Author Note
Hi there and welcome to another chapter of Nidaime no Sairin.
This chapter shall cover through the rest of the Tsunade Retrieval Arc, of course, without some obvious scenes.
Please enjoy.
Nidaime no Sairin
Chapter 21 – Tsunade
Beta: Scheffinator
After Jiraiya taught Naruto the first steps of the Rasengan, the three fell into some sort of pattern in this mission to search for the other Sannin, Senju Tsunade.
They would move from town and Jiraiya would first ask Hinata to use her Byakugan, which was already quite advanced for her age. The villages they passed by were small in comparison to Konoha, so Hinata was able to use her eyes to inspect everyone and by everyone, she meant everyone. Everyone who possessed higher than average chakra capacity was her target. Jiraiya knew that Tsunade had a travelling companion with her at all times, so Hinata's search pattern involved pinpointing anyone with higher than a Genin's level of chakra. So far, no such luck. After reporting that only civilians and low-level thugs were visible, Jiraiya would leave Naruto and Hinata alone and search for the town's brothels.
Throughout the travels, Naruto had decided that only learning the Rasengan would be quite a waste of his time.
So, as the original attempted the first method by making the balloon explode, he had summoned a few kage bunshins for other endeavors. Hinata was amazed to see that the four Naruto replicas had the same signature as the original, even the same chakra capacity. One of the clones ended up focusing on her, overseeing her training with the chakra riling, so that Hinata could strengthen her chakra and improve the damage done by her Jyuuken. Of course, that would be too easy, so another clone was keeping her occupied with projectiles thrown at random directions, forcing her to keep her Dojutsu activated for her to evade. Naruto´s other two bunshins were on top of a nearby small lake improving on their elemental manipulation techniques, water and wind.
Back to the original, he was getting really tired of this awful technique.
He had already tried many different ways, but none was successful thus far and all he was able to do was pop a single hole in the balloon, not explode it like Jiraiya did. Spinning clockwise, spinning counter clockwise, spinning clockwise and then reversing in the middle…the balloon would contort in multiple ways, but so far, blowing it like Jiraiya did seemed to elude him. Naruto prided himself on his chakra control exercises…he had been training in this ever since he had met the Nidaime, but so far, nothing worked and his hands were getting numb from the exertion of focusing too much of his chakra into his palm.
"Ouch…" the original stopped his concentration as he heard Hinata holding her arm, probably from a shuriken that grazed her arm.
"Come on, Hinata, you have to move faster than this to dodge." The clone that was throwing the projectiles criticized her, though Hinata just nodded and fell into her Hyuuga stance once more, riling up her chakra.
"Ok, Naruto-kun, let's continue!"
The clone smirked and gathered shuriken in the midst of his fingers with a practiced hand as if the projectiles were always there. This second layered training was suggested to her by Neji, before she started this mission. He had trained like this for the Chuunin Exams together with his teammate Tenten. The Byakugan was a fantastic tool to use, with 360 degrees vision, though there was one angle that the eye couldn't see, thus its main flaw. Such a secret wasn't shared with Naruto, for obvious reasons, but Naruto's ability with shurikenjutsu forced her on her toes, regardless. Plus, she could feel herself getting stronger each time they tried, and it made her blood pump in excitement at seeing her progress.
So much so, that her father had praised her more constantly.
The clones with the elemental training weren't doing much, other than exerting control over the element. The one with the water element was busy both feeling for the water at the lake, creating small whirlpools where he stood, with his eyes closed and ram seal active. The clone with the wind chakra was focusing on the bird hand seal, extending his senses towards the air currents that passed by the clone. Like Asuma-sensei instructed, the clone pictured the two swords grinding against each other as he molded wind chakra continuously.
Everyone was being successful in their training, except for the original and Naruto was getting frustrated, which was a first. Realizing that he was allowing his emotions to cloud his judgement, Naruto stopped and closed his eyes.
'Well, this technique was the Yondaime's creation…no doubt, it's not something I can just force it.'
As he closed his eyes and worked to clean his mind of things, the Chuunin just focused on what he remembered from observing Jiraiya perform the technique for the first time. It was truly a work of beauty to see chakra swirling like that, contained in a small blue sphere. The energy was swirling in madness from every possible direction, left, right, upward, downward, clockwise, counter-clockwise, diagonal in all possible directions. When he next opened his eyes, Naruto decided to do just that…exploding his chakra in all possible directions, while inside the balloon. The clones and Hinata stopped what they were doing as they eyed the original scream, while riling his chakra to the maximum.
The balloon contorted in multiple shapes and forms, but it didn't explode. Still, this technique was quickly becoming his nemesis and he would rather blow his hand off than quit right now.
When the balloon then started shaping like multiple spikes in different directions, that's when Naruto made one final burst.
Splash!
The noise echoed in the dark clearing as the rest of his gathered chakra all but exploded outright from his hand, it was enough that made him fall on his butt and Hinata to shut her eyes from fear of being caught by the brightness.
Still, as the noise subsided, the clones were dispelled and the Hyuuga girl heard it as Naruto was laughing uncontrollably on the ground, despite the burns in his hand from chakra overuse.
"Naruto-kun, are you alright?" The Chuunin waved her concern off and got up from the ground.
"Yeah, Hinata, I was getting crazy with this balloon, you know!" The Hyuuga smiled, realizing how deep was her senpai's drive in overcoming obstacles.
"Well…well, what do you know, I didn't know you would be able to finish the first stage so quickly, gaki. Only two more to go!" The perverted Sannin made himself known the second Naruto managed to complete the first stage, earning a scolding from the Chuunin for not being helpful at all. Plus, he was gawking at having forgotten that there were still two stages left…he was so happy to have blown that damn balloon, but now…his victory lap was just slapped in the face. So, with a sigh, Naruto then turned to Jiraiya.
"So, any luck finding a lead or you were just enjoying yourself?" Jiraiya, though, looked like he couldn't care less.
"Mah..mah, don't be like that, you have to enjoy life…you can't be all mission that…mission this…" A small twitch from Naruto's eyebrow was enough for Jiraiya to smile and explain. "Okay, forget I said anything. Well, I have some leads, but not a very solid one. We shall move on to a nearby village and rest for the night…you know, a nice R&R would do us good. Tomorrow, I can teach you the second stage." Naruto would have complained, but he had exhausted his chakra tonight, with his training and could quite use the rest.
"Sure, I guess…perhaps a good meal, I'm starving. How about it, Hinata?" The girl just smiled and nodded, happy to check in a nice hotel and relax as well.
"A nice dinner sounds good, Naruto-kun…" Jiraiya just smirked and took them towards the village hotel he was staying at.
===Next Day===
Silk kimonos, a grandiose meal and a nice bed served Naruto and Hinata well, all courtesy of Jiraiya's paycheck.
The team then marched towards the next village where Jiraiya received the tip. Naruto's overall mood was peachy, until Jiraiya showed him the second stage. Seriously, at this point, Naruto was about to throw the rubber ball in his hand into Jiraiya's giant head. First phase was rotation, he said, the second stage, power. As they walked, Naruto tried again and again, with the same method as with the balloon. Sadly, it didn't work. No matter how much incentive from Hinata, Naruto wasn't getting anywhere.
"Calling it quits, gaki?" As the next village came into view, Naruto simply negated and sealed the rubber balls for later practice.
"No…just have to work some stuff in my mind, first. That's all." Jiraiya smirked.
"In this second phase, concentration on a single point is key."
Jiraiya then turned to Hinata, who nodded and once more activated her byakugan, but as usual, no one was in sight.
Jiraiya was frankly questioning at this point whether some of the girls at the brothels were just having a laugh at his expense, throwing false information like that.
"If I may ask…just why are we tracking her, anyway…?" Jiraiya looked to Naruto and wondered whether or not to explain the real reason…hell, half the mission was to find her and the other half was to get through her, somehow.
"Senju Tsunade is one of the Sannin like me and Orochimaru, but she is also the world's best medic, Naruto. Bringing her back to the village could help boost the village hospital and the Hokage wants to talk to her about other stuff."
"Wait…did you say, Senju?" Jiraiya and Hinata saw Naruto's eyes widening in surprise, though Hinata decided to ponder.
Jiraiya knew best about what was going on in Naruto's mind right now.
"Didn't you know, Naruto-kun…we covered the story of the Sannin at the academy. She is the First Hokage's granddaughter and the Second Hokage's grand-niece." The Chuunin nervously scratched his head in slight embarrassment.
"Now that you mentioned it…it must have slipped my mind, man, to believe we are about to meet her." Now, Naruto was quite eager to meet his teacher's family member, before he realized something and turned to Jiraiya. "But, if she's such an important medic, then why isn't she in Konoha already, running the hospital?" The Sannin hummed, knowing that he would have to give them at least the basic story, before finding her.
"Like all shinobi with a bad history, Tsunade has lost her way…and unfortunately is still struggling to find herself…" Naruto and Hinata then heard how she had lost both her little brother and her fiancée to the Shinobi War. Though with her fiancée, it was perhaps worse, since she was on the same mission and tried her best to save him, before he died in her arms. Hence why Tsunade had developed a phobia of blood, afterward, and has never treated a patient since. Her fiancée's blood in her hands had scarred her, perhaps for life.
"Sadly, ever since then, Senju Tsunade no longer cared about the village…she no longer cared about the shinobi world." Naruto and Hinata were both looking down at this point, in solace at her story.
"Ah Jiraiya-sama, shouldn't we leave her be, then? If she hadn't come back by now, then…"
In normal circumstances, neither Jiraiya nor Hiruzen would bother her after what she has been through, but circumstances, the real circumstances, didn't play in her favor, at least not anymore.
Right now, Jiraiya wasn't acting like his usual goofy self.
"You're right, Hinata, though no matter how much we sometimes want to escape from our past, we can't run forever." Then, like a switch, the pervert returned to his usual behavior and turned to his team. "Ok, enough with the sob story, let's go already. The sooner we find her, the sooner we can return to the village." This time, Naruto laughed and followed the perverted Sannin, with Hinata looking at their backs for a while, before following as well. Eventually, the team arrived in another city and since it was almost getting dark, Jiraiya settled them into an inn for the night, this time choosing one room for him and Naruto and one separate room for Hinata. The pervert was about to leave them be for the day, when he turned and his eyes glued to what appeared to be a beautiful woman with a revealing short dark blue dress, straight black hair and worst of all, winking suggestively at him.
Naruto and Hinata then turned to see what was going on, before looking at their so-called 'team leader'.
"Ohhhh my, would you look at that…such a good looking beauty!" Naruto could only sigh in dismay at Jiraiya for leaving them alone with that giddy look on his face, while Hinata turned to her second in command.
"You know, Hinata, I'm really getting tired of this so-called mission…I just hope that we find Tsunade at the next town we go to, or else I will lose it." The Hyuuga Genin couldn't help but agree, before she heard Naruto's stomach growl and giggle.
"We could get something to eat, then, and then come back." Naruto nodded, while placing both hands at the back of his head.
"Sure, you can choose the food…I doubt there's a decent ramen stand nearby."
===One hour later===
After dinner, Naruto and Hinata returned to the hotel and each went to their respective rooms as the sun began its descent. Jiraiya so far has been a no show.
Naruto was casually lying on his bed while observing the rubber ball that represented the second stage of the Rasengan. First step was rotation, the second step was power. However, the Chuunin was at a loss of how to proceed. In the first step, he rotated his chakra into multiple directions, until the balloon couldn't hold it. This time, doing the same thing, Naruto hadn't gotten close…the rubber would expand and contract slightly, but the ball's mass just wouldn't bend anytime soon. No, Naruto needed something else in this phase…though, he was still at a loss.
A sudden knock on his door alerted him, before he sighed, wondering if the pervert had forgotten his key or something.
He was about to grab the door handle, when his sensor skills became alert. His immediate perception was that Jiraiya was on the door wanting for him to open it. However, as he closed his eyes, Naruto could sense two presences outside the door, one only almost imperceptible and another barring on ludicrous capacity. Going through immediate safety precautions, Naruto had summoned a kage bunshin and ushered the clone to answer the door, while the original casted a disorienting Genjutsu around himself to leave the room as soon as the clone opened the door.
As the clone opened the door, his eyes landed straight into blood red eyes with three tomoe, belonging to a man wearing black cape with red clouds.
'That's the Sharingan, but…how come…there's another like Sasuke!'
This was the barely imperceptible chakra and the one next to him was the humongous feeling, a taller man with blue skin and carrying what appeared to be a sword strapped on his back. The original used great agility and slipped past the individuals, while the clone just stared at the men with the black capes. The original just observed the interaction, as he stood from within the hallway. For some reason, he just stood petrified there, wanting to know just who were these guys and why were they after him? The original Naruto flinched as soon as the Sharingan eyes turned to look at him, the real him, while the other just kept focusing on the clone instead.
"Well, Naruto-kun, I wouldn't imagine you to be knowledgeable in Genjutsu." Naruto released the illusion around himself, figuring that hiding from the Sharingan was useless.
The taller one looked surprised, before slamming his sword on the bunshin that was at the door.
"Heh, who would have thought that this would be the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki." The immediate information came to his brain as he felt the smashing of the taller one's sword hitting his head. Naruto could feel the enormous chakra that this guy had and wondered what was going on here and how did these two know about the Kyuubi or more importantly, how did they know that he housed the nine-tailed fox. Though, Naruto could also ask about the sudden appearance of another Uchiha when Sasuke was perceived to be the last one.
'Could it be…that this is his brother Itachi?'
"Who are you two and just how do you know about the Kyuubi in me?" The taller one was grabbing the hilt of his sword the entire time, displaying a condescending smirk, while Itachi betrayed nothing.
"Resistance is futile, Naruto-kun, you shall come with us."
Naruto at this point felt his chakra being invaded and narrowed his eyebrows, before releasing the Genjutsu that Itachi had planted on him, surprisingly enough with a mere glance of his eyes. If the Uchiha was surprised that Naruto had released the illusion, then he wasn't showing it. However, the sudden water drop beneath his neck showed just how much of an effort it was for Naruto to overcome the illusion placed by the Sharingan. It proved just how dangerous this opponent was compared to Sasuke.
"Neh, Itachi, it would be quite a pain if this brat decides to escape, so perhaps it's better if I rip one of his legs off, you know, as guarantee." Naruto saw the bigger one walk towards him, threateningly. One step was all it took for Naruto to go through hand seals at surprising speeds.
Fuuton Senpuken (Wind Style: Whirlwind Fist Technique)
Focusing enough wind on his wrist, Naruto punched the air close to the enemy, sending a gush of wind straight at his position. Though, the enemy was faster and merely placed his sword in front of him with a smirk. Naruto looked surprised to see that his technique was reduced to a mere breeze that barely moved the enemy's hair. Realizing that the enemy was close by; Naruto created distance by running from the walls, while his eyes focused on Itachi and the other guy's movements. He was feeling way out of his league at the moment and it showed by the worry on his frown.
"Impressive little skills, though not enough, little fox." Despite his tremendous size, the enemy was in front of Naruto instantly and the Chuunin went through quick hand seals, before gathering enough water inside his lungs.
Suiton Suidan no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Bullet Technique)
Naruto emitted a blast of water from his mouth that catapulted his body backwards and evaded the blue man's sword attack. Going by his fight with his sword was ill-advised as this guy's sword was bigger than he was. As such, Naruto really had nothing else to do here, other than use the big guns and hope beyond hope that his chakra output would be perceived by Jiraiya, though he hoped that Hinata wouldn't try to show up. Itachi and his partner instantly saw as Naruto placed both hands facing forward as the goblets of water surrounded him. Itachi's Sharingan was busy analyzing this strange phenomena of a shinobi having such control over the water element, aside from his partner. Itachi's partner was observing with a smirk the entire time.
"Neh, so you're also adept at water Ninjutsu as well, huh, quite interesting." Despite the overwhelming threat, Naruto smiled, knowing that after what he was going to do, this entire place would be under water.
"Yeah, can't hold back with you two, it seems." Despite the bravado, Naruto was screaming in his head for Jiraiya to show up already.
Suiton Suishouha (Water Style: Water Shockwave Technique)
===With Hinata===
At this point, Hyuuga Hinata was running as fast as her legs were able to.
Seeing that her room was somewhat close to Naruto, she heard the commotion in the hallway and quickly activated the Byakugan. As soon as she saw Naruto fighting against two other people, she at first wanted to go and help him. However, one mere look from her all-seeing eye showed that she would just be a hindrance against whoever was after her senpai. As such, the only other alternative she had was to search for Jiraiya and bring him to the inn as fast as possible. A quick stop and Hinata was right in front of what appeared to be another brothel of all places and she heard the boasting laughter of the man who was supposed to be a proud member of the Sannin.
'Another…mmm….but Naruto-kun needs help.'
Quickly activating the byakugan, Hinata saw that the man was simply taking a seat drinking sake while two harlots were giving him a massage. Gathering enough courage, Hinata barged inside the tent.
"Jiraiya-sama…hurry, two men are attacking Naruto-kun. You have to help him!" The pervert was quite inebriated and didn't make sense of Hinata's sudden appearance. That alone made the little girl mad as hell as the veins around her eyes bulged at her anger. "Come on, already!" Jiraiya then blinked twice, seemingly waking up from whatever trance he was in right now. The girl with the blue dress had also snapped at attention, looking around as if wondering just how she got here of all places.
Jiraiya was up and about the second his bearings returned and he vanished from his position with Hinata in tow.
===With Naruto===
After a couple of minutes, the entire floor was a mess.
The walls were dampened and filled with sword marks and even scorch marks courtesy of Itachi's fire Ninjutsu to break Naruto's water defense. The Chuunin was on the ground, with enough bruises and scratches from Itachi's partner's sword.
Naruto even attempted to summon Gamatsurugi, but Itachi stopped his hand signs before he could finish the calling. The former ANBU then used expert Taijutsu against Naruto, who tried as hard as he could to evade and turn the tables on Itachi using Genjutsu as per Yuugao-sensei's teachings. However, nothing that he did managed to gain him any space for breathing. Not even Genjutsu which seemingly worked against the tall guy, but Itachi dispelled it quickly. Right now, Naruto was on the ground panting for breath as Itachi's partner appeared in front of him, with his sword and still had the condescending smirk.
"Heh, that was quite entertaining, little fox. Perhaps in a couple years, you could provide a better show for us." Naruto looked as the man lifted his sword upward and was about to slice him in equal pieces.
At this moment, Naruto flipped and sent a barrage of shuriken at the enemy, however his projectiles were parried by Itachi's, who was focusing on Naruto the entire time with his Sharingan.
Despite the threat to his life, Naruto couldn't help but chuckle, remembering when the Nidaime complained about how much of a drag it was to face the complete Sharingan in battle.
"You know I'm starting to curse those eyes of yours." Itachi said nothing in reply, but his partner was another matter.
"So, you still have some spunk in you, kid. Though, I wonder why you're not using the fox's chakra to escape…" Naruto looked at the man's eyes like he was crazy.
Actually, now that he thought about it, Naruto was still determined to see how to do that. The fox did talk about it. Once again, Naruto laughed at the situation, while feeling his chakra coils burn like crazy at the amount of effort he had to use.
"Guess I'm not a good jinchuuriki then, huh." Kisame snorted humorously at the kid's joke.
"Hah, indeed, well, it's over!" He swung his sword to attack Naruto, before smoke erupted in front of the kneeling Naruto. Kisame felt something akin to steel blocking his sword, wondering what was going on, before a red toad wearing samurai armor appeared, blocking the sword. Hinata appeared next to Naruto and quickly got him out of the way, before checking his wounds, while Jiraiya's eyes were focused on the enemies. Though, looking around, it surprised the perverted Sannin that Naruto ended up facing these two in direct combat.
"Well, it seems I got here right in time…" The Sannin was smirking, while observing the opposition. "So, it took you two long enough to show up to target Naruto."
Kisame and Itachi both narrowed their eyes at the perverted Sannin.
"Indeed, kidnapping Naruto is our organization Akatsuki's biggest goal right now."
Hinata looked towards Itachi, wondering why they were after Naruto, while the Chuunin was looking at Itachi, this time, managing to breathe easier with Jiraiya here.
"I won't let you take him…" Jiraiya then smiled. "In fact, this is perfect, as I intend to get rid of you two right now." Itachi said nothing and Kisame snorted as he then advanced to attack Jiraiya.
However, the perverted Sannin was waving hand seals even before Kisame's first movements.
Ninpou Gamaguchi Shibari no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Toad Mouth Bind Technique)
Kisame stopped moving as his foot got trapped in what appeared to be a red substance that spread throughout the hallway, until it was enveloped completely. The slick walls even dragged Naruto and Hinata protectively, while Jiraiya just observed his two foes. Kisame's foot was slowly getting dragged as well, before he and Itachi eyed the smirk that formed on Jiraiya's face right now.
"It's quite unfortunate, Itachi and Kisame. You two are right now inside the esophagus of a toad from Mount Myoboku. You can't escape here. Since you're wanted criminals, you shall become food for the toad!"
The Sharingan user narrowed his eyes at the smirking Sannin as his eyes worked double, trying to understand any weakness to this jutsu. That all took less than one second, before he turned to his partner in crime.
"Kisame, let's go." The man in question looked at Itachi in question, but when his sword got pulled by the red substance. That was his cue to leave as Itachi started running on the opposite side. Jiraiya, still, with his hands on the ground, issued a command and the esophagus's bowels moved to capture its food. Kisame's sword worked wonders in stopping its advance, but it didn't serve to save them for long as the bowels kept on going, regardless. At this point, a small shred of doubt began to appear in Kisame's visage, as they were right now inside the stomach of a gigantic toad. Itachi just ran, saying nothing, as he focused all of his remaining chakra into his eyes to activate the power of the Mangekyou Sharingan. Jiraiya at first was certain that he had captured these two, when he felt the sudden technique from Itachi, followed by a noise of destruction.
Getting up from placing his hands on the ground, the Sannin walked closer to the hallway where Itachi and Kisame left, only to see a gigantic hole at the end, opened by black flames.
A couple miles away from the location, Kisame and Itachi were jumping on top of a lake towards a safe location, as Kisame kept looking at the sweaty Itachi.
"Why did we back off? We could have taken on Jiraiya, together." Itachi, for his chance, tried to cover his breathing so as not to appear weak, but it was a failed endeavor.
"We're not in a hurry to capture Naruto, Kisame. Plus, I have to rest my body for a while." Aside from having to use Amaterasu to escape their entrapment, Itachi wasn't counting on Uzumaki Naruto fighting back like he did.
"Heh, still, didn't expect that brat to pull up that much of a fight…it will be interesting to hunt him down, once he gets a few more years." Itachi looked at his partner in crime for a while, before looking forward. Strangely, looking at the way Naruto fought reminded Itachi of the members of the ROOT ANBU, though he seemed to have full faculty over his emotions. His movements were precise, he had knowledge of how to fight against the Sharingan and his Ninjutsu casting speed was way too experienced for a recently promoted Chuunin. Not to mention the expertise in Genjutsu and the fact that Naruto had already taken action before he opened the door, which suggested him being a sensor on top of everything else. Who's to say just how strong he could be, once he starts to use the fox's chakra.
For a moment, Itachi wondered if that man was training the jinchuuriki and actually trembled at the consequences of his train of thought.
"We should report at once, Kisame."
Back at the inn, Jiraiya had worked immediately to seal the fire, after dispelling the summoning technique.
He, then, walked back to where Hinata was treating Naruto's wounds, with what appeared to be a special ointment of her making.
"You did good, Hinata…" The girl looked surprised and then looked at Naruto's cerulean eyes and his fatigued smile. "I had a feeling that it was you who found Jiraiya and warned him of what's going on, right?"
"Ah…well, yeah…one look at them with the Byakugan and I realized that I would just be in the way."
Despite wondering why Naruto ended up fighting, the girl was beaming at her senpai's praise, while continuing the treatment just as Jiraiya arrived with his arms crossed with judgement.
"Never would have thought you'd be that naïve to think you could face two S-ranked criminals and survive." Naruto took a long breath to calm himself down and then exchanged eyes with the accuser, who had simply forgotten to mention that he was being targeted by S-ranked criminals in the first place. Still, having this discussion right now in front of Hinata would only lead to more questions…questions that he just couldn't answer right now. Though, he couldn't know just what would stop him more from answering, either the fact that it was an S-ranked secret or the fact that he feared what her reaction would be, if he did talk about it.
"It would be even more naïve to believe that I could escape from S-ranked criminals." That got an amused snort from Jiraiya as he continued. "Though, facing a fully-evolved Sharingan and a sword that apparently absorbs Ninjutsu was quite the hassle."
Naruto had a bunch of questions right now, but he would have to hold them for now.
"Huh, well, we should depart…or else, the inn will bring us the bill and I don't fancy having to pay for your mess." Naruto's eyebrows were twitching at this point as the perverted Sannin was clearly goading him.
Hinata appeared clueless at the hidden exchange between Sannin and Chuunin.
"Yeah…yeah, let's go, the sooner the mission finishes, the better." Naruto flinched slightly as he placed his right foot for him to stand, but otherwise he felt fine as both the fox's chakra and Hinata's ointment were working its magic.
Still, the Sannin wasn't done teasing.
"Ohhh, getting tired of me, already…and here I was enjoying our nice little bonding moment." Naruto sighed this time as the pervert now went for the theatrics.
===With Tsunade===
In a not so family friendly city at night, two women were seen inside what appeared to be a gambling parlor filled with slot machines.
The first woman had short black hair at shoulder length and wore a long bluish-black kimono. She was desperately standing behind the second woman and both were looking at one specific slot machine, that was now spinning, while wishing madly that they received the jackpot of showing three times the number 7. The second woman, the one who was gambling, is a fair skinned woman with brown eyes and straight blonde hair that parts above her forehead. A bit more than shoulder-length, her hair is tied in two loose ponytails. Her outfit consisted of a grass green haori with the kanji for gamble on the back, inside a red circle. Underneath, she wears a grey, kimono-style blouse with no sleeves, held closed by a broad, dark bluish obi that matches her pants.
While the first woman was eager to see the three sevens appear on the screen, the second one looked like she couldn't care less, while the wheels kept on turning.
The reason behind the first woman being so eager, was that they had lost so much money already in other gambling parlors, that they needed to pay the debt. But, the thought of losing once more was also weighing on them, at least the first one.
"Seven! Seven!" The first two sevens appeared and the first woman was practically screaming for the third one to appear.
When the third seven appeared out of the blue, both women showed clear surprise.
"It seems that luck must show itself eventually, huh, Tsunade-sama?" The first woman named Shizune was smiling as she inclined to praise the one and only Tsunade Senju of the Sannin, who for her chance, was busy interpreting what happened.
Did I manage to get three sevens?'
Still, perhaps goaded by the owner and the rest of the customers, Tsunade had decided to take the winnings and gamble once more. By perhaps the twentieth time of the same result appearing and the coins piling in next to her, Shizune was glowing in happiness at her master's luck returning. However, Tsunade was still looking at the machine, wondering if this was a bad omen or something. After all, this was perhaps the first time in a long…long time that she had won this amount of money in one setting.
Clearly, something's about to go wrong.
===With Naruto===
The next day, the team walked towards the very next town in their mission called Tanzaku Gai.
In Jiraiya's mind, the city would be his teammate's favorite place to be, considering her little hobby of blowing off her family fortune in gambling and even other people's money for that matter.
Yesterday, he had thought best to camp instead of going to another inn to sleep. As such, Jiraiya just waited for Naruto and Hinata to sleep, so that he could keep watch. Unsurprisingly, Naruto had awakened a few hours earlier for them to have a nice chat about precisely why Uchiha Itachi and the other guy named Hoshigaki Kisame, whom like Momochi Zabuza, happened to be a former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, were after him or more precisely, after what he contained. In the end, the Sannin hadn't sugarcoated anything. He told Naruto everything he knew about this so-called Akatsuki organization and the fact that Itachi and Kisame are merely two of the known members. Naruto also came to know that aside from him and Sabaku no Gaara, there were seven other jinchuuriki as well.
In the end, all Naruto said before going back for more sleep was that he would be finishing the Rasengan by the time they returned to Konoha.
Jiraiya already knew that the kid meant business when it comes to training, but there was something different in his look, when he boasted about learning in mere weeks what took years for the Yondaime Hokage to create.
Right now, as they walked, while Hinata was openly using her Dojutsu and reporting her findings, or lack thereof, to Jiraiya, Naruto was simply staring at the rubber ball in his hand. He only had two bullet points from the pervert regarding the second stage. While the first stage was rotation, the second stage was power and Naruto needed to concentrate on a single point. Hardly, a nicely drawn map to exploding the damn rubber ball, in his mind. As the rubber ball became his entire world, Naruto's mind started reminiscing.
"You lack focus!"
Those three words came barging in so fast that the Chuunin surprised himself. Going back, when Naruto started training with the Nidaime Hokage, finishing the tree climbing exercise was proving to be taxing on his patience.
Naruto, back then, would either use too much, or too little and he just couldn't finish the exercise. It was because of this that Tobirama introduced Naruto to meditation and even added the need to keep the leaf glued to the forehead. In order to pass and come back to the tree climbing exercise, Naruto, back then, had to keep the leaf stuck to his forehead for an entire day, while meditating.
'Hah, of course, that task savage bastard had forgotten to mention that he would be using water whips to keep me from the goal'
Still, the memory brought about a smile on the blond Chuunin as he then took another hard look at the rubber ball. Naruto needed this power…he needed this technique against this organization who's after him.
He needed this technique, above all else, to help protect the village…just like the Nidaime instructed him to.
The image of his sensei smiling proudly at him gave him strength. However, strangely so, the image of a blond man, wearing a long white cape on top of a Jounin uniform also surged in his mind.
It showed the man's back as the winds gently swayed his white cape.
Closing his eyes, Naruto stopped walking, which had gotten Jiraiya and Hinata's attention. When he next opened his eyes, both Jiraiya and Hinata felt the sudden pulse from his chakra like a sonar. The blue chakra surrounded his entire body as Naruto narrowed his eyebrows and extended his hand that was holding the rubber ball. Jiraiya at first felt the balloon stir some, already thinking that the kid was still some miles short from reaching the goal, when the pulse got stronger and stronger, as the rubber ball started shaking violently.
"Hahhh!"
With a final scream and with his hands already shaking from exertion, one final burst and the rubber ball violently exploded from his hand as the gathered chakra then scattered up in the air.
Still, Naruto ended up gathering so much that his body was catapulted towards a thick tree behind him, hitting it violently. Hinata was already yelling his name and checking to see if he was okay, while Jiraiya just kept on looking at the kid…no, he couldn't call him that anymore. It was barely a day or two since he had finished the first stage and now he had managed to complete the second stage. Such a growth rate was simply astonishing…first with the summoning Ninjutsu and now learning two out of three steps of the Rasengan in less than a week…as he looked at the Chuunin getting up from the ground, Jiraiya couldn't help but see the image of another person.
'Hmmm, the kid has the potential to surpass even you…Minato.'
With the final stage underway, which consisted of not only merging the two first stages, by keeping all the energy contained and spinning madly inside a spherical ball of chakra, the three had entered the city of Tanzaku Gai when Hinata once more activated her Byakugan.
"Jiraiya-sama…" the pervert noticed the change in her tone and smirked.
===With Tsunade===
After collecting her strange winnings for the day, Tsunade and Shizune had decided to spend it all in a nice quiet evening of sake and food. Well, Shizune was more for the food as by the amount of empty bottles at the table, it was clear that the female Sannin was more for the drinks. Still, Shizune was still quite happy about the sudden change in their luck as she was commenting left and right about it. Tsunade, however, was still wondering what the World reserved for her now. Still, right now, her only focus was on…
"Hey…more sake over here, please!" Shizune was feeding her pet pig with a sigh, while Tsunade stood over their table, ordering yet another bottle.
"Tsunade-sama, isn't that enough…tomorrow, you'll wake up with a headache." The Sannin frowned at her travelling companion.
"Oi, who do you think you're talking to Shizune…hey, where's the sake!" the black-haired woman could only complain to herself at this point. However, the mood in the bar all changed once three new people approached their table.
"Oh, long time no see, Tsunade…drinking and gambling as per usual!" The women both turned to see Jiraiya followed by the two youngsters behind him.
"Jiraiya!" Tsunade yelled in her inebriated state, before pointing accusingly at the pervert, now aware of just why she was winning all of a sudden. "What are you doing here, huh…"
"Jeez, is that anyway of greeting a friend, Tsunade, now, Naruto, Hinata, take a seat and let's have some dinner, shall we?" Naruto and Hinata looked at each other and then both looked at Tsunade, who was supposed to be one of the Sannin, looking quite hammered. Though, Naruto kept on looking at her for quite some time, as if bothered that something was wrong in this picture. The Chuunin took a seat next to Jiraiya, while Hinata approached Shizune and the pig to introduce herself.
"Ah, hi, I am Hyuuga Hinata. Nice to meet you." Shizune was thrilled to meet another person for the first time in ages. And seeing Hinata petting her pig, made her even more thrilled.
"Hi there, Hinata-chan, I'm Shizune Kato, nice to meet you and this is Tonton." Hinata kept patting the pig, who appreciated it.
Meanwhile, Tsunade was still eyeing the biggest threat at the table that was Jiraiya, even after the pervert's meal arrived. However, as per usual, the man's unnerving and playful smirk remained in full force.
Her eyes, then, travelled to the blond Chuunin next to him, who was still staring at her. She was about to berate him from apparently looking at her breasts, when she became aware of his eyesight being directed to her face. Still, she was in the middle of a nice round of sake and didn't have time to deal with this kid.
"Just why are you staring at me like that, huh shrimp? Who is he, Jiraiya?" Before Jiraiya could respond, Naruto just humored her, now realizing what was going on.
"Why are you using a hen…"
Tsuande narrowed her eyes instantly, Shizune got comically worked up and Jiraiya's hands immediately covered Naruto's mouth, cursing the kid's sensor capabilities, while whispering that he would explain later.
"What did you say to me, brat?"
Still, Tsuande was right now quite irritatingly demanding answers, ignoring Jiraiya's attempts to change the subject. Naruto, for his part, looked at the last member of the Senju and tried seeing any resemblance to Tobirama-sensei.
However, sadly, he couldn't see any.
"Nothing, forget I said anything. You asked for my name, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you, Senju Tsunade." Her eyes widened in surprise at the name as she remembered him as the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki.
Dinner then proceeded quietly. Shizune was chatting with Hinata, while Tsunade and Jiraiya were simply drinking sake after sake, while not talking much. Naruto was only interested in the food, now wondering when they will be back in the village, since they had completed the mission. He still had the third part of the Rasengan to finish, after all. Once the food was taken away, the tension returned as both Sannin stared at one another, Tsunade with her eyes narrowed and Jiraiya with a smile.
"Ah Shizune, why don't you take Naruto and Hinata to book us a hotel for the night. I want to catch up a bit with an old friend." Shizune looked at Jiraiya for a while and then at Tsunade, before seeing her subtle nod.
"Ok then, let's go then…the inn is a few blocks from here and then we can get to know each other, over some tea."
Naruto and Hinata got up from their seats and followed Shizune out of the restaurant. Tsunade was looking at Naruto's back, until the door closed.
"I apologize for his comment before, Tsunade…I guess he was curious that's all." Tsunade's eyes then returned to Jiraiya, as he urged for another round of sake.
"I didn't realize you had taken another student under your wing, Jiraiya." Her eyes lacked much focus, but Jiraiya knew that her interest was picked. And considering just who was responsible for the kid, Jiraiya considered using this card in his favor. It's not like Tsunade isn't aware of many of Konoha's S-ranked secrets and the Hokage didn't object to Tsunade hearing about it, if it meant that he could convince her to at least come back and converse with the man.
"Oh no, young Naruto is going places, alright, but I have only taught him a few things, that's all." Still, Tsunade fainted disinterest and once again, asked the main question.
"So, spill it…what did you want to talk to me about?" Jiraiya snorted and drank some sake. It took a long time to search for her, so Jiraiya wouldn't waste the opportunity to push her buttons. After all, the night is young and counting the number of empty sake bottles, he knew that they could go on for a long time, still.
"Jeez, what's with the scrutiny here Tsunade, it's been ages since we last shared a drink together." Sadly, Tsunade knew too much about her perverted teammate.
"My patience is wearing thin, Jiraiya." The pervert pacified her with both hands up.
"Ok ok, easy now, Tsunade…Jeez, much too serious these days." Tsunade's eyes now picked up on Jiraiya's serious look and paid attention. "Did you hear about Konoha being invaded by Suna and Oto?"
"Yes, it's been the talk from these parts for a while now, though I hear that the invasion was foiled in the end. So what happened?" Jiraiya's tone became more subtle at this point.
"Orochimaru happened, Tsunade…not only did he kill the Kazekage and forced Suna into the invasion, but he did it so that he could get close to Sensei and kill him." Her eyes widened at the news, before remembering the old man.
"Is he…is he dead?" Her whisper was eased up by Jiraiya's smile, followed by him negating.
"Though, he would be, if not for Naruto…" Her look alone explained just how far fetched all this sounded right now.
"Huh, just how could a lone Chuunin, and a kid at that, be responsible for keeping Orochimaru from killing sensei?"
Jiraiya just smirked and told the woman just what their sensei had told him. When she heard that the very person who had tutored Naruto was none other than Senju Tobirama, even if only a shadow clone of the man, Tsunade's mouth dropped and hanged open for kami knows how long. Uzumaki Naruto was tutored by the Nidaime Hokage, her very own grand-uncle. Ever since Tsunade was a child, she always viewed the man as unapproachable. Entirely different from her grandfather, Senju Hashirama, who was a sparkling sunshine of hope for everyone in the village. In fact, the few times Tsunade had ever interacted with her grand-uncle was in formal clan festivities, the kind of which you rarely interacted with people.
"Orochimaru had committed a vile act, Tsunade…bringing Hashirama-sama and Tobirama-sama from the dead using a forbidden technique…and Sarutobi-sensei was fighting against both, but would eventually succumb to their combined prowess. It was Naruto who managed to use the Nidaime's knowledge to break Tobirama-sama free from Orochimaru's control and thus aided sensei in releasing Hashirama-sama and defeating Orochimaru. Only once more, sensei let the snake flee."
"Wow…that's…quite the story, Jiraiya." Indeed, it was…no doubt, Konoha has had enough stories of powerful individuals who were responsible for miracles, even if this one was closer to home than she realized. "However, I still fail to understand just what it is you want to talk to me about. If sensei's fine and all…" Jiraiya nodded, all too aware that he wouldn't convince her by simply telling Naruto and Tobirama's story.
"Yes, well, I guess it's pointless to stir you away, Tsunade. The truth is that sensei wishes to discuss some topics with you."
"About what?" The response already came filled with venom at the prospect of going back to the hellhole.
"Beats me…" Her narrowed eyes felt like one of her punches and this time, Jiraiya truly felt her killing intent. "Truth be told, Tsunade, not even he is completely sure at this point. Part of him wishes never to bother you, after what you've been through…However, sensei is getting old, Tsunade…he is at that stage when he's reevaluating some aspects of his life and that of the village. And he's quite keen on having this conversation with you." Tsunade snorted at the notion.
"You talk as if he's offering me the position of the Godaime Hokage…" Jiraiya smirked at that.
"Like I said, he's not completely sure of his intentions at this point…at the very least, he is only interested in having a conversation with you. Depending on how that goes, you would be free to do as you please, afterward."
"Huh, as if I believe you, Jiraiya. For all intents and purposes, you are sugarcoating this to convince me to come back and never be allowed to leave." A frown appeared on the perverted Sannin as a response.
To this day, Tsunade hated the village, but she had never displayed such accusations towards Sarutobi-sensei.
"Sensei would never do that and even if those old coots of the council tried something, well, they would have to pass through me, first." Still, Tsunade looked unconvinced, however before Jiraiya started talking once more, he saw the sudden look of introspection from the medical Sannin. Truth be told, Jiraiya was using his methods of persuasion here, because the level of scrutiny was rather high, though not so much deserved at this point. True that sensei may offer her the position of Godaime Hokage, but that would only happen once she decided to stay in the village.
"Ok, we shall go…" Jiraiya smiled. "But…one foul play from Konoha, Jiraiya, then not even you nor sensei will be able to stop me from tearing that place to shreds."
"Huh, you don't have to sell me on it, Tsunade, my jaw has been victimized by that strength of yours one too many times to know you're serious." At that, Jiraiya could see a smile forming on Tsunade's lips.
"I'll bet…"
===Next Day==
After the group parted from Tanzaku Gai heading towards Konoha, Shizune was clearly the most excited of the two new additions as she pestered both Naruto and Hinata about names of her peers back in the day.
She was ecstatic to hear that Kurenai and Asuma were both Hinata and Naruto's senseis when Naruto was a Genin, that is. Shiranui Genma, Naruto vaguely recalled him as the proctor of the last phase of the Chuunin Exams and Shizune had even blushed a little at his name. Though the woman tried denying it, once Tsunade came up behind him and teased her about it. Still, they were only Genin when Shizune left with Tsunade, so it was more like a childhood crush, more than anything.
The group then made a stop once the road indicated a right turn path. The medical Sannin indicated her desire to stop by a hot spring onsen nearby.
"Hot spring?"
"Yes, turning here, there is a nice hot spring resort we can all enjoy…" Jiraiya frowned at the idea. "What seems to be the rush anyway? It's not like sensei is going away anytime soon…a day or two later won't make a difference."
Naruto, Shizune and Hinata were all quiet, just waiting for the senior shinobi to decide the path they should take. Jiraiya, for his part, just crossed his arms, indicating that he was against the idea. Still, Tsunade had one last move up her sleeve, as she approached her friend and started whispering in his ear.
"You know, the hot springs in this place are mixed bathing…" Her smile was evident in her face as she saw the instant lecherous visage on his face at the mention.
Then, like Naruto and Hinata were now accustomed to seeing, Jiraiya marched towards the right path and Tsunade just eyed him with a smile on her face at her plan working.
"Well, you know, sometimes it's necessary for humans to take breathers. Let's take a nice relaxing bath!" Tsunade laughed shortly and followed suit, next to Shizune. Naruto and Hinata followed soon afterwards, both wondering just how long it would take to finally arrive in Konoha and finish this drag. Hell, if their teammate was here, Shikamaru would have complained long and hard every chance he got.
===At the Hot Spring Resort===
It turned out, though, that unlike Tsunade, the hot springs were not mixed today and such, Hinata, Tsunade and Shizune stood on one side, while Jiraiya and Naruto stood on the other side of the hot spring.
"Well, it was indeed nice to stop by…it's quite relaxing indeed." Naruto said, almost on the verge of sleeping, while hearing the pervert murmuring by his side. Opening one eye to look at the fuming Sannin, Naruto decided to just ignore it and fully close his eyes, while feeling the nice and relaxing waters. Meanwhile, on the other side of the hot spring, Tsunade, Shizune and Hinata were also enjoying themselves, until all three jumped slightly upon hearing the complaint from Jiraiya from the other side, followed by Naruto's voice.
"Ah Tsuande, you tricked me…there is no mixed bathing in here!"
"What are you complaining about? I'm trying to sleep here."
Tsuande giggled hard at gaining one up on her old friend.
===Late at night===
Once everyone left the hot springs, it was now time for a nice dinner, of course, paid on Jiraiya's expenses as per Tsunade's insistence.
A few hours later, Jiraiya was already passed out sleeping and Hinata and Shizune chose to settle down for the night as well.
Tsunade was out of the inn, wearing the Resort's robes and taking a quiet stroll around the property, lost in thought about going back to the village once more, even if it was just to talk with the Hokage. It was times like these when Tsunade reminisced at the memories of her loved ones, her baby brother and her fiancée, both tragedies from the Second Great Ninja War. Both had the same dreams and ambitions, but eventually, they all perished, just like the previous Hokages, with sensei's exception.
Along the path, Tsunade then became transfixed by a beautiful sight of a river nearby the inn, glowing under the moon's reflection. As she walked, her eyes became mesmerized as the goblets of water just hovering around the lake, in fact, the water molecules were all hovering around the center of the lake and she could see Naruto dressed in his full shinobi attire, standing in the middle of the lake, with his eyes closed and holding the ram sign. Being an expert medic-nin, Tsunade had perfect chakra control. As such, she was surprised when she felt his chakra expanding, until it reached her position. It felt warm…comforting even…before when Jiraiya said that her granduncle trained Naruto, she was dubious, but seeing such level of control over the water element, there was no denying it anymore.
Thus, inclining her body towards a nearby tree, she just stood there, watching the show of lights. Then, when she saw him opening his eyes, she gasped when the water droplets stopped hovering and the all too familiar sphere of chakra formed in his right hand. It wasn't the same, the energy appeared rotating and it had power, but the usual membrane around the sphere ball of chakra wasn't there…at least not yet. Still, she could see glimmers of said membrane forming around the sphere…it wasn't yet finished, but…it was no less astounding to see the kid on the final stages of the Rasengan.
"Oh no, young Naruto is going places, alright, but I have only taught him a few things, that's all."
Those were Jiraiya's words back then at Tanzaku Gai as she eyed the technique right now starting to simmer from his hand, before Naruto stopped the flow of chakra with a small curse.
He was about to call it quits, when he turned and saw Tsunade there, looking at him. She walked on top of the water until being near him.
"I thought I was the only one awake…" Tsunade smiled at the comment.
"Well, at night is when I tend to have some time to myself to think. That was a nice show…I was surprised to see that my grand-uncle passed along his techniques to someone at least." Naruto narrowed his eyes at the mention.
"How…ah, Jiraiya told you about it, huh…just great." Tsunade snorted at the kid.
"I may not be around anymore Naruto, but I'm still a Sannin…there are many secrets I'm privy to, regarding the village." The Chuunin still didn't look pleased that another person knew.
"Okay, well, seeing as it was Jiraiya who must have told you, I guess it is okay, but the Hokage still had declared it an S-ranked secret." Tsunade acknowledged the information as she followed him outside the lake, before she saw Naruto grab a small towel and use it to wipe the sweat from his face. "I guess I shall head back to sleep for the night, are you going too?" The Sannin negated, though she was more interested in having a conversation with him as she was now curious.
"I would like to ask you something, before you go." Naruto then turned and placed the towel behind his neck.
"What is it?"
"How was it…training under him?" Naruto lifted an eyebrow and Tsunade amended. "Despite Tobirama-Oji being my grand uncle, I never interacted much with him."
"Well…he was strict…that's the first word I would use." Tsuande nodded, getting that impression as well, but she saw the nostalgic smile on his face, which indicated a deeper bond. "But, he helped me when no one else would in the village. Hokage-sama always meant well, but he couldn't keep up with looking out for me and looking out for the village. Tobirama-sensei taught me many things, despite the short time we've been together. I will always be grateful that he considered me worth his while and I shall carry on the one and only mission he entrusted me with." The fierce look in his eyes at the memory of Tobirama's last words still rang true in his mind.
"What mission is that?"
"To train hard and commit myself into learning more and more, but above all else, use these skills to better protect Konoha and its citizens." Tsunade's eyes widened at seeing those eyes and the proclamation.
"This village is our grandfather's treasure! I'm going to protect it! Cuz I'm the grandson of the First Hokage!" the memory of Tsunade's younger brother Nawaki surged.
"I love this village and my comrades…so I want to protect them." the memory of her fiancee's words back then as both of them had one single dream.
To become Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato.
"Huh, protect Konoha and its citizens." Naruto looked at her and wondered about the sudden sad smile on her face. "Like a Hokage?" He then laughed briefly and that got Tsunade's attention as Naruto was now looking at the sky.
"Hokage? Huh, there was a time when I desired the position above all else in this world. As you grow, you tend to learn just precisely what that job entails. Protecting everyone is the shinobi's duty and is indeed what I work hard for every day, but I do aspire for bigger things, so who knows…perhaps, if the village deems me worthy of becoming Hokage in the future, then nothing would stop me from accepting…otherwise, I would still protect everyone and the village, just like Tobirama-sensei believed in me."
Tsunade eyed Naruto's and saw great wisdom coming from his words…it wasn't a kid boasting about the impossible, but rather a young man with a clear path ahead of him, despite the obvious obstacles.
Eyeing his tenacity and dedication to the mission passed by the Second Hokage, Tsunade couldn't help but be impressed and see that for a man like Tobirama Senju to believe in Naruto, then he must be quite special indeed.
Then, surprising the Chuunin, Tsunade stepped forward and landed a sweet kiss on his forehead with her eyes closed.
"Well, keep it up then, Naruto-kun…who knows, perhaps a few years down the line, I can witness your achievements and see for myself, whether or not you shall inherit their dreams." Naruto looked at the woman in wonder, while Tsunade smiled peacefully at him, before departing, but not before a small tear drop hovered in the air as soon as she left the clearing, back to the hotel.
===Next Day===
When the time came for the group to depart once more, Jiraiya was searching for Naruto, when he found the Chuunin staring at a group of trees in a clearing.
Deciding to observe for the time being, he watched as Naruto started the first and second steps of the Rasengan in his right hand. His eyes were closed in deep concentration and Jiraiya could feel the magnitude of his chakra being focused on a single point in his right hand. At this point, it was evident that the two stages were already well-mastered. Jiraiya's eyes, though, widened slightly as he perceived the thin energy membrane surrounding the swirling sphere of chakra and best of all, the fact that the kid was sustaining it. The look of effort in controlling it all was evident on his face as the Chuunin managed to focus on the target that is the set of trees in front of him. As soon as he slammed the now completed swirling sphere of chakra, the tree exploded into multiple splinters, just like the other trees nearby in a straight path.
Despite his lack of breath, Naruto's look of elation at finally finalizing the technique pretty much floored Jiraiya, but a smile was evident on his face as he witnessed it happening right before his eyes.
Author Note
Okay, I shall stop for now. I know it was rather long, but I really wanted to finish the Tsunade arc and had a lot of ideas to use at once.
Not much to comment on, except that now I plan on covering some of his new missions as a Chuunin as well as the part where Orochimaru decides to move and capture Sasuke. Though, I will make a lot of changes to that special arc. On the list of Naruto's next big assignment…well, I won't spoil the surprise, but it involves a little bit of the Nidaime Hokage.
Oh and I had finally closed the poll for my next in progress Naruto story to update. The results are as follows:
Cursed Eyes – 98 votes
After the Storm – 91 votes
Meshii – 80 votes
I appreciate everyone for voting and I shall resume Cursed Eyes after updating Avalon Bond (a Fate Stay Night story, if anyone is interested), which may or may not be updated still this year. And for those who wished for After the Storm, I shall focus on that one, once Avalon Bond is finished. Unfortunately, working on four stories at the same time takes too much of my time and the quality of the chapter ends up suffering.
Next update: Avalon Bond
