ultima-owner: You are absolutely right. But I believe that Castlevania Death would want to keep any souls that become his possessions, hence why he would want Dracula to get the mask to prevent anyone from freeing the souls.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 6: New Hokage
Naruto was in the Hokage Tower, heading for the Hokage office. Kakashi told him his presence was requested.
It should also be noted that a flak jacket was added to his attire. After the Hokage's funeral, both he and Shikamaru were promoted to Chunin.
When he entered, he saw the Elder Council, who were the late Sandaime's teammates and a third one being his rival, and a tall man with long white hair and a scroll strapped to his lower back.
"Do you know why you are here, Naruto Uzumaki?" Homura, the first male Elder, asked.
"I only know that my presence was requested." Naruto said.
"Then we shall explain." Koharu, the female Elder, said before gesturing to the tall man. "This man is Jiraiya, one of Hiruzen's students. He is going on a mission to find Tsunade Senju to make her become the Godaime Hokage."
"I see." Naruto said. "And where do I fit in this?"
"You are aware of your Jinchuuriki status, are you not?" Homura asked.
"Jinchuuriki, huh? Didn't know there was a term." Naruto muttered to himself before answering the Elders. "Regardless, I am aware of it."
"There's this group called the Akatsuki." Jiraiya said. "If what I found out through my Spy Network is true, they are all S-rank Nuke-nin hunting down the Jinchuuriki. You are in danger without someone powerful enough to face them. And I am the only one powerful enough in this village for now. That's why I'm taking with me for my mission."
"For my protection, huh? Would they truly risk sneaking into the village?" Naruto asked.
"We do not know of what resources they possess." Danzo, the third Elder, said. "That's why we must keep you close to Jiraiya while the village seems weakened because of the reconstructions."
"Makes sense." Naruto admitted.
"Prepare your things, Gaki. We'll be leaving shortly." Jiraiya said.
Naruto nodded and left the room.
Dracula slipped through a shadow, arrived in throne room.
"Shinigami." He called out.
The deity appeared in front of his lord.
"I found out something interesting. There is a group of Nuke-nin that go by the name Akatsuki..."
"Ah yes... It was originally created by a man named Yahiko, who was trained by Jiraiya of the Sannin and desired peace. The man has passed away, however."
"A student of Jiraiya, you say? The Akatsuki, according to Jiraiya, are after the Jinchuuriki. At the right time, I should try to catch their attention and perhaps find a way to...'join' them. The other eight Bijuu would certainly be useful."
"We should perhaps think of a disguise. If they are after Jinchuuriki, they will know what you look like."
"And that is where that mask I took at your request will come in handy." Dracula smirked. "They understand the need to hide their identity and, therefore, will not care about it. Now, I must prepare for a mission with Jiraiya and, perhaps, the risk of Akatsuki being after me during the mission."
Naruto met up with Jiraiya at the gate. During their travel, Jiraiya asked.
"You have a rivalry with the Uchiha, correct?"
"More like he has a rivalry with me, since I've defeated enemies that he couldn't defeat." Naruto answered.
"That is what you told Kakashi, or so he told me." Jiraiya said. "With Sasuke using Kakashi's Chidori, he has an advantage over you. I was thinking of teaching you the Yondaime's Rasengan."
Naruto looked at Jiraiya with a raised eyebrow. With the Yondaime's soul, he could already do the Rasengan, but at least with this, it wouldn't be suspicious that he knew it.
"To keep me on equal footing with Sasuke and to help me defend myself against Akatsuki?" Naruto asked.
"Well, the Jutsu alone won't save you from them, but it will help." Jiraiya said.
They then arrived at a small town, bought a room at an inn and Jiraiya then left to follow a gorgeous woman who had winked at him.
Naruto simply waited in the room. After a while, someone knocked on his door. He certainly wasn't expecting anyone. He made Kage Bunshin and had it open the door while he hid.
Bunshin Naruto opened the door and came face to face with a tall man that had the Sharingan and a Shark man. Both wore black cloaks with red clouds.
"To think this kid has the Kyuubi within him." The Shark man said.
"So there is an organization after the Bijuu." Bunshin Naruto said.
"It is not surprising that you would know, given who has taken you here. Jiraiya must have been the one who told Kakashi about us." The Sharingan user said.
"What have you done to Kakashi-sensei, Itachi Uchiha?" Bunshin Naruto asked.
"So you know who I am? Well, you are Sasuke's teammate, after all. Kakashi is still alive, if that's what you're asking. Now, Naruto Uzumaki, you will be coming with us." Itachi said.
"Sorry, can't do that. I'm on a mission." Bunshin Naruto said nonchalantly.
"Then I'll have to cut off a leg or two." The Shark man said, grabbing the hilt of the massive sword on his back, wrapped in bandages.
"It's been a while..." Itachi said, which stopped his partner. Itachi looked at the end of the hallway. "Sasuke..."
"Itachi Uchiha." Sasuke growled, activating his Kekkei Genkai. He had gone to visit Kakashi, only to find out he had been injured by Itachi, who was looking for Naruto. He then found out Naruto had left the village with a white-haired man and immediately gave chase. Now, he could finally get his revenge.
"The Sharingan..." The Shark man said, looking at Sasuke's eyes. "He also looks like you. Who's this brat?"
"My little brother." Itachi answered.
"I had heard you killed your entire clan." The Shark man told Itachi.
"I'm going to kill you, Itachi!" Sasuke said.
Itachi turned to face Sasuke. "Kisame, keep an eye on Naruto to make sure he doesn't get away."
The Shark man, Kisame, grinned. "No problem."
"I did just like you told me..." Sasuke said to Itachi. "I hated you, I despised you. And just to kill you, I've survived!" Sasuke yelled out as he activated the Chidori and charged toward Itachi.
The wall to the outside exploded as Itachi caught Sasuke's wrist, stopping the Chidori. He then broke Sasuke's wrist.
A cloud of smoke appeared behind Naruto, revealing Jiraiya with an uncounscious woman on his shoulder, the same one that had winked at him.
"Jiraiya doesn't let himself be seduced by women. When you become as great as me, women will be crazy over you." Jiraiya said, posing.
"You're late." Naruto said, making Jiraiya trip over himself.
"The great Jiraiya of the Sannin." Kisame said. "To be able to cancel the Genjutsu on the woman..."
"Shame on you, for putting a woman in a Genjutsu." Jiraiya said as he placed the woman down. "My Spy Network was accurate, then. You're after the Kyuubi sealed inside Naruto."
Sasuke, who was on the floor after Itachi broke his wrist, was shocked to hear that Naruto had the Kyuubi within him.
"Our mission for Akatsuki is to take Naruto with us." Itachi said.
"If you are after the Kyuubi, then surely you must be after the other Bijuu as well." Jiraiya said.
"I will leave that to your imagination." Itachi answered.
"I will get rid of you two to prevent you from taking Naruto." Jiraiya said.
"Itachi is mine..." Sasuke growled as he got up.
"I have no interest in you right now, Sasuke." Itachi said.
"Shut up!" Sasuke yelled as he tried to punch Itachi, who responded by kicking him in the gut the moment he got in range.
"I have lived...for this day!" Sasuke said as he once again charged at Itachi, who blocked Sasuke's punch and backhanded him.
Itachi then approached the downed Sasuke, who got up to attack but was punched in the gut, making him cough blood. Why? Why wasn't he strong enough?
Itachi grabbed Sasuke by the collar, held him against the wall and looked at him in the eyes.
"You are weak." Itachi said. "You do not have enough hatred."
Itachi then placed Sasuke on a Genjutsu, making Sasuke scream in pain and terror.
"How cruel." Kisame grinned. "To use Tsukuyomi on his little brother."
Sasuke stopped screaming and fell uncounscious.
Jiraiya made some handsigns and slammed his hands on the floor, which started changing the entire hallway into flesh. "Ninpo: Gamaguchi Shibari!"
"Are you saying we're in a toad's throat!?" Naruto asked, disgusted. Enough with the insides of animals, damn it!
"A stomach, actually." Jiraiya corrected.
The walls of flesh took Sasuke from Itachi's grip.
"Naruto, stay still. My Jutsu won't hurt you." Jiraiya said. Fire emerged from behind Jraiya and aimed for the Akatsuki members.
Naruto said nothing, deciding to dispel and return to the original, to the trio's shock.
Itachi and Kisame ran away to a dead end.
"Amaterasu!" Itachi said, igniting the wall with a black fire and escaping through the hole, with Kisame following.
Jiraiya pulled out a scroll and sealed the black fire within it. He would study it to find out how they escaped the stomach of a toad that breathes fire.
Jiraiya then cancelled the Jutsu, returning the walls to their original state.
Naruto ran out of the room, caught Sasuke and placed him down.
"Good job using a Kage Bunshin as bait." Jiraiya praised.
"I wasn't expecting anyone and you certainly wouldn't knock on the door of the room you paid for." Naruto explained.
Suddenly, Guy appeared and kicked Jiraiya in the face, thinking he was an enemy. Of course, when he saw who he hit, he quickly realized his mistake.
Jiraiya ignored Guy's apologies and told him to take Sasuke back to Konoha and to a medical squad. He told Guy that Sasuke had a broken wrist and ribs as well assuffering a psychological attack.
The group went outside the town and was about to go there separate ways.
"Good luck in your search for Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya-sama, Naruto-kun." Guy said, with Sasuke on his shoulder. "Naruto-kun, your Flames of Youth are formidable. I have a gift for such spirit." Guy said before pulling a green spandex like his own and gave it to Naruto, to Jiraiya's horror. Guy then left to bring Sasuke back to Konoha.
"Please tell me..." Jiraiya started talking when Guy was out of hearing distance.
"Of course not." Naruto interrupted. "I respect the man's strength and determination, but we have different fashion senses."
Jiraiya sighed in relief.
"So what kind of woman is Tsunade?" Naruto asked Jiraiya as they headed to the next town.
"She's quite unpleasant. She likes to gamble a lot, despite her horrendous luck that gave her the nickname 'Legendary Sucker', and is well-known throughout the countries." Jiraiya said.
"Are you saying she's famous for having rotten gambling luck?" Naruto asked.
"Absolutely." Jiraiya nodded. "But even her reputation doesn't make her easy to find. If there's one thing she hates more than losing a bet, it's getting older. While she is in her fifties, like me, she uses a unique Henge Jutsu that makes her look younger. She changes her appearance to escape the debt collectors."
The duo then arrived in a town that was in the middle of some festivities.
"Walk around town a little, while I go buy the material needed for training." Jiraiya said. "The Rasengan will require specific tools to train and I can easily find them here."
Naruto accepted the answer and walked around town.
After a while, he heard Jiraiya's laugh inside a building. He entered the building and found the Sage drinking sake while sitting next to two gorgeous women.
"Oh, Naruto. Did you enjoy the festival already?" Jiraiya asked.
"The stands looked fun. But you certainly seem to have more fun." Naruto deadpanned.
"Of course!" Jiraiya said as the women giggled.
"Hey, idiots, make way for Bro!" A voice called out. They turned to see two men in business suits walking in.
"Quiet down, you're scaring the ladies." Jiraiya said.
"How dare you!? Bro is a former Chunin of Iwa. He's a ninja who was feared as a legendary Yaminin!"
"Legendary?" Jiraiya snorted.
Bro snarled and charged. Jiraiya quickly created a spiralling blue sphere made of pure chakra and slammed it right in Bro's gut, sending him spiralling to a wall along with his companion.
"Is that the Rasengan?" Naruto asked, despite knowing the answer.
"Exactly." Jiraiya said as he approached the downed duo. "Geez, I even went easy on you guys." He then turned to the stand owner. "Sorry for breaking your stand."
Bro, realizing who Jiraiya was, tried to save himself by giving him money. "Here, for the repairs."
"Why, thank you." Jiraiya said as he took the money, added some extra bills to the pile and gave the money to the stand owner. "I'll also be buying all of your water balloons and normal balloons."
Later, in the forest outside of the town, Jiraiya gave Naruto a water balloon.
"This is the training tool you mentioned?" Naruto asked.
"That's right." Jiraiya nodded. He then pulled out another balloon. The water inside it started spiralling until the balloon popped. "Chakra exercises like Tree-climbing requires you to focus a certain amount of your chakra under your feet to stick on the tree. Water Walking requires a constant amount of chakra under your feet. For this, you must create a flow with chakra. First, focus chakra in your hand like with the tree-climbing. Then, release a constant amount of chakra like with Water Walking. Finally, you push and rotate the chakra inside the balloon."
"I see. Create a fast enough rotation to pop the balloon." Naruto said.
"That's right." Jiraiya said. "We'll be training until ni-" He stopped talking when he heard the balloon pop.
"Huh, easier than I thought." Naruto said. Of course it was easy. He could already do the Rasengan. "Then again, whenever I train, I have dozens of clones doing chakra exercises while I focus on training my body."
Jiraiya blinked in surprise. "Okay... Let's begin the second step then." He pulled out a rubber ball. "A rubber ball is about 100 times tougher than a water balloon." He handed Naruto the rubber ball. "Now then, I'll be doing some info-" He stopped as he heard a noise: the rubber ball popping.
"B-But the second step requires denser chakra." Jiraiya said.
"I can make chains with my chakra. Denser chakra is not a problem." Naruto said.
Jiraiya did not know about the chains. But now that he did, it made sense. Jiraiya then pulled out a normal balloon and filled it with air before giving it to Naruto.
"All right, Gaki. The first step was rotation, the second step was power. The third step is mixing the two with control."
"You want me to make a Rasengan inside the balloon, but keep the Jutsu stable." Naruto theorized.
"That's exactly it. The goal is to make the Rasengan without popping the balloon."
Naruto held the balloon in his right hand and focused.
There was a moment of silence and Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at Naruto.
Naruto smirked. He held out his left hand and created a perfect yellow Rasengan, to Jiraiya's shock.
"H-How!? He has his mother's chains, her yellow chakra and he learned and mastered the Rasengan in an instant! He has the talent of both of his parents and then some... Could he be the Child of Prophecy? First Nagato, with his Rinnegan, then Minato and now Naruto." Jiraiya thought.
"This is an impressive Jutsu." Naruto said. He held the Rasengan in his hand once before to test the soul's power and it was indeed impressive.
"Impressive." Jiraiya agreed. "And incomplete."
Naruto looked at Jiraiya. "Incomplete?"
Jiraiya nodded. "The Yondaime wanted to add an element to the Rasengan, but passed away before he could ever complete it. Fortunately, I brought this with me." Jiraiya pulled out a piece of paper. "This is paper made from a tree that is grown and fed with chakra. If you focus your chakra on it, different effects will happen. Here, try it."
Naruto took the piece of paper and focused his chakra. The paper split in half.
"Wind, huh? Fortunately, training material is all around us." Jiraiya said, gesturing to the surrounding trees. "The most basic wind chakra exercise is to take a leaf and focus wind chakra on it to split it in half. To do so, you have to grind your chakra against itself to make it thinner, which sharpens it."
Naruto nodded and made dozens of clones to practice this exercises. Jiraiya walked away to do his information gathering.
Naruto smirked. This would be easy. Not only did he have the Kage Bunshin, but he also had Erinys.
Although Naruto learned all three steps on the same day, it took three weeks for Jiraiya to find out that Tsunade was in Tanzaku Gai. He learned that from a man who Tsunade lost against in gambling.
When they arrived in Tanzaku Gai, Jiraiya asked about Tsunade to any gambling place he saw, but without success of her exact whereabouts.
Eventually, there were people running away, saying they saw a huge snake destroy the castle. Both Konoha-nin knew that Orochimaru was involved, so they hurried to the destroyed castle.
Unfortunately, they were too late. There was nothing to be found.
They kept searching until evening and still found nothing. Jiraiya decided to stop at a bar and grab a bite to eat...and found Tsunade, along with another woman and a pig.
"Tsunade!" Jiraiya called out as he pointed at the blonde woman.
"Jiraiya?" Tsunade said, shocked. "What are you doing here?"
"THAT'S Tsunade." Naruto thought. It was kinda hard to believe a young-looking woman with breasts almost as big as her head, if not just as big, was in her fifties. When Jiraiya said she hid her age with a Transformation Jutsu, he wasn't kidding.
"I finally found you!" Jiraiya said as walked up to Tsunade's table, with Naruto following him.
After a moment of awkward silence, Tsunade sighed. "What a day... Seeing old acquaintances everywhere."
Jiraiya filled Tsunade's glass with sake. "Orochimaru?" He asked. "What did you talk about?
"Nothing much." Tsunade lied. "We just said hello. Now, what do you want from me?" She asked.
"I'll get straight to the point. Tsunade, the village has requested that you become the Godaime Hokage."
Both women, along with the pig, were shocked.
"You must have heard of what happened to Sarutobi-sensei." Jiraiya said.
"Orochimaru may have bragged about it." Tsunade waved off.
"Will you accept the position of Hokage?" Jiraiya asked.
"Absolutely not." Tsunade said. "The title of Hokage is only for those stupid enough to bet their life away so easily."
Naruto narrowed his eyes at that. "Excuse me." Naruto said, getting Tsunade's attention.
"Who's this gaki?" Tsunade asked.
"That's Naruto Uzumaki." Jiraiya said.
"So he's the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, huh?" Tsunade thought. "What do you want, gaki?"
"If your last name is Senju, then you must be related to Shodai and Nidaime Hokage, right?" Naruto asked.
"Respectively, they are my grandfather and grand-uncle." Tsunade answered. "What of it?"
"So not only are you a student of the Sandaime, but you are also related to the Shodai and the Nidaime, and yet you call them all idiots? As an orphan, that rubs me the wrong way."
"What a Gaki like you thinks doesn't matter to me." Tsunade said.
"And what a frail woman says about greater people than her is garbage to me." Naruto countered. Jiraiya took baby steps away from Naruto as tick marks appeared on Tsunade's forehead.
"Frail woman? Garbage? You've got guts to say that to me." Tsunade said. "Let's take this outside." She got up and exited the bar, with Naruto following her.
The rest of the group followed them. Naruto and Tsunade stood in the middle of the street, face to face.
"Despite my looks, I was one of the Sannin." Tsunade said. "There is no need for me to get serious against you. All I need to defeat you is a single finger." She held out her right pointer finger.
"Your loss." Naruto said nonchalantly.
He then summoned his chakra chains to restrain her, to her shock, and charged before punching her in the gut, sending her back.
"Those chains..." Tsunade thought. "Mito-baa-chan chose Kushina as the next Jinchuuriki because of those chains."
"Well?" Naruto asked. "Where's that confidence from earlier?"
"You just got lucky, Gaki." Tsunade said.
"Is that right?" Naruto asked before he smirked. "Then, for me, this fight is going better than your entire gambling life."
Tsunade growled at the jab. She charged and was about to flick him on the forehead, only to receive an instant Rasengan to the gut with speed she didn't know he had, further shocking her as she was knocked back. Maybe she shouldn't have held back as much as she did...
"Shall we go on?" Naruto asked, still smirking.
"Jiraiya, are you the one who taught him the Rasengan?" Tsunade asked as she got up.
"He learned and mastered the three steps in less than an hour." Jiraiya answered, shocking Tsunade and her assistant.
"Is this kid even human?" Tsunade wondered. "What about completing it?"
"Started immediately after mastering the Rasengan, which was three weeks ago." Jiraiya said.
"Three weeks, huh?" Tsunade smirked before looking at Naruto. "Oi, Gaki. Let's make a bet."
"The worst gambler in the world wants to make a bet with me?" Naruto asked before shrugging. "I'm game."
"I'll give you one week to add an elemental affinity to the Rasengan. If you can do that, I'll follow you back to Konoha to become Hokage and I'll even give you this." She gestured to the necklace around her neck. "My grandfather's necklace is worth a fortune. But if you can't do it in a week, I'll take all of your money. Deal?"
"If you're sure about this, then it's a deal."
"Tsunade-sama!" Tsunade's assistant called out.
"Calm down, Shizune." Tsunade said as she and Naruto shook hands. The moment they stepped away from each other, Naruto made a Rasengan with four small wind razor blades rotating around the sphere, shocking the women and Jiraiya.
"A ninja must gather information before risking anything." Naruto said. "Thanks to the Kage Bunshin, it was easy to train in wind manipulation and create the Fuuton: Rasengan."
"You sneaky little gaki." Jiraiya said, grinning. "You always have your clones do the chakra training, so I never saw anything." He then thought. "Minato, Kushina, you would be proud of your son."
"I was tricked..." Tsunade muttered to herself. "I was outsmarted by a gaki..."
"Well, Tsunade? Although you were tricked, you two shook hands." Jiraiya reminded.
"You're right...but we can't leave yet." Tsunade said.
"Orochimaru?" Jiraiya asked.
Tsunade nodded. "I have to meet him in a week to tell him if I will heal his arms or not."
"Why would you heal him?" Naruto asked.
"Orochimaru said he would use a Kinjutsu he learned to bring Dan and Nawaki back to life."
"Dan and Nawaki?" Naruto asked.
"Dan was Tsunade-sama's beloved and my uncle." Shizune said. "Nawaki was Tsunade-sama's little brother."
"Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei." Jiraiya said, getting everyone's attention. "Reports said that Orochimaru used that Kinjutsu, created by your grand-uncle, to bring back your grandfather and grand-uncle to fight Sarutobi-sensei."
"In that case, wouldn't it mean that Orochimaru could revive Dan and Nawaki and have them attack Tsunade after she healed him?" Naruto asked.
"I wouldn't be surprised." Jiraiya frowned.
"Now that I know what the Jutsu is, I feel horrified of ever considering Orochimaru's offer." Tsunade admitted, crying. "Dan and Nawaki would be disappointed in me."
"This is a chance, Tsunade." Jiraiya said. "Become Hokage. Fulfill Dan and Nawaki's dream for them."
Tsunade wiped away her tears and nodded. She walked up to Naruto and was about to take off her necklace.
"Keep it on, Tsunade." Jiraiya said. "You always have it on. If we are to trap Orochimaru, we mustn't let him get suspicious. He will notice if you no longer have your necklace."
Tsunade nodded. Orochimaru would definitely notice. "I'll simply give it to you after we're done here." She told Naruto, who nodded.
The next week, Naruto, Shizune and Jiraiya allowed Tsunade to go ahead to meet Orochimaru. After a few minutes, they followed her.
When they were close by, they hid within the trees. Tsunade pretended to have accepted the deal and was about to 'heal' Orochimaru's arms, only for a kunai to land between them, making them jump away from each other, and for Kabuto to appear next to Orochimaru.
"For you to betray me at the last minute, Tsunade." Orochimaru said.
Tsunade smirked. "Last minute?" The moment she said that, Naruto, Shizune and Jiraiya appeared next to her.
"Jiraiya... Naruto-kun..." Orochimaru said. "I had no idea there were others looking for Tsunade-hime."
Tsunade charged, jumped and went for an axe-kick, only for Orochimaru and Kabuto to dodge. The axe-kick destroyed the ground it landed on. The strength behind the attack shocked Naruto.
Kabuto and Orochimaru retreated to a more spacious battlefield, followed by the Konoha-nin.
Tsunade and Jiraiya faced Orochimaru, while Naruto faced Kabuto. Shizune would help Naruto if need be.
"For me to face my old teammates... Kabuto, summon Manda." Orochimaru ordered, ripping the bandage off of his left arm.
Kabuto rolled Orochimaru's sleeve, revealing the summoning tattoos, before biting his own thumb and spread the blood across the tattoo. He then made some handsigns and slammed his hand on the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
Jiraiya and Tsunade also bit their thumbs and summon their respective summon animal.
A giant red toad appeared for Jiraiya, a giant slug for Tsunade and a giant purple snake for Orochimaru.
"Your opponent is me, Naruto-kun." Kabuto said.
"Indeed. I've been itching to give you a beating since I saw that Oto-nin with one of your Ninja Info Cards."
"So that baka did underestimate you." Kabuto sighed. "People just don't listen nowadays. I must admit, though, I am impressed with your progress, Naruto-kun. You've caught my interest since you defeated Neji so easily. Even without using the Kyuubi, you are quite the monster."
Naruto unsheathed Muramasa. "And now the fox will catch the snake that slithered both inside and outside of Konoha."
"Bold claim." Kabuto smirked as he activated his Chakra Scalpels. "But I admit I am curious about how much you've progressed since the Chunin Exams."
Naruto charged and swung Muramasa at Kabuto, who dodged and hit Naruto on the arm with the Chakra Scalpel, ripping the muscle.
"Such an attack is useless against me." Naruto said as he activated a bit of Kyuubi's chakra to heal the wound. "But, you'll probably keep doing this until I tire myself out, so I'll finish this quickly." He said, discarding his trench coat. It made a much larger thud and crater than in the Chunin Exams.
"I have to be careful." Kabuto thought. "Against Neji, his speed increased a lot when he took off the coat. There's no telling how-" His train of thought was interrupted by a punch to the face. "T-This is much faster than before!"
"Did you not pay attention? I have quite the healing factor. Weight training is quite beneficial for me, as my body adapts to the weight much faster than most people. My weights are already three times heavier than back against Neji." Naruto said, shocking Kabuto.
Naruto was too fast for Kabuto. There was no way to keep up.
"It's time to finish this fight." Naruto said as he sheathed Muramasa and made a normal Rasengan on his right hand. "Rasengan!" He yelled, catching everyone's attention as he slammed the sphere in Kabuto's gut, sending him spiralling right to a rock.
The summons had been fighting this entire time, with their summoners assisting one way or another but mostly focusing on each other. The Sannin's attention turned to Naruto and Kabuto when they heard the blond call out a certain Jutsu and they saw him attack Kabuto with a sphere.
Orochimaru's eyes widened. "For him to master such a Jutsu..."
Jiraiya simply looked at Naruto with pride while Tsunade was still awed at Naruto's ability to use the Rasengan.
Kabuto had focused chakra on his gut to endure and heal the wound, but he was barely standing.
"Good thing I focused my chakra at the point of impact to heal myself before you even hit me." Kabuto said. "I have the ability to heal and re-energize any of my damaged cells."
The three Sannin heard Kabuto's words and had different reactions. Orochimaru already knew this, Jiraiya wondered just how far Kabuto could go with that healing ability and Tsunade was interested in the ability, being a medic-nin.
Kabuto took a few steps forward but collapsed due to the strain on his body.
Naruto and Shizune turned to the fight between the Sannin and their summons, knowing they would get in the way.
Orochimaru was now worried. In his current state, even with Manda's help, he couldn't face his former teammates and someone who easily defeated Kabuto. He had to retreat, but couldn't leave a subordinate as valuable as Kabuto behind. He jumped and landed next to Kabuto, grabbing some of his right hand man's clothes with his jaw, and disappeared.
Manda left as well, knowing the battle was over. The Toad and Slug did the same.
Tsunade sighed in relief, glad the battle was over.
"You guys did great." Naruto said as he picked up his coat.
"Put a lid on it, gaki." Jiraiya said. "You were too busy with Kabuto to watch our fight."
"At least he encourages his comrades, especially his Hokage." Tsunade said, handing Naruto her necklace.
"Whatever. Let's head back to town and rest. We'll head for Konoha tomorrow." Jiraiya said, earning everyone's agreement.
When they were on their way back to Konoha, Tsunade suggested they go to a town known for its hot springs. A few key words and Jiraiya was convinced, forcing Naruto to tag along.
"I swear, the longer I'm with you, the more pathetic you seem." Naruto told Jiraiya, making Tsunade laugh.
"Don't be like that, gaki. Enjoy the hot spring and the mixed bathing." Jiraiya said.
"We have hot springs in Konoha and I have been in mixed bathing before, even met people that didn't care of my status. It was quite nice, having a conversation with an intelligent person."
To Jiraiya's dismay, there were no women in the hot spring when he got there. He would be patient, though.
Tsunade and Shizune went to the pachinko parlor, as there was time before dinner.
Naruto, having nothing better to do, followed them. He saw for himself how bad Tsunade's luck was. He decided to show her his devil's luck. Both women were awed.
Once Tsunade was satisfied with the amount won, the trio, plus a pig, returned to their hotel. They ran into debt collectors that begged Tsunade to pay her debt to Akagi, only for Tsunade to tell them she had paid Akagi back the year before. Both men grinned and left to finally return home.
"So you do pay your debts every once in a while." Naruto said. "From what I heard from Jiraiya, you always run away from your debt collectors."
"I'll let the comment fly just this once, gaki, if only because you've won me enough money to pay all of my debts and then some." Tsunade said, the grin on her face never leaving.
The next day, at dawn, the group left to return to Konoha. After dragging Jiraiya out of the hot spring, of course.
Konoha will finally have the world's greatest medic-nin as its Hokage. The people will definitely rejoice.
After they returned, one who definitely wasn't happy was Konohamaru, who had seen Izumo and Kotetsu take his grandfather's belongings out of the Hokage office. He accidentally ran into Tsunade as he complained.
After Tsunade went to see the Council, Naruto stayed by Konohamaru's side as they walked round the village.
"Who was that blonde woman I ran into, boss?" Konohamaru asked Naruto as Udon and Moegi followed them.
"That was Tsunade Senju: one of your gramps' students, the Shodai's granddaughter, the Nidaime's grand niece and soon-to-be Godaime Hokage." When Naruto said it like that, it sounded like quite a resume.
"A student of Ji-chan?" Konohamaru asked. "Wait, did you say Godaime Hokage?"
"That's right. Why? Is something bothering you?" Naruto asked.
"Everyone's gonna forget Ji-chan..." Konohamaru muttered.
"What are you talking about?" Naruto said. "Every day, people are thankful of the Shodai for founding this village. The same people are thankful of the Nidaime for founding the very academy you have your classes in. And these people are thankful for the years of peace Old Man Sandaime gave them. Don't forget the Yondaime's sacrifice against the Kyuubi. People are definitely thankful for that."
"So they won't forget Ji-chan?" Konohamaru asked.
"They won't." Naruto confirmed.
"But even if she's Ji-chan's student, how do we know she's worthy of the title?" Konohamaru asked.
Naruto smirked. "Let's go ask her, why don't we?" He said as he led the trio back to the Hokage Tower.
"You want me to show my medical skills to Sarutobi-sensei's grandson?" Tsunade asked Naruto, who nodded.
"He isn't sure of your worth as a Hokage. Show him that you care for your people." Naruto said.
Tsunade sighed. "Well, I have to heal Kakashi, the Uchiha and Rock Lee, anyway. Let's go."
When the group arrived at the hospital, Tsunade started with Sasuke's room. She placed her hand on Sasuke's forehead and used her Medical Jutsu. Sakura, who had visited Sasuke everyday, was awed.
When Tsunade was done, Sasuke regained consciousness and sat up on the bed. Sakura immediately hugged him. Sasuke was still out of it, as he wasn't mentioning Itachi yet.
"Shall we leave those two alone and head for the next one?" Naruto asked Tsunade, who nodded. The Konohamaru Corps were awed at the speed Tsunade healed Sasuke.
After Tsunade healed Kakashi, she reprimanded him for his recklessness in facing an Uchiha in a Sharingan fight. The group then headed for Lee's room.
When they arrived in Lee's room, Tsunade used the Diagnosis Jutsu to see the extent of Lee's injury. She didn't want to say this in front of children, but she knew Naruto wouldn't budge.
"These injuries are no joke." Tsunade said. "He has bone fragments deeply embedded to the spinal cord. "
"But you can heal him, right?" Guy asked desperately.
"There is a possible surgery, but it takes a long time." Tsunade said. "Even if I do this surgery, it only has a success rate of 50%, at most."
"There's always room for improvement." Naruto said.
"I can make some research to find something, anything, to improve Lee's chances, but that will also take time. It may even only raise the chances from 50% to 51%." Tsunade explained.
"Then have some Kage Bunshin do the research along with you. Someone's dream is at stake here." Naruto said. He respected Lee, who didn't deserve this.
Tsunade's eyes widened. "Kage Bunshin...of course! I could only make so much progress on my own. But with the Kage Bunshin searching along, the chances may increase greatly! I can even have them do the paperwork for me to give me even more time!"
Tsunade's new confidence cheered Lee up.
"Please, Tsunade-sama, heal my precious pupil!" Guy pleaded.
"Of course." Tsunade said as she left the room. There was a lot to do.
"Naruto-kun." Naruto turned to Guy when he heard his name. The man was crying manly tears. "Thank you. You may have saved Lee's dream."
"Yeah, that was awesome, boss!" Konohamaru said as Moegi and Udon nodded in agreement with stars in their eyes.
Naruto merely chuckled at the different reactions.
After a few days, Tsunade was officially announced as the Godaime Hokage.
The Hokage faces, especially the first three, seemed to have a proud look that day.
All right, now we're getting to the movies and filler territories for a bit. The next chapter will be in a few days, so I'll say it right now: Merry Christmas!