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Authors note

Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed. All reviews/criticism is welcomed. Without further ado, I give you chapter two of Naruto: The Reckoning

This will be AU (obviously) and Naruto will be two years older than Canon. Which means that the Kyuubi attack will be two years earlier.

Summary: A single moment's hesitation during the Kyuubi attack changed everything. Now as the world rushes towards war, a new order begins its rise.

'THOUGHTS'

LINEBREAKS=CHANGE OF SCENE/POV

Chapter Two

Two weeks later, Tsunade was sitting in a cozy chair as she tried to rock a fussy Naruto back to sleep.

A lot had changed in the last couple of weeks. First off was Danzo's successful nomination and selection as the Godaime Hokage. She had been surprised when Sarutobi-sensei told her about the Uchiha's obvious support for Danzo, but that wasn't the only surprise. When the Jounin came together for the vote, not only did every Uchiha Jounin support Danzo, but the majority of the Hyuuga Jounin had as well. Between the overwhelming show of support from two of Konoha's strongest clans and the approval of the Sandaime, Danzo had easily claimed the majority of votes. Oddly enough most of the Jounin of the Hyuuga Main branch had voted against Danzo, while the Branch family had all voted for him.

Since then, Danzo had announced the existence of the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki to the Jounin and clan heads -though nothing else besides his existence- nominated Fugaku to the position of Jounin Hancho, replacing the recently deceased Kyouta Namashi, and began putting his skills to use in rebuilding Konoha. Thus far, he hadn't done anything that would be detrimental to the village and more importantly -to her- he hadn't come near her or her son.

She tensed as she felt a presence appear in the room with her and quickly sent a kunai in its direction.

"Whoa, whoa! Easy Hime, it's me!" Jiraiya shouted in panic. Which of course, promptly brought Naruto back from a light doze to fully awake and crying.

"Jiraiya, you idiot! You woke up Naruto-chan!" she hissed at her pervert of a teammate as she began rocking her son.

"Hey! You're the one who threw a kunai at me!" Jiraiya said defensively.

"It's your own fault for sneaking in here like that," she replied dismissively as she continued rocking Naruto. "Shh, it's alright Naruto-chan. It's just your idiot of a godfather, there's nothing to be afraid of."

"Hey," Jiraiya whined, "is that any way to treat a loyal teammate who's working so hard for you?"

Glancing up from her son, Tsunade raised an eyebrow and asked, "Have you found a way to remove Danzo's Juinjutsu?"

"No, not yet," Jiraiya answered with a grimace.

"Then you've discovered who besides Danzo can activate it?" Tsunade questioned with a very still face.

"Err, no, I haven't had much luck with that either," Jiraiya replied sheepishly.

"Oh, then you must have found a way to go back in time using Fuuinjutsu, or some kind of ancient Kinjutsu," Tsunade said as if she was finally solving a difficult question.

"Okay, how the hell could I possibly pull off something like that?" Jiraiya asked in exasperation.

She was silent for a moment, before asking in a deadly, quiet voice, "Then tell me, Jiraiya. Just what have you done for me and Naruto-chan?"

Jiraiya flinched slightly at that question. "Alright, alright, I get it. Enough with the interrogation."

She nodded as if she was going to let it go, and then asked nonchalantly, "So how's your writing going?"

Jiraiya's face lit up at that, and he quickly answered, "Oh, I just finished the third one yesterday, and I've sent it off to be published. I think this one will do even better than the las- what the hell!" He spluttered as he dodged yet another kunai. "What was that for?" He demanded, only to wilt under Tsunade's glare.

"So you have time to write your porn, but you don't have time to help save Naruto-chan? To correct your mistakes?" Tsunade growled angrily at her teammate. If it wasn't for the fact that she was still holding her son, she'd be doing her best to turn Jiraiya into paste.

"My mistakes?" Jiraiya asked incredulously.

"Yes, your mistakes," Tsunade said in a low tone of voice. "You failed to find a way to stop the Kyuubi that didn't involve Minato dying or my son being used as a Jinchuuriki; you failed to ensure Naruto-chan's safety during and after the sealing; and you failed to get rid of that damn Juinjutsu," she snarled angrily. She knew that she wasn't being entirely fair to Jiraiya, and that she was just using him as a target for her frustrations. But, she couldn't help it.

Two weeks ago, she'd lost her husband; been forced to let her son be used as a vessel for the sealing of the Kyuubi lost her son for an agonizing few hours; then been forced to listen to her son being tortured; before finally getting him back; only to be told that she couldn't "be a mother to him" and that she'd lose him again in just three short years. After that, she had spent her time caring for her son, and trying not to think about what had happened and what would happen. But now the dam was about to burst.

"You have to do more!" She demanded. "You have to work harder. You have to be better because your best is not enough! It's not enough." She sniffed as the tears finally began to flow. "It's just not enough! There's so little time…just three years before they come for him, before they take him away from me…it's not enough!" She cried softly as she held Naruto even closer.

"It's alright, Hime," Jiraiya said comfortingly as he placed a hand on her shoulder, surprising her since she didn't even notice him crossing the room. "We'll fix this, one way or the other. Between Sensei and me, we'll either find a way to remove that Juinjutsu or we'll find and kill every one of Danzo's lackeys that knows the activation seal. Even if it takes us twenty years, we'll find a way," Jiraiya promised fervently.

Heartened by his words, Tsunade struggled to get herself under control and save some of her dignity. "Damn hormones," she muttered angrily as she raised a hand to wipe at her eyes, swiping his hand playfully from her shoulder as she did so. A flimsy excuse at best, but Jiraiya seemed to buy it. Or at least, he nodded in what might have been understanding.

Opening her mouth to apologize for lashing out at him, Tsunade was distracted when Naruto woke again and began crying his "I'm hungry" cry. "Hungry again, Naruto-chan?" Tsunade asked bemusedly. "You're such a greedy little baby aren't you?" She cooed as she shifted him in preparation for feeding. She glanced at Jiraiya to send him on his way, only for him to ruin whatever good will he had gained from his promise.

"Heh, I'd be greedy too if you'd let me suck on those delicious breasts of yours," Jiraiya giggled with a slight blush and some drool.

"Out. Now," she ground out angrily as she glared at him. 'Damn pervert!' She thought to herself as her teammate beat a hasty retreat from the room.

Jiraiya breathed a sigh of relief as he escaped from the room without seeing anything he didn't want to see. Surprising as it may be, while Jiraiya would give just about anything to see Tsunade's breasts and would kill a Kage to touch them or -even better- suck on them, the thought of any woman breast feeding made him nauseous.

It just plain creeped him out. He didn't know why, and he could never explain it. It just did.

Shaking his head to remove the disturbing images, Jiraiya sighed as he made his way out of the house and took to the rooftops. He understood Tsunade's anger, among other emotions, boiling over like they did. In fact, he was surprised it took this long to happen. And he could understand that mentioning his book wasn't the smartest thing he could have done.

However, he had been working hard to find the information they wanted; both on Danzo and the seal. In fact, he'd set his entire, expansive spy network to that very task. What Tsunade didn't understand was that spying was more or less a waiting game. That was how he got into writing in the first place.

After all, he couldn't always spend his time around beautiful women; especially when he was hiding out in some remote location. So he wrote. It just so happened that he was better at writing porn than anything else.

That was what he'd been doing these last couple of weeks, waiting and writing. Of course, trying to explain that to Tsunade was pretty much pointless. The woman was horribly impatient when it came to anything outside of surgery.

But that was okay. If Jiraiya had learned anything, it was patience. Danzo was a crafty bastard, but he was still human. Sooner or later he'd make a mistake. And when he did, Jiraiya would be there.

Three Years Later

"Ah, Jiraiya-kun. Please come in," Sarutobi said cordially as he beckoned Jiraiya inside. "It's been too long since you stopped by for a visit. Don't tell me you're too embarrassed to be seen around your old sensei?" He asked with mock sadness as he ushered Jiraiya into a comfortable chair across from his own.

"Embarrassed? Ha! It's because I'm too great and cool for you! I have been since I was in the academy," Jiraiya gloated with pride. "Still, you did help me test out my Toton Jutsu. So I guess I owe you the occasional visit. Besides, it's always nice to talk with such an avid fan of my masterpiece," his student finished with a flourish as he handed over a familiar orange book.

"The new edition?" Sarutobi asked with a smile. "Jiraiya, you shouldn't have." Not that he'd refuse. After all, Jiraiya was quite the talented writer; even if it wouldn't do for him to be seen reading it. He may no longer be the ruling Hokage, but he was still a Hokage.

"Here's the tea you asked for, Tou-san." a terrifyingly sweet, feminine voice said from the door.

Turning, Sarutobi was greeted by his eighteen year-old daughter smiling tightly at them. "Ah, Amaya." Sarutobi chuckled, trying to hide his nervousness. Amaya had disapproved of Jiraiya and his habits since she was ten, and she had no problem expressing it either. It certainly didn't help that Jiraiya had started "complimenting" her when she started developing.

At first, Sarutobi had found Jiraiya's flirting with his little girl amusing. That is, until she stopped being "little". Add in Jiraiya's books and reputation, and the situation quickly became volatile. Luckily, Amaya chose to make herself scarce whenever Jiraiya came for a visit. Unfortunately, that didn't stop her from scolding him once Jiraiya had left.

"Amaya, it's been far too long," Jiraiya said in a "gentlemanly" voice. "You're even more beautiful than I remember."

"Hmm, thank you for the compliment, Jiraiya-ojiisan. You look even older than I remember," Amaya replied with a vicious grin. "I'm glad to see my father's old teammate paying him a visit. I'll just leave so you two can talk about your porn in private."

Stifling a chuckle at his daughter's "misunderstanding" and veiled threats, Sarutobi thanked her and let her be on her way. She sent him an angry glare before stomping out of the house, slamming the door behind her.

Turning back to his student, Sarutobi was greeted by a pathetically depressed looking Jiraiya. "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm not old! I'm still a vibrant young man in my prime!" Jiraiya sniffled.

Sweat dropping, Sarutobi couldn't help but point out, "You turn forty next year. That's pretty old by ninja standards." Once Jiraiya was done sulking, the two got down to a very important discussion. The Icha Icha series.

To any outside observers, it appeared to be two men talking about porn. Well written porn, but porn none the less. Two old men talking about porn. Creepy.

If you were one of the two men in question however, then the conversation was quite different.

"I really liked the scene with Suzuki and Takashi. Especially when they started experimenting with ropes," Sarutobi said enthusiastically. "Where did you ever come up with such a thing? Don't tell me that you've actually done some experimenting yourself?" What Jiraiya heard was, "Have you confirmed it yet?"

"Hahaha! Yeah, I met this girl just outside of Tsuchi no Kuni that had the sexiest pair of legs," Jiraiya replied with a boisterous laugh. What Sarutobi heard was, "I'm as sure as I can be without getting inside Danzo's head. If there ever was anyone else that could activate Naruto's seal, they're either dead or they're better at hiding than Orochimaru."

It wouldn't take long for any Jounin to realize they were talking in code, but that didn't really matter. What did matter was that no one realized what they were saying. And considering that Sarutobi and Jiraiya were the only two people who knew this particular code -having devised it for this very purpose years ago- and there was no cipher written anywhere, it was pretty much a guarantee that their conversation would remain a secret.

"Have you made any progress with the seal?" Jiraiya asked while continuing his story about his adventures with that Tsuchi no Kuni girl.

"It's still too dangerous to try anything without Danzo's notes," he replied, "Have you been able to find any trace of them?"

"No. But then again, I haven't even been able to find his old base of operations either. It's not impossible that they're still out there somewhere," Jiraiya answered before hesitantly asking, "What should we tell Tsunade? Danzo's deadline is in a few days before he takes Naruto in for training."

Sarutobi paused at that, covering up the sudden lull in conversation by sipping his tea. 'What should we tell her?' He thought to himself. 'She's been acting more and more irrational this past year, understandable though it may be.'

It had taken Tsunade several months after Naruto's birth to lose her fear that someone might appear in the middle of the night and spirit him away again. Once she had though, she quickly became just like any other protective mother.

…

Well, if any other mother was capable of crushing skulls with her bare hands anyway.

However, after little Naruto-chan turned two, that old fear had returned. Tsunade had slowly become more and more short-tempered and irrational, getting to the point where she insisted on Naruto sleeping in her bed with her.

If they told her that they hadn't had any luck decoding the seal, but that they were fairly certain that Danzo was the only one who could activate it, there was little doubt that she would try to assassinate him. And while he wouldn't lose any sleep over Danzo's death, the man was guarded by the ANBU. Tsunade may be one of the Sannin, but even she'd have trouble reaching Danzo undetected. Even if she could reach him, if she failed to kill him with her first strike, the ANBU would quickly rush to his defense. Not to mention what Danzo might do to Naruto as punishment. Just activating the seal might be enough to cow Tsunade, and even if she could fight through it, Danzo wasn't one to go down easily.

If the battle lasted more than a few moments, then the entire ANBU would be alerted within minutes; which was sure to gain the attention of the Jounin and the clans. To anyone on the outside, it would look like Tsunade was trying to assassinate the Hokage. Add in Sarutobi's own words against her during the selection of the Godaime, as well as Orochimaru's previous actions and many would assume that Tsunade was attempting to seize power for herself.

The best outcome of such a scenario would be Tsunade's death. At worst, a civil war; something that Konoha could not afford.

Coming to a decision, Sarutobi said, "For now, we'll tell Tsunade that we need to find Danzo's notes. Once the seal is removed or at least nullified, we can deal with Danzo easily. That should placate her. In the meantime, focus your efforts on the seal. Everything depends on it."

Nodding his head to show his understanding, the two continued talking about possible actions and their suspicions on what Danzo was planning.

Bright blue eyes darted back and forth. When no one came into sight, the eyes set themselves on his target. Today would be the day that he finally conquered his greatest foe to date. Scanning the room one more time, he darted across the room and stared up at his unsuspecting target.

Cautiously glancing around one last time, Naruto lifted his right foot…and began to climb the bookshelf.

Anyone who knew anything about little Naruto Uzumaki knew that he absolutely loved to climb just about anything. Be they chairs, couches, tables, stairs, or small trees, Naruto would climb them. He even dreamed of one day climbing the giant faces that he could see from his house. But for now, he was focusing his attentions on the one target that he had yet to successfully climb to the top of. Namely, the bookshelf.

Reaching higher, Naruto continued to scale the bookshelf passing the half-way point. Naruto's grin grew wider as he came to within a foot of the top of the six foot shelf, the closest he'd ever come. 'C'mon…just a little farther…' Naruto told himself as his heart hammered in excitement, only to come to a screeching halt a moment later.

"Naruto-chan!" A familiar evil voice called.

'No!' Naruto thought desperately as he tried to stretch his arm those last twelve inches. 'Not now! Not when I'm so close!'

"No! Stop, let me go!" Naruto shouted in despair as he desperately struggled to hold on.

Alas, it was not to be, as the evil demon tore him away from his goal, ruining him once again. Twisting in his captors arms, Naruto fixed his age old enemy with a glare and…pouted. "Kaa-chan," he wailed, "How could you! I was so close!"

"Naruto-chan, how many times do I have to tell you!? You can't climb on the furniture," his Kaa-chan scolded him. "You could get hurt if you fell."

"Awwww, c'mon Kaa-chan," he whined, "I'm careful, and I almost never fall anymore!"

"It only takes one time to seriously hurt yourself." his Kaa-chan said for like the zillionth time.

Naruto just let out a huff and turned to stare at the bookshelf. 'You win this time bookshelf…but next time Kaa-chan won't be there ta save you!' He growled silently.

Tsunade let out an exasperated, yet slightly proud sigh. Her son was without a doubt, the most reckless three year-old in the world. She couldn't believe that any other child could possibly be as skilled at giving their mother heart attacks as Naruto was.

Still, she did feel some pride at her son's bravery. When she gave him his vaccinations, he had tried so hard to be brave; shedding only a few tears and "owies" before wiping his eyes and dragging her off to play in the yard.

She truly loved her little boy, which only made her anger at the situation grow. He didn't know it yet, but her precious child's life was about to change any day now.

That bastard Danzo was going to show up demanding to examine her son. And what's worse, Tsunade couldn't help but feel guilty for her part in it. When Naruto had first started developing, she had considered sabotaging his development of mobility and speech, among other things, in order to delay Danzo taking him. But in the end, she couldn't bring herself to do so.

Instead, she found herself encouraging and helping her son just like any other mother. She had used a number of techniques to help Naruto's mental development, and she was immensely proud to say that her little boy was probably the only three year-old who could read an array of books. They were all just children's story books of course, but he could read them without making a single mistake or asking for help. He'd even tried reading a medical book for beginners, only to stop after the first few pages.

When she had asked him why he gave it up, her little boy had cutely replied as if it was the simplest thing, "There's no pictures in here!"

Bringing herself back to the present, she smiled at her son's adorable pout as he glared at the bookshelf she'd plucked him off of.

"Come on, Naruto-chan. It is snack time," she said, shaking Naruto out of his sulking.

"Yay, snack time!" Naruto cheered as he clambered out of her arms before running towards the kitchen excitedly.

Tsunade smiled sadly as she watched him run away from her, feeling her chest tighten painfully at the thought of losing him. Luckily, before she delved too deeply into her depression, Naruto noticed she wasn't following him.

Frowning in childish worry, Naruto ran back up to her and tugged at her hand, trying to pull her much larger form along. "C'mon Kaa-chan, it's snack time," he said as he tugged with all his might.

Giggling, she couldn't help but cheer up as she allowed her son to "drag" her into the kitchen where Shizune was just finishing cutting the oranges for today's snack.

"Naruto-chan, have you washed your hands yet?" Shizune asked as she set the plate on the table.

Tsunade couldn't help but smile as Naruto quickly put his hands behind his back. "Yes, Shizu-neechan," he lied with the kind of shamelessness only a child could pull off.

"You little fibber," Tsunade said, trying to sound serious despite smiling at his antics. "You know better than to tell lies to Shizune and me. Now go wash up or you're going to get a time-out."

Naruto gasped at such a harsh punishment and rushed over to the sink and raised his arms expectantly. Shizune picked him up and held him over the sink, allowing him to wash his hands by himself. "All clean!" Naruto proclaimed after a minute, holding his hands up for Shizune's inspection.

Shizune made a show of examining his hands before saying, "But Naruto-chan, you missed a lot!"

Naruto frowned in confusion as he stared at his hands for a moment before pouting and kicking his legs. "Shizu-neechan," he whined loudly, "those are my scribbles!"

The "scribbles" were what she had told him the Juin Jutsu was. She had been careful not to treat them as something bad in order to keep him from thinking there was something wrong with him.

Looking closer, Shizune gasped in exaggerated surprise. "So they are, Naruto-chan! How silly of me."

Turning off the water, Shizune handed Naruto over to her and she put him on her lap and pulled the plate of orange slices closer.

"Wait, Kaa-chan! We hafta wait for the juice!" Naruto reminded her excitedly.

"I didn't forget, Naruto-chan," she said patiently as she accepted a glass from Shizune. Glancing at the contents, Tsunade hugged him a little closer and leaned over his head as she set the glass down. "Mmm, pomegranate juice."

"Awww!" Naruto whined as he stuffed an orange slice into his mouth. "I want apple juice!"

"Now now Naruto-chan, you had apple juice the other day," Tsunade chided gently. "Today you have pomegranate juice." When Naruto looked rebellious, she picked his glass up and took a sip herself. "Mmm, it's delicious."

He looked up at her unsurely for a moment before asking, "Really?"

"Really," she answered with a grin. "Here, you try it," she offered.

Naruto of course promptly decided that if his mother said it was good, then it must be, and greedily drank it down.

She could help but laugh at the sight of his red mustache, drawing his attention to her once more. He stared up at her curiously as he ate another orange slice before shoving another up near her face. "Here Kaa-chan, you need your vidamins too," he offered cheerfully.

"Why thank you, Naruto-chan." She accepted the orange before kissing him on the head. "You're such a good little boy!"

Finishing up his snack, Tsunade brought him over to the sink once again. This time to wash the juice that he had somehow gotten all over his face.

Just as she finished, she heard a knocking at her door. Tensing up, she handed Naruto over to Shizune and went to answer it.

Pausing with her hand just inches from the door knob, Tsunade was gripped by a sudden fear. Naruto had turned three just under a week ago. As each day passed without a visit from Danzo, she slowly began to convince herself that maybe he had changed his mind; or better yet, forgotten about Naruto and her. It was a foolish hope, but she couldn't help but try. Squeezing her eyes shut, for the first time in her life she prayed to see Jiraiya waiting on the other side.

Startled by another round of knocking, she quickly grabbed onto the door knob and yanked it open.

Once the door was opened, she was temporarily blinded, though her ears very easily picked up a very familiar voice. "Good day, Tsunade-hime."

Translations

Jounin Hancho=Jounin Commander

Toton Jutsu=Transparent Escape

Kaa-chan=Mommy

AN: There you have it. A little more light hearted than last chapter. Before anyone says anything, I know that Naruto isn't talking properly in some places. That's intentional, not a mistake on my part. Anyway, this story should go a little faster than my other one, at least in the beginning. As always, any and all reviews/criticism are welcome.

Peace, Vaan.