Naruto
Wings of a Butterfly
Chapter XXI
With the battle over Konoha was taking its toll of the damage, many ninja had been killed, the civilians had been evacuated when the battle started and civilian casualties were low. There were many shinobi whose bodies were not found. It was assumed they were either deserters or spies for Orochimaru but one person was missing and it was noticed, Uchiha Sasuke was missing.
"We need to find her. She wouldn't just desert Konoha." Naruto yelled angrily.
"We don't know that for sure, Naruto and until a new Hokage is appointed all missions are on hold." Kakashi said firmly.
Without an acting Kage the village was effectively shut down the council could make some decisions but ultimately it was the Kage that ran the city as the council were nothing more than advisors.
"Appoint Ero-sennin as Hokage; he has the know-how and is one of the legendary Sannin. Plus he is the only one of Jiji's students still loyal to Konoha." Naruto said loudly.
"No, we're going after Tsunade. She is related to two previous Hokage and is one of the best medical nin in the Elemental Nations." Jiraiya said.
"That may be true Jiraiya but Tsunade made it very clear where her loyalties lie. While not a criminal she is far from loyal to Konoha after the death of Minato, Dan, and Nawaki. I'm sorry Jiraiya but the Council has appointed you as the new Hokage whether you like it or not." Danzo said.
Danzo was one of three elder council members that was close to Hiruzen. Danzo was also a warhawk with his own agenda and he planned to use Jiraiya more as a puppet than actually let Jiraiya run the village.
Jiraiya cursed under his breath he knew that his fate had been decided; he also knew that the elder council would try and manipulate his reign from the shadows.
"Fine, I'll accept the role of Kage for now." Jiraiya said.
Danzo smiled, his lone visible eye held a glimmer of malice and victory like he was planning to take the mantle for himself when Jiraiya proved incompetent.
Naruto turned on his heel and stormed off. It was clear Sasuke's retrieval wasn't a priority but Naruto couldn't shake the feeling Sasuke didn't leave of her own free will.
"Naruto, I would like a word with you privately." Jiraiya said, eyeing the elder council.
Naruto had reached the door and had a hand on the knob and just sighed. "What is it Ero-sennin?" Naruto asked.
When the elder council along with Kakashi left the office Jiraiya spoke.
"You're going to find Tsunade and Bring her back to Konoha. As Minato's sole heir as well as being an Uzumaki you are distantly and directly related to Tsunade. You see Tsunade is Uzumaki Mito's granddaughter and your own mother Kushina was part of the main family of the Uzumaki Clan as was Mito so you are directly related to Mito and Tsunade. I may be Hokage but I need Tsunade back in Konoha." Jiraiya explained.
"You don't trust Danzo either." Naruto said rather than asking as he already knew Jiraiya's answer.
"No I don't, he tried to undermine sensei many times and steal the mantle from him when Minato was killed. I need someone I can trust." Jiraiya confirmed Naruto's suspicions.
"Alright, who is on this team of mine?" Naruto asked.
"No one. This is a solo mission. I trust you enough to see this through. You're the best chance of getting Tsunade back to Konoha." Jiraiya replied.
"When do I leave?" Naruto asked.
"Immediately." Jiraiya said. "Oh and don't try to look for Sasuke."
Naruto grit his teeth but nodded and turned to leave. Naruto desperately wanted to look for Sasuke but he knew he couldn't.
XxXNaruto and Sasuke's ApartmentXxX
Naruto grabbed his go bag from its place by the door and walked to his room on his dresser there was a picture of Team Seven with Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, and himself. Naruto sighed and put the picture down.
"I will find you Sasuke." Naruto swore.
Turning his attention to his mission Naruto packed his bag. As Naruto made his way to the door of his apartment he was stopped by a voice.
"Where are you off to Naruto?" asked Kakashi.
"To get Tsunade back to Konoha by order of Ero-sennin." Naruto said.
"Alone?" Kakashi questioned.
"Yea." Naruto replied.
"Be careful Naruto, come back ok." Kakashi said worry in his voice.
"I will sensei." Naruto said before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.
Naruto knew enough about Tsunade to know that she was a gambler so any village with a gambling hall would be a sure fire place to get clues to find Tsunade. Unfortunately if Naruto was poking around he might inadvertently lead others to Tsunade as well.
Kakashi looked on as Naruto vanished "Be careful Naruto."
As Kakashi turned to leave he sensed two chakra signatures closeby one he knew the other was a stranger. Kakashi followed the signatures and came to a tea stand where he saw two figures with black cloaks with red clouds on them.
"Been a while Itachi." Kakashi said.
"That it has Kakashi." Itachi said calmly.
"Why are you here?" Kakashi asked firmly.
"I'm after the fourth's legacy." Itachi replied calmly, sipping on his tea.
"Naruto." Kakashi said, unsurprisingly..
"Where is he?" Itachi asked.
"If you're after Naruto then you won't find him." Kakashi said as he drew a kunai.
"Is that so?" Itachi asked as he stood up from his seat to face Kakashi.
"What should i Cut off first, maybe a leg or maybe an arm?"Itachi;s partner asked drawing a wrapped up sword.
"DYNAMIC ENTRY!" came the vibrant yell of Gai's voice.
Kakashi sighed but was happy to know his flare worked. Gai kicked Kisame in the side of the head sending him flying down the street.
"So you called for help without us noticing." Itachi said calmly.
"I can take one of you on but not both of you, so yes I called for help." Kakashi said.
Itachi activated his sharingan as Kakashi pulled up his hitai-ate revealing his own sharingan.
XxXWith NarutoXxX
Naruto had been traveling through the trees at ninja speed and dusk was starting to set in so Naruto stopped in a small village and asked where the nearest inn was and made his way to the inn. As Naruto went to his room for the night Naruto began to settle in and ordered some food from the inn's kitchen when a puff of smoke appeared and a small orange toad appeared.
"What the Gamakichi? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked.
"I got a message from Jiraiya. It's urgent." the toad said.
"What's the message?" Naruto asked.
"Kakashi and Gai fought two ninja that were looking for you. You need to keep your guard up while on your mission you can't let anyone find you. No one knows why these ninja were after you but you need to be careful." Gamakichi explained.
"Thanks Gamakichi I will." Naruto said.
With tha Gamakichi vanished in a puff of smoke leaving Naruto alone in his room to ponder the attack on Konoha and the attack on Gai and Kakashi.
A/N: Hey all Azrael here just wanted to say thank you all for the support and to those who are not happy with this story I say no one forced you to read so good day to you use the x button and leave. Anyway this chapter starts the next leg of the story. Naruto is going after Tsunade while being told he can't chase after Sasuke. In the end Naruto will come to face his emotions about the Uchiha but will he come to the conclusion and realize he feels the same way about her that she does about him.
Anyway Ja~ne for now and see you all next time.
