am Sheron a venom dragon. How may we serve you ?" Said the second summon.
"I need you to assist me and my master in defeating our enemies on top of those two snakes right there." Replied Naruto showing Orochimaru and Kabuto.
Naruto jumped behind Hiryu while Jiraya went with Sheron.
A/N: Preparation chapter for the big fight next time.
As usual Read and Review please.