"What do you mean, did his training not go well? And you know that I can't take another student."
"Don't make me spell it out, Hime. I said that as in the past tense, as in he already has gone through training by you two." Jiraiya said nervously. "And there's a reason that you both were mentioned in the same vein."
Putting two and two together Tsunade's eyes widened. "What? How would that be even possible?"
"It seems that we still have a lot to learn, even in our old age." Jiraiya said, staring off into space. "But if it makes you feel better he is still a half Uzumaki. It seemed that the old man had some tricks up his sleeve that would have forced your hand into returning quicker than you did."
The Kage has a minor mental break, before continuing the conversation. "So where is he now?"
"He went with sensei's grandson to visit the Yamanaka heir..." He answered.
"Ah. You left him alone?" She paused. "Wait why her? I thought neither of them especially cared for the other."
"When I mentioned Kushina, and him possibly not knowing who she was, the air around us changed… Tsunade, he mentioned Danzo and Root, and I think that was not the only thing that he has knowledge of. If I had to bet he went straight to a person that he could trust and do something about whatever Danzo was responsible for." Jiraiya said with a serious face. "We have to look into Danzo on our side of things, if Root is actually still running it will spell trouble for everyone. Though he cares for the village, an old school mentality in a time of peace especially when the Akatsuki are still operating is not a good thing."
Tsunade wiped her face with her hands, she had a lot to think about on top of everything else on her plate, but first, the problem that Naruto's existence causes. Speaking of the devil she heard a trail of voices coming towards her office.
She was then confused when a girl not even knocking burst into the room dragging Sakura and a near-perfect copy of herself. "Hey Pervy Sage, did you explain everything?" the Ino in the sundress spoke cheerfully.
Jiraiya blinked a couple of times before realizing that his student was the twin talking to him. "Oh... Uh. In a way kid, I see you brought friends." He spoke, pointing the other two girls out.
That Ino looked put out by the question before looking over at Sakura and looking back at his alternate self's sensei pointing a thumb at her. "Haruno over here decided that it was important to drag me here as I am." She spoke, crossing her arms and taking a more agitated posture, twisting her body towards Sakura, she continued. "Now that we are here without due process, do you have something to say?"
Sakura shrunk a little before answering, apparently Naruto calling her by her family name was here to stay, not to mention the harsher tone behind it. "I-i just thought..." She looked at the other Ino as if asking for help.
Taking the hint, the other Ino spoke. "Under an hour ago we ran into Naruto here and we had a little confrontation, everything was settled on the way here." She paused, coming up with something that she personally wanted to confirm about Naruto. "But as things were being settled Naruto had made some claims."
Tsunade listened to the girl before looking at her double. "And what claims would they be?"
The Ino in the sundress shrugged, putting a hand on her hip. "I may or may not have eluded that I am somehow related to several Hokage. But then again they at least should know of one. The old man did take me in after my parents died, right?" She questioned Tsunade.
Tsunade looked at the girl's face of disappointment, it was weird seeing Naruto like this even in this transformed state. This Naruto was different from the brat she knew. "Is that all you told them?" Tsunade softly challenged.
"Of course, I wouldn't say anything without your permission..." Naruto looked over at Sakura for a quick second. "There are people that I don't trust with certain information, especially when my father and mother are who they were."
Sakura seemed to be hurt by the eye contact with Naruto, Tsunade noticed but said nothing of it, deciding to comment on the appearance of Naruto. "Is that so... But as things stand I would prefer you not mention them outside this room, their identities don't just affect you after all. By the way, what is all of this about?"
Naruto looked down at herself as if to confirm the Kage's question. "Oh this, it's just a jutsu that an old friend helped me develop." She said, cocking her head to the side with a finger at her chin. "I would release it but I can't for the time being."
"Why is that?" The Kage asked, before following up with another questionimpressed with the application of the jutsu. "Are there some drawbacks with the jutsu?"
Naruto blushed, scratching her cheek with her finger, nervously chuckling. "Something like that..." Before Tsunade could question further Naruto approached, signalling for the woman to close the distance. When both met in the middle of the room between the desk and door Naruto leaned in and whispered in her ear.
Tsunade's eyes widened for a brief second before looking at Ino understanding the situation. "That is something, I understand your situation so I won't dig into it further, Naruto." She spoke as the two of them went back to their places.
Ino looked at Naruto as if to ask him about what just happened as if asking him with her eyes Naruto just went into the ram, snake, and tiger hand seals, drawing her attention, which she recognized as one of Naruto's signature jutsu. She remembered after learning that Naruto could do it her former teammate Shikamaru studied the jutsu but discarded the way Naruto used it as freakish after trying it for himself. She was surprised as he ended it with the seal for boar. It was clear that it was a message meant for her but did not know what it meant, and decided to ask him later.
As Naruto joined the pair of girls and Tsunade returned to her chair the air was thick with anticipation with Tsunade continuing to question Naruto. "So Naruto... Did you find what you were looking for?"
"In a way, I have a lot to tell you about our trip. I have learned a lot about the world." The way that Naruto said that made it sound almost irreverent. "But don't worry... I am far beyond what I could accomplish two years ago, I always keep my promises."
Tsunade let out an almost sigh of relief from what Naruto said despite the dismissive tone. She knew that this Naruto although not too pleased by the current situation was willing to cooperate with her, was this because of the relationship with the other version of her that he knew, or did he simply show empathy about the situation they were in, that was something she can determine later as she wants to set aside some time to get to know him better. Her thoughts were interrupted however by another figure entering from the window overlooking the village.
"Yo..." The figure announced as they entered the threshold of the office, carrying a backpack and a scroll the image of a slightly older and taller Naruto than the one they knew from two years ago surprised all the women in the room, Ino was a bit taken by him. "Mission complete boss."
"What's this about?" Tsunade said, looking at the Naruto that had just entered, understanding that all of Naruto's shadow clones called the original boss.
The clone looked excited when his eyes met Tsunade's. "Well, Ka-"
The mouth of the clone was covered when the Ino-disguised Naruto used her father's jutsu to cover the distance between the door and the window in a flash. Jiraiya gave Tsunade a knowing look before addressing the pair of Naruto. "I forgot you could use that jutsu your father created. Minato would be proud that you were able to master it without his help or guidance." Clearly saying that unaware that the girls would know the name of the Yondaime as he was the man who defeated the Kyuubi.
The Ino-disguised Naruto let out a heavy sigh dispelling the clone before addressing his counterpart's teacher. "After I went through the trouble of telling Lady Tsunade I wouldn't say anything so freely. You went and said it yourself." She said with the bag and scroll hitting the floor, quickly picking up the scroll.
Ino was the first to figure it out looking at Naruto, she remembered the image of the Yondaime and put the image of him next to the Kage with the appropriate amount of shock with Naruto's earlier statement about the relation to the Hokage ringing true. "Y-you are the Yondaime's son?" She questioned, mystified.
Sakura looked between Jiraiya, Ino, Naruto, and Tsunade with the same amount of shock as her childhood friend. "You can't be serious, right?" Sakura looked to Naruto and Tsunade for answers with Tsunade opening her mouth to enlighten the pair about the secrets that surrounded Naruto's birth.
"What I am about to say is not to leave this room, do you understand?" Tsunade asked the pair, getting nods from both of them. Tsunade reveals that the Yondaime Namikaze Minato was indeed Naruto's father, she went into the day that Naruto was born and what happened with the Kyuubi's attack, also mentioning his mother Kushina and her relation to her and her grandmother, Jiraiya added some details of his own while both left out the part about Naruto being the Jinchūriki of the Kyuubi while insinuating that the village's treatment of the young man was a product of that night.
Ino looked at the ground clenching her fist clearly angry about the information that she had received, while Sakura was still processing it. After Tsunade had finished her explanation, Ino gave Naruto a tear-filled gaze before storming out of the room upset, Sakura was flabbergasted at the reaction before following behind her friend.
"Well... I guess that is understandable." Tsunade said, watching the two teenage girls leave.
Naruto looked at the door before offering her retort. "Well the Ino I knew went straight to her parents to chew them out when she found out, she was more reserved from what I remembered."
"Sorry, I let the cat out of the bag."
"It's alright, It was bound to come out anyway, I am just glad that Ino was one of the first to find out." Naruto said, scratching the back of her head, and crossing her arms afterward. "Which reminds me Lady Tsunade, I got something for you if you still have time to entertain my company." She said, passing the scroll over.
"And what is it?" She asked, opening the scroll, and looking over its contents.
"That depends, are you willing to secretly accommodate another Jinchūriki?" Naruto plainly asked as if what left his mouth was not insane.
"I'm sorry, a what now?" Tsunade asked, clearly thinking that she had heard him wrong as Jiraiya watched them both awkwardly, knowing what Naruto was about to ask their Hokage.
(...)
Meanwhile, a redheaded girl woke up in a forest that surrounded Konoha, her brown eyes searching her surroundings, and herself. What she had found was that she was somewhere familiar enough that she recognized, but not to the point that she would instantly know where or what was happening. The redhead's examination led to her clothes, to the clothes that she had not worn in years with surprise that littered her face, then to her surroundings where several tree stomps remained despite the lash brush that surrounded her and the stomps.
The girl got up from the ground stretching and making her way to the closest tree. It took some effort to climb with her having an unstable chakra output, not knowing the reason why. Once she was on top of the tree she scanned the treeline of the forest looking for any landmarks to tell where in the hell she was. It did not take long to find a path that led to the gates of a village built along the faces of the Hokage into the side of a plateau due north. The girl smiled at the sight now that she knew where she was, thinking of a certain blonde shinobi, but her elation did not last long as she was confronted with the hard truth of the situation. The last time she was in the village she had orders from Orochimaru to strategically transfer the last Uchiha away to a new location. She could not run back there in search of said Nin, she needed a plan.
Deciding that it was best she climbed down from the tree and thought things through. 'I wish he had given me an address to his apartment before he had described it. It would have been much easier than moving around the village blindly.' She thought back to times when the blonde would describe his home, that being a dirty little apartment near his favorite place to eat. She sat at the foot of the tree as she replayed the many conversations they had in her head trying to figure out one that would aid her. Her thoughts circled back to his favorite place to eat, to the food they served, to his favorite food. A smile crossed her face as she thought out a plan. She was able to sneak into the village twice, one last time for the ramen stand where the person that she was thinking of would most likely be found wouldn't hurt, or at least she hoped. Now however she has to find a way to make some shelter for herself as she searches her person and finds a flute in the process.