Chapter 20: Two Weeks
Chapter Summary: Naruto, Ebisu, and Jiraiya continue the search for Tsunade.
Words: 4,883
Published: 6/6/23
khaeild02: Nice chapter brother keep it up
Will do!
Roswelll: Geee I'm soo sorry, I always have this one problem for the last 3 years I typo alot or sometimes I forgot to type the whole thing. I meant "please don't stop" :v love it Nyway
No worries bro, happens to the best of us. I'm just glad you're enjoying it :)
scotty26: Well for one As the world turns is a soap opera. We know by the end of Naruto the world has grown in technology as seen in the past chapter of the manga so I'm going to presume you took some liberty with that. I like author who take risk and play in naruto sandbox but at the same time don't put themselves in a sandbox with borders.. if that makes some sense. Other author start within a parameter of that sandbox but you my friend are not afraid to get out of that sandbox. When I started reading naruto fanfic nearly 20 years ago I was a naruto/Hinata fan at first and then gradually expanded my palette with Sakura, Ino and some Temari..I've read some Naruto/tatuya pairing and currently reading a Naruto/Konan pairing that works so far.
[cont.] Did you know that anytime you drop a chapter i stop what I'm currently reading so i can read your latest chapter? I'm use to reading a certain way and reading this has me laughing and smiling at times
I actually designed the world with a technologically industrial (or post-industrial) society that holds late medieval principles in terms of geopolitics, and modern actors in legislation. While it's easy to get around the Land of Fire, traveling to the Land of Sound, Water, Iron, or Sand may not be so easy. So you may wonder, how is it that Orochimaru could be leasing in the Land of Fire when he's from the Sound? Why are women allowed in the militaries? As I mentioned, modern actors - they'll do anything for special favors, monetary or otherwise. Beyond that, there's a lot of interpersonal alliances that range from shaky at best to life-bonds, which contribute to the political landscape.
Twenty Years of Fanfiction, quite an eye-opener! That's as long as I've been alive! XD
NaruSaku has been number 1 for me since I was a kid. Even back then they were adorable!
And it's great to know how much you like my work! I cherish the ability to make people happy even if just a little bit.
Stopover Town, Morning
After another long day of traveling, Naruto, Ebisu, and Jiraiya stopped by a "stopover town" - a town that mainly existed as a place to "stop over" when traveling to visit some other area. Towns like this were typically small, with only two or three streets running through them, one grocery store, one sherrif's office, one hotel, and one doctor's clinic at the very least.
This particular town, named Araki Town, had all of these accommodations, and more, due to its relatively large size. It additionally had a park, a few restaurants, and several other places for leisure or professional activities like dancing, exercise, life skills, etc. It also sat near a riverbed, which was the source of its water.
The hotel here was five stories tall, which was small compared to larger areas like cities, but quite tall for a stopover town. Unlike other stopover towns, Araki Town's hotel made good use of its small space, presenting an aesthetic of luxury in the rooms. The main luxurious attraction was the balcony for each room, which looked over the clean road below, and the people walking by.
As Jiraiya finished sulking over one of these, he returned to the room to find Naruto looking at Ebisu anxiously, as the man was explaining something to him.
Jiraiya asked, "What's up, uh, homies? What are we conversing about?"
Ebisu turned to him and sighed. "Naruto saw me trying to use the rasengan on Orochimaru and now he insists on learning it; I'm just explaining to him that it took me a year to learn that jutsu, and it took the fourth hokage half that time, so I want him to wait until we find and retrieve Lady Tsunade."
Jiraiya cleared his throat. "Well, I admire your pragmatism, Ebisu, but it won't hurt to try and teach him the rasengan starting now, would it?"
Ebisu argued, "I'd hope not, but I think it'd be better to have him pursuing Tsunade, wishing he was learning the technique, than learning the technique and being distracted from our pursuit."
Jiraiya waved him off. "Bah, humbug. We're adults, man; we can keep a little kid in check."
Naruto blushed and whined, "I'm not little!"
Jiraiya retorted, "You're littler than your little girlfriend."
Naruto pouted. "And I love that for her."
Jiraiya bellowed. "Alright, come follow me, I'll start teaching you the rasengan."
Naruto questioned, "You know the rasengan?"
Jiraiya chuckled, "Know it? I invented it!"
Naruto shot back, "I'm callin' B.S.! I know for a fact that my father invented it! There's records showing that!"
Jiraiya complained, "Of all the kage to get obsessed with, you just had to choose the one that would make it easiest for you to get under my skin..."
Naruto frowned. "And I'm still mad that you lied to me about it!"
Jiraiya gruffly exhaled. "Whatever. Let's just get to teaching you your birthright."
Ebisu watched with worry as his cohorts left.
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Edge of Forest
Across the bridge over the river, not even a quarter mile out from the hotel, was a small forest. Jiraiya led Naruto to a tree just shy of entering it, and marked an X on it, each line five feet long, with a kunai.
He revealed a water balloon he had bought from a convenience store on the way - with Naruto's money, no less - and tossed it to the boy. "Naruto, I want you to watch what happens to this X, okay?"
Naruto nodded. "Yeah, yeah!"
He watched attentively as Jiraiya grabbed his forearm and concentrated. His dominant hand - the left - shook, as a whisp of chakra formed in his palm. In the coming seconds, the ball began to get bigger. It encased a quarter of his palm, then half his palm, then his whole palm, and eventually it sat on the edges of his hand.
Jiraiya let go of his hand and thrust it onto the X.
The X had been completely obliterated. In its place was now a crater, exposing the innards of the tree about halfway in.
In amazement, Naruto remarked, "That's so cool..."
Jiraiya told him, "Now, trees have very weak chakra, so their physical shape takes the brunt of the blow. This won't happen to a human being; the rasengan is a sphere of chakra, so any physical damage it does will rely on how much energy is left after the central chakra system of an individual is targeted and suppressed. To dumb that down, it works better on people with less chakra."
Naruto stuck his tongue out. "I didn't need you to dumb that down, plbt!"
Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "Alright, if you're so smart, why don't you try the jutsu now?"
The boy stammered, "Hey-- what?? How am I supposed to do it if you haven't taught me yet?!"
"Alright, then, quit the back-talk! Now look at the wound I've dealt this tree. What do you see?"
Naruto grumbled and inspected the crater. "Well... It's round - a perfect circle... It's deep. It kinda looks like a toilet bein' flushed."
Jiraiya cringed. "Well, that's an elegant way to put it, isn't it?!"
Naruto turned to him and countered, "Hey, you're the one who told me to tell you what I see!"
Jiraiya ordered, "Whatever. Now, the first part to mastering this," - he gestured to the tree, then back to the balloon - "is to use your chakra to move around the water in that until it pops. It combines the principle of walking on a wall, as the balloon itself is solid, with the principle of walking on water, since the water inside is, well, water."
Naruto looked at the balloon in his hand.
I have to use both of those at the same? Man, nothing good comes easy.
He proclaimed, "I'll do it!"
He looked at the balloon intensely and began concentrating his chakra. It swished around and around, but it wasn't popping. Naruto stared at it harder and strained, still to no avail.
"I'll do it soon!"
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Mountain
Over the past two days, Kakashi had been transporting Sasuke to a new location. The new location was a mountain range miles away from the village, and Kakashi had taken Sasuke to one of the higher mountains in the area. As such, they both sported winter coats to stay warm.
Kakashi stood and informed Sasuke, "I was hoping to teach you a different jutsu, but your lack of progress has convinced me to skip to what I call the chidori."
Sasuke looked at him warily. "Chidori?"
Kakashi smiled. "I should demonstrate it first."
He walked over to a boulder. He grabbed his right forearm with his other hand, and it began to shake. After a few seconds, electricity began to crackle in his hand. With a few more seconds passing, it evolved to an accumulation of electricity almost shaped like steel wool, only bigger.
Kakashi released his arm, then raised it and shoved it into the boulder.
A jagged crater one foot in each direction was created, with many of the jagged edges creating larger cracks in the boulder that extended to a few more feet in an irregular shape. Electricity also crackled a bit before dissipating altogether. Kakashi panted, and rested his hand on the rock.
Kakashi stated, "You'll need this in your battle against Gaara."
Sasuke watched in awe, his mouth agape.
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Forest
After Sasame had been taken to the Leaf, she was given documentation and a place to say, after which Anko and Sakura returned to the forest where their log cabin rested.
Since Sasuke and Kakashi had gone elsewhere, Anko decided to train Sakura at the dojo and nearer to the cabin.
"Sakura, I'm going to teach you another ability of cursed chakra - the chakra pull."
"Chakra pull?"
Anko smirked. She placed Sakura at one end of the dojo, then walked to the other.
Anko concentrated her chakra, to the point that her curse mark began expanding. Tomoe began to appear all over her skin, and the black marks started to glow a fiery red. Her irises even turned yellow as she opened her eyes. She then placed one open palm in front of her face, and exerted cursed chakra.
Sakura found herself being physically pulled towards the woman. It was some sort of gravitational force pulling her towards Anko, at first at a slow pace, and then at a faster one every second.
Within ten seconds, Sakura found herself levitating with her heart held up and attached to Anko's palm, as the woman smiled menacingly.
Anko waved her hand around, taking Sakura with her like a magnet. She then looked the girl in the eye, as if telling her "That's right, I'm doing this."
She then let go of the chakra, dropping Sakura in a pratfall. The Tomoe on Anko's skin returned to a black color, subsided, and then returned to the curse mark.
She tried to catch her breath. "That's the chakra pull. Pretty neat, isn't it?"
Sakura blushed as she replied, "Yeah, it's... It's pretty neat!"
Anko held out a helping hand and stated, "You'll kick ass using this technique - there's no known defense against it!"
Sakura took her hand and rose. She then asked, "But, how do I do that? Making those marks appear on my body? Doesn't it hurt?"
"Pfft, nah... Not that much. Here, show me your palms."
Sakura held her hands out as ordered, and Anko latched her own palms onto them. Her cold hands began to warm up as she charged the cursed chakra once more. When the tomoe appeared and reddened, and her eyes became yellow, she attempted to course cursed chakra through Sakura's hands.
Sakura felt her own body warming up, as the red tomoe on Anko's hands began stimulating the appearance of black tomoe on her own. She then felt a sharp jolt in her neck - the cursed seal activating - as the tomoe seemed to gravitate to her hands first, before spreading throughout her body, head to toe.
She felt a surge of energy pass through her entire body when Anko activated some chakra, which finally turned the tomoe on her body red and made her pupils yellow, too.
Beyond that, she felt a sort of devious intent run through her mind. She didn't desire anything particularly evil, but something began to nag at her, urging her to push envelopes and bend rules.
She let out a dark chuckle as she slowly let go of Anko's hands. She inspected the tomoe on her body, and relished in the harsh aesthetic. She licked her lips and returned to the other end of the dojo.
As if on instinct, she raised her palm and utilized the chakra pulling Anko toward her with such force that it was almost as if the woman flew toward her.
Effortlessly holding Anko by the chest, Sakura began to laugh gleefully. The power coursing through her body gave her strength, confidence, and steady hands.
She promptly set Anko down on her feet and jumped up for a high-five.
"Wasn't that awesome, Ms. Anko??"
"You bet your ass it was!"
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Three Days Later
Naruto's group was advancing closer to Tanzaku Quarters every day, and had set up a system for their journey: Naruto would continue training, Ebisu would collect any information he could regarding Tsunade - often to no avail, and Jiraiya would sleep.
On that note, Naruto still hadn't been able to pop the balloon.
At one point, while training alone, he had become so frustrated that he tossed it to the side.
Stupid balloon! Stupid stupid stupid! I bet it's just another trick from that stupid Pervy Sage!
He groaned in frustration and whined, before rubbing his face.
He then sighed.
Moaning about it won't help.
He began looking for the balloon. When he spotted it at the base of a tree, a wild cat was playing with it.
It swatted the ball with one paw, then the other. Left, right, left, right, passing the ball to itself, alternating with the ball, making the water spin all around, playing peacefully, until...
POP!
The cat was frightened by the sound and the water, and it scurried off.
Naruto, meanwhile, had an epiphany.
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Bed, Hotel
At the next hotel, Jiraiya was fast asleep, and murmured in his state.
"No, mommy, please, let babby squeeze your breasts... Baby needs milky... Baby needs mommy... Oh, yes... Ahhhhhh..."
His wide-open mouth was suddenly violently assaulted by a rush of liquid. Nearly choking, he sat up and started to cough, falling off of the bed and knocking his head on the floor.
When he rose, he saw Naruto standing over him triumphantly with a popped wet balloon in his hand.
The boy stated, "I've passed the first stage, Pervy Sage! Your stupid test is no match for a certified genius like me!"
Jiraiya did not express any emotion. He merely requested, "Show me."
Naruto snickered and revealed another water balloon. With one hand, he focused his chakra on making the water inside sway, then crash around inside in every direction he could conceive. Then, he brought his other hand forward and rested it on the balloon. He used this hand to focus chakra on the balloon itself, making it crash in the opposite directions, until it eventually popped.
Naruto made sure to squirt Jiraiya with as much water as he could.
Jiraiya sighed. "Alright, here's the second stage.". He tossed the boy a plain rubber ball.
Naruto questioned, "What am I supposed to do with this?"
Jiraiya yawned. "With the first stage, you can rely on the water as a point to help visualize your chakra. With this dry ball, you don't have that advantage. It's all about power. Come back to me when you're done."
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Four Days Later
At each stopover town, Naruto made his way to a forest clearing, however small, where he continued to train every day, while Jiraiya chaperoned - which mostly consisted of sleeping at a nearby tree.
He had been trying and failing to pop the ball for the past four days. Even when he applied both hands and focused all his chakra, it just wasn't happening. The frustration crept up higher and higher until he had finally broken down.
"Damn it! What am I supposed to do?!"
He concentrated his chakra all around the ball - inside and out, and felt it spinning in every single direction from every part of his hand.
Then, the ball seemed to have been punctured, as it suffered a hole and whistled its air out.
Naruto sighed.
I was focusing my chakra everywhere, and all it did was make one tiny hole?
Not wanting to litter, he placed the ball in his pocket and wiped his sweating forehead. He continued all the while to think about what he had been doing, to try and find some way to burst the whole ball instead of just one little hole.
He rubbed the bridge of his nose and had another epiphany.
If focusing my chakra all around my hand creates one hole, then maybe if I focus all my chakra at a single point on my hand...
He looked at his palm, inspecting it thoroughly. In the midst of the thicker lines, he examined the thinner ones, his vision nearing the center of his palm. He noticed that just in the middle of his hand, there seemed to be an X made by the thinner lines. The middle of that X - as confirmed by his own poking of it - was the exact center of his palm.
One focal point.
He pulled out an identical rubber ball.
Time to test it out!
He firmly grasped the ball in his hand, making sure to press it against the center of his palm in spite of the discomfort.
Alright...
He put all his effort and focus on the center of his palm, imagining it as the very core of his chakra. Soon, he felt added pressure on his palm, meaning that chakra was flowing inside the ball. He watched as it contorted in every single direction, until...
BOOM!
Naruto was sent flying back, crashing into a tree, which also fell and made other trees fall like domino.
What the Hell?...
When he rose, he saw Jiraiya standing in front of him, full of pride.
"Looks like you're ready for the third stage, Naruto."
He tossed the boy a completely hollow ball, this one made of pure steel.
Naruto inspected the ball. "So, it's hard now? How does that..."
Jiraiya revealed another ball and explained, "The third stage is containment. Since this hollow ball is made of steel and hopefully won't burst, your goal is to simply be able to hold it for an extended period of time while also crashing the chakra inside, like so."
He brought forth both his hands. Whereas the hand with the steel ball was completely still - Naruto reasoned that his control was simply that good - the other hand, completely empty, began to give way to a cyclone of blue chakra.
Jiraiya dissipated his chakra. "You only need to do it with the steel ball for now."
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Mountain
Over the past week, Sasuke had been getting closer and closer to performing the chidori.
Most of that time was spent on configuration of his chakra toward lightning. Although it wasn't easy, Uchiha were more susceptible to these sorts of techniques, as their sharingan itself ran on electrified chakra moreso than anything else. Thus, Sasuke was guided into using his sharingan to build up that chakra, then transfer the electricity to his hands in order to perform the technique.
To aid his training, he was given a fat battery, as well, and ordered to short-circuit it with his chakra.
Sasuke was sat on a stone, and had been working on the same battery for a while. Over time, he was successful in creating electric sparks with his chakra, but hadn't yet succeeded in short-circuiting the battery. He rolled it around his hand, trying to keep his composure and not explode in frustration.
Kakashi approached him and sat next to him. "No luck, Sasuke?"
The boy scoffed. "It's just this stupid battery, it won't short."
Kakashi soaked in the answer. He suggested, "The battery has both a positive end and a negative end; why don't you try working on one of those first? If it were me, I'd try the anode - - that's the negative end."
Sasuke's brow rose. "Okay..."
He stood the battery up in his hand, negative side on the bottom, and concentrated on shorting it first.
All the while, Kakashi tried explaining the science behind it. "You see, the negative end is that way because negatively-charged ions run through it, meaning that the molecule has more electrons than protons."
Sasuke felt a surge of electricity in his hand, as the bottom of the battery crumpled, sending the negative ions higher up in the battery.
Kakashi smiled. "That's a good place to start."
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Forest, Hidden Leaf
Similarly, over the past week, Sakura's power had also been increasing. After learning to pull chakra, she had been learning how to control it, including the ability to vary in power. Currently, she was being trained in selective pulling.
Anko had summoned a snake as the second subject, and ordered to Sakura, "I'm an easier target since I'm larger, Sakura, so I want you to try and pull me without pulling the snake."
Sakura, laden in the tomoe of the curse mark, nodded. "Yes, Ma'am!"
Sakura brought her hand in front of her, and attempted to do as commanded. Unfortunately, when she pulled, she couldn't control it, and ended up pulling the snake with Anko with great speed, before releasing them.
Anko explained, "That's alright, Kid; even I struggle with this sometimes, and I've been practicing forever. It's not like using chakra to walk on a solid surface, where it sort of becomes muscle memory, it's more like walking on water during a bad storm. The concentration is incredibly difficult to be precise with."
Sakura nodded. "Yes, Ma'am!"
Anko asked, "Would you rather work on the speed instead for now?"
Sakura smiled. "Yes, I would."
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Three Days Later, Hotel, Morning
Naruto, Ebisu, and Jiraiya had finally reached Tanzaku Quarters.
Tanzaku Quarters was a large and walled circular city, whose center was its parliamentary building. The rest of the city was rife with buildings occupied by gamblers, alcoholics, and perverts - many of whom were visiting from other cities. Nary a resident could be found who did not serve the hedonistic attractions, whether directly working for these institutions, or on the infrastructure for its continued survival. Everywhere anyone went, there were numerous casinos, bars, and strip clubs, with the occasional hotel situated at an extremely convenient location. All of this was what made Tanzaku Quarters the Land of Fire's most popular adult tourist spot.
The fact that Naruto - a mere child - was present would have been seen as odd by any decent person, but for Tanzaku Quarters, it was fun. Even he, despite being a total stranger to this city, and a child at that, was hounded by men and women alike to work at their businesses. He was offered money, early exposure to alcohol, and the opportunity to gawk at undressed women, but he vehemently refused every offer on a moral basis before being dragged away by Ebisu to protect his innocence.
As for his training, Naruto was still unable to contain the shape of his rasengan. Every time he tried, the steel ball rolled away from his hand, or threatened to drill into it, both situations that scared him into dropping the ball altogether on instinct.
He remained confined in the hotel, as well, not knowing if there was any place he could go without encountering degeneracy of some kind.
As such, Ebisu and Jiraiya tasked themselves with finding Tsunade. Ebisu had gone first, and Jiraiya feigned the need to use the bathroom in order to converse with Naruto.
He told him, "Listen, Naruto, I need to tell you about the greatest danger of all shinobi."
Naruto stared. "I'm all ears."
Jiraiya cleared his throat. "Money."
"Money?"
"Yeah, money! It's the root of all evil! Especially in a place like this, even a pure little kid like you could be tempted into spending it on illicit behavior, and then your innocence will be lost! Lost, I say!"
"Then... I just won't leave this room."
Jiraiya sighed. "No, no, no, you don't understand temptation. It's strong - - I know that you will come out of this room at some point, especially since a kid your age resents being stuck inside, so there's something I need you to do."
"What is it?"
"Show me your wallet."
Naruto showed the man his wallet - a frog-shaped pouch, somewhat chubby due to its fill of money.
Jiraiya opened the wallet and pulled out every single ryo that was inside. "I'll hold on to this; you just sit here looking pretty, and practice your rasengan."
Naruto hesitantly replied, "Okay..."
With that, Jiraiya left.
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A Few Hours Later
It was now the evening - the hue of the sky was beginning to adopt shades of red.
Naruto had been trying his hand at controlling the steel ball all day, distracting himself occasionally via the TV.
When the ball shot around the room yet again, he sighed in frustration. When he heard the same commercial for the hundredth time in the same day, he grew tired.
That's it, I'm outta here! There's gotta be somewhere else I can train! Somewhere with grass, and maybe some trees!
He left a note on the fridge and exited his room.
Hey, I guess Pervy Sage was right. I did find a reason to leave this place. Oh, well, at least I don't have money.
He began to walk through the city, doing his best to ignore and avoid barkers.
What he couldn't ignore, however, was a familiar voice howling.
"Oh-h-h-h, ba-a-a-by, come on, just one m're try for Daddy? You kn-n-n-now I can do... It!"
Naruto's eyes widened.
No way. No freakin' way!
He burst into the building he heard the sound from, and his fears were confirmed.
Jiraiya was lying naked in a pool, surrounded by naked giggling women, dousing his throat in alcohol as he tossed dice onto a floating board.
In his anger, Naruto threw the steel ball right at his head.
"You bastard! Liar! Thief! Whoremonger! Addict! Scum! You took all my money! You lied to me! All that talk about the danger of shinobi, just pure and unadulterated bullshit!"
Jiraiya, now with a bump on his head, answered, "Hey-y-y-y, I said it'was a... Dan-- danger! I nev'r said I would... Avoid it!"
Naruto began to fume. He ran and jumped into the pool, then rose and began pulling on the man's hair.
"Gimme my money back! Give it back, give it back, give it back! How much have you wasted?! I slaved away for it, and you just spent it all to satisfy your sick, twisted pleasure, didn't you?!"
Jiraiya managed to pull Naruto off. "Wait, Kid, I didn't spend all of it!"
He revealed a single coin.
Naruto groaned, then walked up and snatched it away, making sure to pick up his steel ball as well, and turned to leave.
Before he could exit, however, he was beckoned by Jiraiya. "Hold on, Kid, why don't you try your hand at this?! You've only got one coin left to lose, anyways!"
Naruto stopped in his tracks. He pushed his now-wet hair back and turned around. "Fine."
He slapped one coin into the palm of a woman, and shook the dice. He tossed them onto the board, and landed a perfect seven.
Jiraiya's eyes widened. "Holy shit!"
The girls' eyes also widened. "Oh, my!"
Naruto looked around, confused. "What? What'd I do?"
Jiraiya explained, "This last round was all or nothing, Kid! You just earned... Five times everything I bet!"
Naruto's jaw nearly fell to the ground. "Five... Times?"
The girls giggled. "Five times!"
Naruto shook his head and regained his composure. "Alright, then, pay me, ladies! I'm on my way outta here!"
He was given the money without issue and left the building, having to hold his fattened wallet in his hands, close to his chest.
Walking along the streets again, he was joined by a still-wet, albeit now clothed, Jiraiya.
"Kid, come on, you could be a gambling legend! You gotta try your hand at something else, at least one game!"
Naruto spat, "No, I don't gotta try my hand at nothin'! I'm quittin' while I'm ahead!"
"Just one game, Kid! All you gotta do is put up a single coin, if you lose, we'll leave!"
"Nuh-uh! And stop calling me Kid! From now on, it's Mr. Namikaze to ya!"
Jiraiya whined, "Oh-h, just one little spot!"
He grabbed Naruto by the collar and threw him into a nearby gambling den.
He crashed and slid across the door, as the corner of his wallet's zipper was nudged open, spilling some coins.
He frantically picked up the coins off the ground, having counted how many dropped, and saw that there was only one left.
He tracked it to a table and approached it, seeing that a woman, surrounded by other gamblers, was inspecting the coin.
Naruto demanded, "Gimme my coin back, please."
The woman played around with the coin, rolling it between her knuckles. Her voice was deep - almost sultry, as she replied, "Your coin? I think you're lying; this coin here just landed on my table from the outside - I consider that to be an act of God."
The boy frowned. "C'mon, Lady... It's just one coin - - my coin; please don't be stingy about it."
The woman laughed. "I never expected you to be so niggardly, Naruto."
Naruto stammered, "Wh-- I'm not niggardly, I just want my coin back. And how do you know my name?"
The woman looked shocked. "Hey, don't you recognize me? 'Granny' Tsunade? What's Jiraiya been feeding you?"
Naruto told her, "It's a long story..."
Tsunade ruffled his hair. "You've always been my lucky charm, Kid. Let me use this coin for my next bet, and I'll give you another one, alright? Take a seat next to Shizune, and tell Jiraiya to stop gawking and get his ass over here!"
Naruto looked back, and saw that Jiraiya was, indeed, gawking. Although, his face betrayed any emotion he might have been feeling.
"Tsunade..."
Two Weeks didn't pass in this chapter; the title refers to the total amount of time that's passed since the mission for Tsunade began.
Next chapter is going to be around the same length as this one.
It has also come to my attention that I may have to explain that the word "niggardly" is a term to refer to someone who is cheap or stingy.