Sarutobi let out a grunt as he arched his shoulders, stretching out his chest, and heard his old bones creak and crack from the movement. The saying was cliché, but it was true, he was getting too old for this. Leaning back into his chair, he took a deep breath, looking straight ahead at the portraits of the previous Kage, the sunset pouring into the room, tinting it a deep orange and highlighting the pictures. He looked at each Kage to the next, able to remember them all. It made him wonder, why it was that he had lived so long, when men far greater than he had been robbed of their life in their youth. Turning in his chair, he looked out into the village, the sky a perfect shade of purple and orange. There were no words in existence that could aptly describe how Sarutobi felt about the village, and the people within. How many decades had he been in this seat, looking over the village as he did now? There were days he couldn't remember, and the others he'd rather not.
Watching the villagers below, ninja and civilian alike, Sarutobi smiled as he watched happy families, young lovers, elite ninja and rookie ninja go about their day in joy. No matter how much he had given to the village, or how much the world had taken from him, being able to know that the village was at peace, gave Sarutobi peace. With a final sigh, Sarutobi turned from the window, he only had a few more scrolls to go through. But as he reached for one, a small knock was heard at the partially opened door, with Jiraiya pushing it open a moment later. Seeing his old student, Sarutobi gave him a smile and pushed aside his paperwork, remembering he had asked Jiraiya to come see him. With a nod towards the door, he silently asked Jiraiya to close the door fully.
Doing so, Jiraiya waited a moment before speaking. "So what's so important for all this secrecy?" he walked forward, and leaned against the Hokage's desk, partially sitting on it.
Sarutobi leaned back in his chair, bringing his hands together to rest in his lap. "What we're about to discuss is rather sensitive, so I wish to take the precautions necessary." Seeing his student nod, he continued, "As you know, Sasuke Uchiha betrayed Konoha and left with Oto ninja. The only problem is, that even with the entire Inuzuka clan tracking him, not a trace could be found."
Jiraiya arched his eyebrow, curious to that development. "They've tried everywhere?"
Sarutobi nodded. "The Inuzuka have declared a blood oath to find and kill the one who hurt their kin. Believe me when I say they rode day and night to scour every last corner of the Fire Country and found not a single trace of his scent, only of the retreating Oto ninja. It's my theory that Orochimaru may have found some jutsu that would allow them to mask a trail that not even the Inuzuka can see through."
Jiraiya brought a hand to his chin, scratching it. In his travels, he'd seen some rather ingenious jutsu. It wasn't out of the question that Orochimaru found one that could do such a thing, but it was still rather odd. Something just didn't add up to Jiraiya. Looking back to his teacher, he put two and two together. "So I take it you want me to assist in trying to find him?"
Sarutobi nodded. "I've tried to think of all the possible ways that Orochimaru could have possibly moved without leaving even the smallest trace, but nothing comes to mind. I'm hoping that either you or your information network might be able to shed some light on this issue. I would rather avoid having to order an operation into Oto, at the best it would run the risk of being seen as an act of war if we were discovered. Not to mention what the other villages could do if they think we're preoccupied or weakened by it."
Jiraiya nodded, agreeing with the logic behind the Hokage's train of thought. "Alright, I'll do what I can."
Sarutobi sighed, seeming relieved. "This whole situation with Sasuke has been nothing but a major problem. If it's not certain members of Konoha breathing down my neck about losing one of our valuable assets, there are problems with his teammates." He wasn't prone to grumbling and complaining, but this truly was a headache for the old man.
Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, asking, "His teammates?"
Sarutobi nodded. "I should be more specific, as Kiba Inuzuka's grievance with Sasuke is rather well known. Sakura Haruno was – is, quite infatuated with Sasuke. She took his betrayal in the worse way and locked herself into her room. It wasn't until today that her friends were able to coax her out, and she's now being treated at Konoha General for malnutrition and will be going a psychological exam to see if she's still mentally sound." Seeing his student's inquisitive look, he explained, "I had all of Team Seven watched by the ANBU surveillance. There was always a possibility that if Sasuke came back he might head to one of them, I wanted to make sure they would be safe."
Jiraiya pushed off the desk, and turned to look at his former sensei. "Well, that makes sense. I'll start checking with my contacts and see what I can dig up. I may have to leave the village for a while depending on how it all goes, is that fine?"
Sarutobi let out a small smile, thinking back to just a few weeks ago when Jiraiya would have just expected he would be given a free pass to do as he pleased. He did truly seem a changed man. Sarutobi gave his consent, and Jiraiya left to begin his investigation.
In the dark corner of the room, Sarutobi's personal ANBU assistant silently excused himself from the room.
XXXX
Within the underground base of Root, Danzo sat in his office, an uncharacteristic smile on his face as he read through some of his latest reports from his operatives within and outside of Konoha. Danzo played a very dangerous game, but it was the only one worth playing. He had many threads, carefully woven and laid through the elemental countries, and so far all had gone according to plan. A small knock sounded at his door, breaking him from his thoughts. "Enter."
His door opened to reveal Kuroi, who stepped in and closed the door behind her. She knelt down, keeping her face low. "Danzo-sama, it's finished." she spoke in her usual dead tone.
Danzo stood, forgetting about his reports. "Show me." His voice held it's usual impassive tone, but inside he was feeling beyond joyous.
Kuroi stood, and lead Danzo through the dark hallways of Root HQ, lit only by the occasional candle that were attached to fixtures on the wall. Coming to the same laboratory where Sasuke was kept, Kuroi walked to a wall adjacent to where Sasuke still floated in his vat, where a figure floated within another vat. Danzo walked up to the vat, illuminated with a dim green glow, and he couldn't suppress the grin that crossed his face. "You've actually done it."
Kuroi knelt down again, keeping her face down. "Yes, but there's still much more to do. In order for the plan to be ready to execute, I believe it may take another year, perhaps two to ensure that everything is working fine."
Danzo nodded, and looked down towards Kuroi. "That is acceptable. I trust your judgment in these things, everything is going fine and we have time still for these things." Then, Danzo turned his head, feeling a presence make itself known to him from outside the laboratory. Recognizing the presence, Danzo spoke. "You have something to report?"
"Yes, Danzo-sama."
"Then step forward, Hawk. You may enter." From around the doorway, stepped forth an ANBU with a Hawk mask, the same who served the Hokage.
Hawk walked into the room, being illuminated by the glow from the vat's and electronic instruments within. Kneeling, he spoke. "The Hokage has enlisted Jiraiya to help search for Sasuke."
Danzo stared down at Hawk for a moment, before turning back towards the vat which held his promise of fulfilling his ambition. Jiraiya was a dangerous number in the equation, how the Hokage had managed to pull him from his endless searching of Tsunade was beyond Danzo. However, it didn't change the fact that something would have to be done about it now. While the chances of Jiraiya finding out anything were slim, it wouldn't do to leave such things to chance. He would need a plan, and he would think of one soon.
"And there was one other thing, that may be of some interest." Hawk spoke, to which Danzo gave a curious, "Hm?" Hawk began to briefly describe the additional piece of information, which caused Danzo to smile. An idea had hatched in the old war hawks mind, and there was no way it could fail.
XXXX
Sakura became aware of the world once more when she felt a warm breeze gently play across her face. Her eyes fluttered open, and she instantly was hit by a small confusion as she saw that she was no longer in her room. She looked around the dark room she was in with some fear, seeing that she was in a hospital room. She tried to recall why she was here, and tried to sit up, but a sharp pain in her abdomen stopped her. It was then that her last memory came back to her. She had been in her room, crying over Sasuke leaving her behind, when Ino started mouthing off at the door.
Sakura's face blackened with rage as she recalled the way Hinata had spoken to her, and dared to badmouth Sasuke. She was also the reason her mid-section was in so much pain, she had punched her and knocked her out. Sakura swore she would get the bitch back, both for hurting her and insulting Sasuke.
She didn't understand it. Everyone hated Naruto, no one in the academy liked him, and why would they? He was a creep who always tried asking her out on dates, and if that wasn't enough he was always being a huge nuisance to everyone in the village with his constant pranks and other things. No one liked him! And yet, here people were sticking up for him, instead of the genius Sasuke. It just didn't make any sense. Gritting her teeth, Sakura slid off the bed as carefully as she could, doing her best to not bend at the gut. As she tried to stand, her legs wobbled once, but managed to hold her up right. Not eating as she had would weaken the body, but how could she be expected to have any appetite when her true love was gone?
As Sakura began to slowly make her way to the window that had been left open in her hospital room, which revealed the night sky and full moon, she began to think on how disgusting anyone would have to be to actually love Naruto. She swore she would get revenge on Hinata, no matter how long it would take. A movement from below caught her attention, and she shifted her gaze into the dark empty street below. She slowly scanned the area, trying to see what it was that caught her attention, when a black form leaped into her window. Letting out a surprised yell, Sakura fell back onto her backside. Looking up, she was about to yell at whoever it was, when she felt unnerved by the figure dressed in a black cloak and black ANBU mask, who stood on the windowsill crouched. Before she could say anything, it spoke.
"Do you wish to see Sasuke?" the voice was female.
Sakura's previous thoughts were all but forgotten about when she heard the question, she looked at the figure in surprise, "You know where Sasuke is?!"
The female nodded. "I do. He needs your help."
Sakura's heart fluttered, and at the same time sank. Sasuke was in trouble, and needed her help! Struggling to stand to her feet, her abdomen still hurting, she stumbled forward towards the figure, who grabbed onto her. "Hang on." the female spoke, before leaping out into the night.
XXXX
Jiraiya sat atop a large apartment building in the middle of Konoha, flipping through his notebook, reading it by the bright moonlight. He'd asked a few of his local contacts if any of them might have a clue to Sasuke's disappearance, but none of them had seen him since before the invasion. He grumbled to himself, something told him this was going to be difficult. Then, a flash of pink caught his eye. Looking over into the distance, he saw what appeared to be black cloaked figure carrying a girl who looked like Sakura Haruno. Jiraiya had gone through the personal information of Team Seven, hoping to find clues, and had become familiar with them all. They disappeared behind a building, and Jiraiya stood, jumping off the building and running towards where they fell to street level. That had been beyond weird, why would Sakura be getting carried off by someone dressed so secretly? Especially since she had been committed to the Hospital, and she looked willing to be carried away. Could it have been Sasuke?
Reaching the corner, Jiraiya peeked around the corner, catching a glimpse of a black cloak fluttering around another corner. Jiraiya cursed, recognizing the area as a rather patchwork of residential buildings, all being different heights and makes, with many alleyways formed from wooden and brick fences and many corners, a terrible place to try and tail someone in. Moving fast, but keeping silence his key factor, Jiraiya moved down the street to the alleyway where he saw the figure disappear.
While Konoha was rather quaint, not being a city that never sleeps, it still had some faint hints of human life at night, be it a single window with light still pouring from it, proof of a night owl still awake, or a drunkard or two stumbling home from the bar. But this area of the city was dead. It wasn't just that it felt like no one was moving, but more like there was no presence of human activity anywhere. The windows were all dark, and any that had their curtains still open were covered in an inky blackness that felt near unnatural and foreboding. Jiraiya tried to calm his imagination, as he slowly followed after the dark figure, turn after turn in the tight alleyways. He began to start to feel as if his sense of direction was getting thrown off, every turn not seeming to make sense from the last. He tried to sense if he was in some form of genjutsu, but he could perceive none. His mouth set into a grim line, something about this was very wrong, but he couldn't leave it alone. If Sakura was in danger he had to help. Turning another corner, he stopped, seeing a dead end ahead with no one in it.
Jiraiya walked forward, slowly. He carefully scanned the area, the alleyway was mostly free of debris, save for a few pieces of trash and a couple of abandoned cardboard boxes here and there. He checked for footprints, and they went to the end of the alley, where they stopped. Jiraiya crouched, checking to see if they showed any indication of someone having jumped, but it looked as if they stopped dead in their tracks. Standing, he took a careful look around. To his left, it was all a rotten wooden fence, with a crack large enough in one plank to see through into the property beyond. In front and to his right was a brick fence line, marking off two separate properties. Going over the brick work carefully, Jiraiya's trained eyes caught an ever so off colored brick, that looked like it had been worn by touch over years. Reaching forward, he pressed against the brick. A small click was heard, and Jiraiya smiled with some satisfaction, as he saw the brick wall push back just a hair's breadth, but enough to make an outline of a door. Giving it a push, he saw it opened to reveal a hole in the ground that led straight down into darkness.
Well, this doesn't seem like a bad idea at all. Jiraiya chuckled to himself, but could heard the brick door mechanism start to come alive again, signaling it was going to close. With a small hop, Jiraiya plunged into the darkness as the brick wall resealed itself.
About to try and slow his fall on the dirt walls around him, he was surprised when his fall ended only after a second, but he landed it well enough, only getting a slight jolt from the fall. He instantly put himself into a defensive position, his eyes weren't adjusted to the darkness just yet, the brightness the full moon gave off outside had been akin to sunlight. His eyes were strong however, and they didn't take long to adjust, giving him a decent enough level of vision of the dark tunnel. Moving slowly, Jiraiya carefully felt along the wall, and made sure each step he took wouldn't be into a pitfall. After a few feet, he came to a Y intersection in the tunnel. Looking down each tunnel, his eyes narrowed. Crouching down, right at the mouth of the intersection, his eyes now almost fully used to the dark, he studied the ground. Though it was still pitch black, he could make out something on the ground. Feeling it, it was a taut wire, no doubt attached to some trap or another. Feeling over towards the other tunnel, his hand met what felt like paper. In an instant, his eyes widened as the paper lit up red, and with inhuman reflexes, Jiraiya formed a seal and slammed his hand down on the paper.
Jiraiya's face ran with a cold sweat as he left his hand where it was for a moment. Slowly lifting it, he let out a shaky sigh. He had just barely stopped the activation of an exploding tag that would have blown him to an early grave. Looking forward into that direction, he could only guess the entire tunnel would be lined with them.
What the hell is all this doing underneath Konoha? Jiraiya thought, his brows knitting together. Whoever did this clearly wanted the highest level of secrecy and only people who knew the layout of the tunnel could hope to get through unscathed. Now he knew for certain something was beyond wrong. Deciding to take his chances with the path with only the trip wire, Jiraiya stepped over it and made his progress forward again, only much, much slower.
XXXX
Sakura had been doing her best to ignore how utterly creepy the journey she was taking was. Every time she had tried to ask a question about Sasuke, the figure had hushed her, informing her that they were being followed by someone who wanted to hurt him. It made her stop any and all questioning, not wanting to tip off who was following them. She never got a glance at them, as whoever it was, was keeping their distance. After they entered the tunnel system however, she began to feel afraid, she hated the dark. Soon enough, however, Sakura was greeted by pale candle light that shone at the end of the tunnel. The tunnel opened into a single hallway that was made from wooden walls, painted a dab shade of grey. To her surprise, the figure put her down, her bare feet now touching a cold hardwood floor. Looking up into the black ANBU mask for a reason, the figure nodded it's head forward and began to walk, making Sakura follow after her.
Sakura wrapped her arms around herself, feeling cold. Whatever building or structure she was in felt cold beyond belief. Not just that, but the atmosphere was foreboding, as if it rejected human presence. Her skin crawled as she watched her shadow shift along the wall as they passed another candle. It didn't even closely resemble her, as it grew into a large shape and then morph back into a vaugely human shape. She tried to tell herself it was just her imagination, and focus, Sasuke was here somewhere and she needed to help him however she could.
The robed figure led her through a few long hallways, before finally coming to a stop at an ajar door, an eerie green glow coming from within. When the other woman opened the door, Sakura couldn't stop the gasp that left her. She all but ran forward, past the woman who brought her here, to the large vat that Sasuke floated in. She pressed herself gently against the cold glass, which was frosted over ever so lightly. She noted with an embarrassed glance that the boy was naked, but tried not let her vision linger on his exposed body. What troubled her more was the tubes that ran into him all over his body, making him seem some disgusting monster. She turned her heard towards the robed figure, who had walked closer to her. "What's wrong with him?" she asked, her voice trembling.
The figure was silent, and Sakura couldn't tell anything about the woman under the mask, as all features were hidden. After a moment, she spoke. "It's nothing you would understand."
"But," Sakura started, turning from Sasuke, "I thought you said he needed my help?" The figure nodded, and with a movement faster than the girl could register, she felt a blow slam into her already bruised abdomen, and was knocked out before she could register the pain.
Kuroi caught the girl, gently laying her down in front of Sasuke's vat. Turning, she bowed her head towards a dark corner. "He will be here soon, Danzo-sama."
Danzo stepped forward from the shadow. "Good. Go and intercept him." Kuroi nodded and began to leave the room. She heard Danzo say one final thing as she neared the doorway. "Do not take him lightly Kuroi." Kuroi gave another nod before disappearing around the corner.
XXXX
Jiraiya let out a barely audible sigh of relief when he finally saw light at the end of the tunnel works. It had been a damn maze and he had almost triggered more than one trap. Whoever designed the layout of the place was a real asshole, the amount of layers of deadly traps was overkill at the least. Coming to the mouth of the tunnel, Jiraiya slowly peeked his head around it. Seeing no one in the dimly lit hallway, he continued forward.
With every step he took further into this strange place, more questions came up, rather than answers. He knew that whatever he had stumbled onto was something huge. Coming to a cross way, Jiraiya crossed his arms with a small grumble, trying to decide which pathway to go down. A movement caught his eye and he snapped his head over, seeing Kuroi standing at the end of the left pathway. Just as soon as he saw her, she disappeared around a corner. Jiraiya scoffed for a moment. Now he knew he was walking into a trap. With a shrug of his shoulders however, he knew there was no going back the way he came. Moving down the left path, he strained all of his senses, not wanting to get caught unaware by anything.
Every time he would reach an intersection, Kuroi would show herself, leading him further into the maze of a building. Jiraiya started to feel frustrated at the run around, but soon, he saw where he had been led to. Down the hallway he turned into, it opened up into a large square room, where Kuroi stood directly in the middle of. As Jiraiya walked forward cautiously, he noted the room was of a sturdier make than the halls. Instead of wood, it seemed to be made from pale cement, and the floor was tiled with grey tiles. Along the outer perimeter of the square room, was a catwalk with a single exit opposite the hallway. Reaching the entrance of the square room, Kuroi still remained motionless.
Jiraiya studied her for a moment, noting from how the robe settled around the body, it was more than likely female. Then, after some silence, he spoke. "So I take it you didn't lead me here just to show off this room. Mind telling me where Sakura Haruno is?" He watched her for a moment, before a loud grinding sound caught his attention, turning his head swiftly, he saw that the doorway he had entered was now sealed with a concrete door, more than likely thick too.
"You have larger problems than worrying about that girl."
Jiraiya looked towards the sound of the familiar voice, and his eyes narrowed. On the catwalk above him stood Danzo, his face in it's stoic mask as he leaned on his cane. Some things started to click into Jiraiya's mind, none of them good. But none of them made any sense – yet. "Danzo. Mind telling me why your abducting Konoha citizens?"
"My previous statement stands." The old man replied with, his voice just under a sarcastic tone.
Jiraiya scowled, and leaped towards the catwalk. Intending to land near Danzo, his path was cut off by a sudden and violent kick to his midsection that he never saw coming. Jiraiya's mind reeled at the force of the blow, as he was sent slamming into the tiled floor below. Letting out a small yell, Jiraiya bounced off the hard floor, but managed to righten himself and land on his feet before he fell again. Crouching over, he held his gut, which still screamed in agony. Looking forward, he saw Kuroi land around ten feet from him, already in a stance.
Between the pain from the blow, the speed of which he was took off guard at, and the flawless stance, Jiraiya knew with a cold certainty that this person was very skilled. To underestimate them would be tantamount to death. Taking a deep breath, Jiraiya shrugged off the pain. "Fine, I have to get through you first? Let's go."
Kicking off on his lead foot, Jiraiya charged forward with his fist cocked back. Kuroi remained motionless as Jiraiya punched, only moving her hand to block the strike. Jiraiya let out a small growl, not seeing it have much effect on her stance, and followed it up with more furious attacks, only to have each blocked with the same ease, but he started to make her backpedal. He could tell that she was waiting until he made a large enough opening for her to strike. He wasn't about to let that happen, having already been victim to one attack so far. The strength almost reminded him of –
The momentary thought had distracted him too long, he overextended himself by just an inch, but it was enough for the other shinobi who let out a quick jab that Jiraiya barely avoided. His advantage was gone now, he realized with a curse, as Kuroi unleashed her own offensive. Jiraiya knew that if he tried to block any of the hits he would run the risk of probably getting a bone shattered. Dodging a right straight so fast he could heard the air break around Kuroi's fist, Jiraiya was quick to leap back and start forming hand seals. "Needle Jizo!"
Kuroi had to slam her heels into the ground and launch herself back from her charge as Jiraiya's hair expanded and wrapped around him, the spiky ends hardening and lengthening enough to cause her to retreat. She saw as the Sannin whipped his hair back to end the jutsu, he was already in the process of another jutsu.
Jiraiya smeared a length of blood across his palm and slammed his hand down. Red kanji exploded from his hand and formed a circle to begin the summoning rite, but instead of the usual puff of smoke that signaled a toad had been summoned, nothing happened. With a small gasp, Jiraiya only had a moment to realize what happened before Kuroi didn't give him another chance to form any seals as she tried to slam her heel into the back of his skull. Barely avoiding the gargantuan attack, the heel crashing into the ground and shattering tile, he heard Danzo speak.
"I would advise against wasting time with attempting a summon. There's a barrier in place to disrupt any mode of instant transportation."
Jiraiya didn't have time to reply that he already guessed as much. This was starting to look bad, whoever this was he was fighting was strong, enough so that it made him decide against any attempt at fighting them with taijutsu, if he made one wrong step he would be dead. He only caught a few openings in Kuroi's attacks, but they weren't enough to try and get away, she clearly knew that letting him do was bad. Deciding he had to take a gambit, Jiraiya leaned forward as a hard punch came straight for his head. Barely avoiding the punch, he quickly formed a one handed Rasengan and slammed it into Kuroi's midsection, sending her flying back. Not thinking for even a moment that would end it, he quickly formed a series of seals while he also began creating oil in his mouth. "Katon: Flame Bullet!"
With the short amount of time he had to create oil, he was still able to produce enough to shoot out a large fireball that chased after Kuroi. He watched with a grim frown, but as the fireball reached her, he saw her shoot up and over the flaming ball as it slammed into the wall. While still in mid-air, he saw Kuroi lift a leg high into the air, and started plummeting down towards him. He felt a sharp electric jolt run up his spine, a warning built up over a lifetime of fighting, telling him this was no ordinary attack. Jumping back, much further than he would have normally needed to, he barely avoided the ax heel. He watched with some astonishment as the ground in a five foot radius around where Kuroi landed exploded into a giant crater, the force of the attack blowing a wall of air around that pushed Jiraiya back an inch.
Jiraiya let out a curse, that was no joke, if he'd been hit by that he would have been dead. An idea popped into his mind, and formed the snake seal. "Wild Lion's Mane Technique!" Channeling as much chakra as he could into his hair, Jiraiya shot several thick strands out that snaked along the ground rapidly seeking Kuroi, who was still recovering from her attack.
The woman barely had time to try and avoid the tendrils of chakra infused hair that burst from the cloud of smoke she was surrounded by, but the hair was too fast, and they wrapped around her wrists and mid-section. She felt a hard pull, but slammed her feet into the crater she had made, stopping.
Jiraiya exerted as much force as he could, trying to reel his opponent back, but to no avail. Deciding it would have to do, he glared at Kuroi as he started to form more oil in his mouth. But, as he started, he noted with shock Kuroi began letting out a strong yell, and he had to refocus his chakra back into his hair, as she started to try and reel him back instead! He felt himself start to sweat, as he placed his hands into the snake seal again, trying to keep his focus, but he watched with some horror as the robed figure's arms started to slowly move. He swore he saw a glow underneath the mask for just a brief moment, and then with a sudden move, he saw Kuroi grab firmly onto the tendrils of hair and yanked it with such force that Jiraiya was forced off his feet and pulled at an alarming rate straight towards Kuroi, who had her foot cocked back. With a terrifying yell, she thrust out her leg in a push kick, catching Jiraiya dead in his chest before he had time to form a substitution.
Pain assaulted the Sannin as it never had before, enough that he barely registered the large chunks of his hair being torn off from the force of the attack, as he was sent flying back. He somehow managed just enough force of will to substitute himself to avoid slamming into the wall, but it didn't do much to still the pain he was already in. Lying on the floor, he had to hurry and force himself back up right, but he could tell that his sternum was almost completely shattered, and all his ribs were cracked. He tried to take a deep breath, but his chain erupted in pain. He needed to end this, fast.
Seeing Kuroi charge at him again, Jiraiya knew that he had to take a daring gamble. Forming chakra in both hands, he made two quick rasengans, using the first, he made Kuroi turn her punch to avoid getting her fist torn apart, and barely avoided the full force of the second that was aimed for her face. The spinning ball of chakra still connected with the mask, however, and caused it to crack. Kuroi jumped backwards, out of range of Jiraiya who was already quickly forming two more.
Jiraiya charged forward, ignoring the blood that was filling his mouth, and his glare was focused straight on the cracked ANBU mask. He watched his intended target, and saw that as Kuroi shifted to defend herself, the mask gave an audible crack and fell away into two pieces.
Jiraiya's jaw dropped, and everything froze. His rasengans dispersed, and his charge fell only a step away. Every alarm bell in his mind that told him to move was silenced, as he beheld the face that had been revealed. "It can't be." Jiraiya whispered to himself in the small fraction of a second. There, standing before him, though her face was covered by a bright purple X that stemmed from her forehead, was none other than the woman he had been seeking for the past twelve years. "Tsuna—de!"
Jiraiya's speech was cut off by a sharp explosion of pain that was caused by the woman in front of him. Not bothering to look down, he already knew what happened, his gaze was focused on the face that had haunted him for almost his whole life. The fist that was extended out into his chest, the one that belonged to the woman who had gripped his heart, was now literally doing so. So many questions, so many feelings assaulted Jiraiya. He wanted to ask her, where had she been all this time? Why was she here? Why did she fight him? He knew that no answers would be had, it was too late. As pain left his mind, he slowly raised a hand to an unflinching Tsunade, who's eyes no longer shone with the same luster they did so many years before. They were now a dull orange, coated over with an almost milky look. Her scowl was still the same, though now instead of being spirited, it felt dead.
Jiraiya coughed out a single torrent of blood, that he blocked with his hand. He took a single, weak breath, and let out a weak laugh, as he felt his consciousness start to fade. Placing his hand against Tsunade's cheek he spoke feebly, "I always said, you'd be the death of me." He savored the feeling of her alabaster skin under his touch. How he had longed to do this, he was sure he would carry the memory with him to the next life. Then, all he registered was a quick spasm from Tsunade's arm, before he whited out.
Danzo smiled grimly, as Jiraiya's corpse fell to it's knees, and slid off Tsunade's bloody arm, landing on the ground with a sickening thud. She remained perfectly still, her stance not wavering from when she delivered the deathblow, her clenched fist still containing the remnants of Jiraiya's heart and slick with blood. "Good work, Kuroi." Danzo spoke, speaking the name he had given her.
Tsunade, or Kuroi, finally moved, and turned to look up towards Danzo. Her face was still set into it's emotionless and dead state, but a giant cascade of tears were pouring forth from her eyes. Tsunade didn't know who the intruder was, beyond what she had been told, so why was it that tears were coming unbidden from her? Reaching up, she tried to wipe them away, but they flowed with the same intensity regardless. The tears seemed to increase in intensity as she saw the pool of blood that poured forth start to puddle around her feet.
Danzo regarded the spectacle with some mirth, he supposed that some small amount of her remained still in a subconscious level, though it was of no concern. "Dispose of him, leave no trace. Do the same with the girl you brought here." Danzo turned, and began to walk away, but heard Tsunade call out to him.
"Danzo-sama. Might we spare the girl?"
He looked down towards her, nonplussed, though curious the same. "Explain." He was starting to wonder if he would need to do more manipulation before the usual time he did so, she never did anything other than follow his orders.
"I have been needing an assistant for some time. She also has an unhealthy obsession with the Uchiha, we could use it to our advantage."
Danzo gave the idea some thought, and decided there would be nothing wrong with it. If she wouldn't cooperate, she could be killed just as easy. "Very well. But she will need to become a ROOT, with the seal placed upon her as well."
Tsunade nodded in bowed, thanking Danzo. Waiting until her lord was out of sight, she raised herself back up and looked down again at the corpse of the man she had killed. As she tried to pick him up, she found that her strength seemed to be gone, and that all she could do for the moment was keep trying to stop the tears that she couldn't fathom. Deciding it was just an after effect of unleashing her Strength of a Hundred technique, she decided to stay kneeling in the warm blood, as she let the tears run their course. Not fully knowing why, she reached out and brushed aside a bloody lock of hair that blocked Jiraiya's smiling face.
XXXX
Chapter is a bit short, sorry for that, but I figured everyone would prefer slightly smaller chapters compared to huge ones that would take longer to come out. Events will start moving pretty fast from this point. I would also like to state, I don't hate Sakura, I don't like her but I'm more sure that's more Kishimoto's fault. I'm simply making Sakura into what I think she might be like if she didn't have the support of Team Seven, which she used as a crutch until she found Tsunade, who she then completely mirrored. (Again, I blame Kishi. I swear he has problems with female characters, even Hinata.)
Did anyone see this coming? Perhaps, I hope not though. I hope no one hates me too bad after this chapter, but I'll be in my bunker just in case.
Get ready for the next one,
Shinobi no Ryu