Naruto: Shoton of Konoha

by Arch-Daishou00

: For Stormy Rebel, miss you, Joachim, and thank you: "By the actions of the traitor Mizuki. Naruto awakens a rare Kekkei Genkai. And his path has now changed. And in the darkness awakens an ancient threat more terrifying than the Akatsuki, which only stirs thought of myths from a lost and forgotten age." : huge world expansion story, OC. Co-Author: Etheral-23

36. Godaime Hokage Act 2

Disclaimer: We do not own Naruto

Co-Author and Beta: Etheral-23

Chapter 36: Godaime Hokage Act II

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XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

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Kabuto swore he could see the killer intent pouring throughout the room via his master who slowly paced about. It also did not help matters that Manda who also present and looked ready to devour both him and Orochimaru.

It has least been a several days since arriving back at one of their hideouts after the botched invasion of Konohagakure. The plan was brilliant in concept, but too many unknowns had come into play. And even with the month they had to readjust before the third stage, they just could not count for all the variables.

Never mind their 'supposed' aid within Konoha never acted like promised. 'This was a disaster,' the medic-nin sighed.

Kabuto wasn't even sure he could return to Konoha as a spy, this event would make the peaceful village keep their guard up and tighten their security. His position was compromised, now that he had returned to his master's side.

The spectacle wearing shinobi nearly froze when he saw the calm rage in Orochimaru's snake-like eyes, a bead of sweat ran down his cheek. "Kabuto" He stood straighter at his name being spoken. "Did you manage to procure samples of Naruto-kun's blood?"

"Y-Yes" He nearly stammered. "I managed to sneak away some of his most recent blood samples from my hospital shifts. It's being analyzed as we speak"

"Good" Orochimaru spook, though by the tone of his voice he wasn't all too pleased as he should have been in other circumstances. "At least it is something"

The great snake's tail banged on the stone floor with such force it sent vibrations through the whole chamber. The oto-nin that stood outside the chamber could only tremble at the sheer killing intent emanating from the giant serpent. Their master enraged was far more than enough for them to give him space, and enraged Manda only made their deaths all the more likely just by being near.

"Do not give me that, Orochimaru!" The strongest of the snakes growled. "We were promised spoils of war, and a new nest for our clan!" Manda raised his head higher, looking down on them with murder in his slit eyes. "And now dozens of my kin are dead!"

Orochimaru merely glanced at him with a bored expression. "There were too many unknowns and unforeseen variables that made themselves present. Princess Maiyuri, those highly skilled Uzumaki with the wolf and fox chiefs at their side, and Konoha's quick response to my attack which suggests they had been tipped off-"

"I care not for your excuses!" Manda roared. "How will you repay us for that mess you got us into?!"

"I distinctively remember you agreeing on the chance of fighting Genryu once more"

The medic-nin swallowed hard as the great serpent lowered his head down to his summoner; "Genryu is a blind fool. I could have killed him easily had it not been for that drunken old toad interfering."

Orochimaru's expression did not change; "Resorting to excuses yourself Manda?" He got an angry hiss in response to his question.

"I am not weak like you humans."

"So I have heard from you countless times before. Yet one dragon and toad proved your better."

Kabuto swore he felt the temperature in the room drop. Last thing they needed was his master and Manda fighting and destroying everything. "I demand compensation for my kin's sacrifice" The leader of the snakes growled, staring directly at Orochimaru's eyes.

"Demand;" Orochimaru's eyes narrowed. "After their failure you dare to make demands out of me?"

"'Our failure'?!" Manda's voice was like roaring thunder. "How dare you...!" His entire body trembled in barely contained rage. "I should devour you so you learn your place!"

Orochimaru solemnly stared at the purple snake before letting out a soft chuckle; "My place? Oh Manda, have you already forgotten? I am your master. Perhaps it is you who should remember his place"

For the longest time, dead silence hung in the room, till Manda raised his head back up with his eyes showing what looked like realization; "No," the great serpent said calmly; "I shall remember this day well." Manda vanished in a puff of smoke.

A large breath he did not realize he was holding escaped from Kabuto. He adjusted his glasses as the snake Sannin sat down on a wooden chair by a table. Orochimaru rested his elbows on the table and joined his fingers before his face; it was hard for the medic-nin to tell what was going on his master's mind.

"Kabuto" Said the snake sannin. "How is Kimimaro's condition?"

The medic-nin grimaced. "It's getting worse every day. He doesn't have long"

The eyes of Oto's founder narrowed a fraction. "I see" It was a waste; Orochimaru had once planned to use his immortality technique to swap his body with Kimimaro's so he'd be in possession of his powerful Kekkei Genkai. Kimimaro's disease had changed all that.

That hadn't stopped him from looking up ways to heal his condition, Kimimaro was a tremendously powerful asset back when he was at his prime, yet his sickness weakened him every time it got worse.

Orochimaru weighted his options. Tayuya and Kidōmaru were all that was left of his Sound Four, the list of capable shinobi under his command had shortened drastically after their failure at Konoha, and he needed to have Kimimaro at top condition once again.

"We cannot afford to lose him as well. Make the preparations, Kabuto" He ordered, his eyes gleamed in the darkly lit room. "We're going to find the only one who can heal him"

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XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

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The rustle of leaves from the light breeze came through the training area as both Naruto and Sasuke stood in their respect Taijutsu stances. In front of them, princess Maiyuri also goes into her own combat stance with an unreadable expression.

"Before we start I will ask you again, do you truly wish for me to go all out?" The rosette haired royal asked seriously.

"Yes," Sasuke said without hesitation; "I need to know just how far the gap is."

The princess nodded as she eyed over to Konoha's Jinchurriki; "And you Uzumaki-san?"

"Wouldn't hurt to know right," the blond gave a shrug with a small smirk before turning serious. "Not much of a ninja if I can't protect my country's princess."

For a brief moment Maiyuri gave them a serene smile before reverting back to seriousness; "BEGIN!"

Without another word, the two young ninja dashed; and sprang into action in a blur of movement. Sasuke's Sharingan blazed to life while Naruto brought up his hands calling up five Shadow Clones.

The clones moved in faster, aimed to soften up the princess and get a measure of her close quarter skills. Maiyuri clenched a fist while holding her other hand in a firm open palm, her legs' stance widened and rooted. The first clone struck with a right hook, Maiyuri leaned back to avoid it and grabbed his hand, she twirled him over her shoulder to slam him into the ground.

Just as her back had turned another clone to his chance and jumped at her. But the princess's leg shot up and slammed right into his stomach just as she finished slamming the other clone, both clones vanished in two identical puffs of smoke at the same time.

A third clone attacked from the side, producing two crystal kunai as he lunged at her. Maiyuri adjusted her figure, with her hands already close to the ground she planted her palms and pushed, lifting into the air and avoiding the clone's strike. She curled into a ball, grasping her legs in front of her chest as she twirled. The clone couldn't even move in time as she drove her feet down, slamming unto the clone's back and vanishing.

The remaining two clones attacked from both sides, each holding blunt crystalline weapons. They shouted as they thrusted the staves. But Maiyuri held each end of the weapons before they could the sides of her abdomen.

The clones' blue eyes widened in surprise when their thrust lost all inertia, her hold was simply too strong. Not letting out for a moment, Maiyuri pulled the weapons, and the clones, towards her. They yelped as they were dragged forward while the princess moved backwards and directed their movement through her grip on their weapons so they would collide with one another, causing them to be dispelled into smoke.

All the while Naruto and Sasuke circled around the princess, looking for an opening. And couldn't help but be impressed at what they were seeing so far.

'No wasted movement at all,' the Uchiha keeping his eyes fixed on his opponent. Gazing to his teammate both nodded; 'Let's try it!' Both blur as the princess narrow her eyes.

Crossing her arms she caught Naruto's fist and Sasuke foot from their respected attacks. Neither hid their surprise as both had added some chakra for extra strength, but the princess did not show either strain or pain as gazed at both young teens.

"How are you so strong?" Naruto muttered.

"Lots of years of intense training with the fire monks since I was young. Most warriors focus more on physical superiority while ninja diversify into other fields" Maiyuri retorted with a summoned up version of the words she had used the other day at the hospital.

Sasuke wouldn't stay idle, he brought his hands together for a hand sign and- "Ugh!" He grunted in pain as his foot was twisted, forcing his body to turn, he held his hands on the grass so his face wouldn't hit the ground.

The blonde 'tch'ed in turn, tapping his foot on the ground once, he poured chakra and solidified into crystal, encasing his leg on the substance. With a cry, he slammed his leg on the princess's stomach... only for the frontal part of his shoton to shatter while Maiyuri remained unharmed.

"Okay, what are your abs made of, steel?"

"You too could acclimate your body to resist this physical punishment, you just need to go through the same training I did" She tightened her hold on them, Naruto grunted in pain as he was forced to one knee while Sasuke felt his ankle burn from the strain. The princess's green eyes looked down on them intensely. "I hit boulders with my bare hands, endured broken bones until it was the boulders finally broke at my blows. I held on as they hit my stomach, again and again, so my muscles would harden with time. I walked over fire and meditated under icy waterfalls to strengthen my mind and resolve. At this point, pain is an old friend"

A bit more pressure and a gasp of pain from the teens.

Maiyuri directed her gaze to Sasuke "If you seek to challenge your brother at this level" Her voice carried a challenge with the intent to provoke him. "Then you're a lifetime away from defeating him"

His eyes flashed with rage, he shouted. Fighting both pain and the princess's strength to pull away. He pushed himself from the ground and struck with his other foot. Maiyuri ducked and let go of his foot, watching as Sasuke soared free. He went through a series of handsigns in the air and spit constant stream of fire at her.

"I'm still here you asshole!" Naruto shouted that fire would have gotten him as well. To his shock, the princess pushed him away with her prodigious strength and took a stance.

With her arms crossed over her head, Maiyuri channeled chakra in a constant streaming yet erratic motion, as if mimicking fire. When the flames collided, she thrust her arms to the side and the fire spread, licking at her arms but otherwise its flames were redirected. Sasuke landed next to his teammate, and the two young ninja watched in awe as she twirled, moving her arms in swift and strong motions, guiding the fire, making it move as she desired it.

It was almost like a dance, and the flames were her partner.

She planted her hand on the ground, directing the flames in wide circular arc, charring the grass around her. The fire quickly subsided as it spread more, just barely stopping before the two ninjas of Konoha.

Naruto only looked wide eyed as the blond finally blinked owlishly; "We have the most awesome princess ever..."

"H-how did you do that?" Even the raven haired boy couldn't help but be spellbound by Maiyuri's display.

Maiyuri remained in stance; "A very ancient way the monks had taught me through intense chakra manipulation."

"The monks can do that?" Naruto suddenly got starry eyed, imagining badass monks performing amazing feats of martial arts.

"Indeed. As my old master said; 'Unlike ninja, we don't brute force our way through techniques'"

The two young shinobi shared a look.

"As you can imagine, the monks do not like you people"

Sasuke grunted; feeling increasingly frustrated at how much of an advantage the princess had over them. Throughout the fight she kept a calm demeanor and a focused mind, each and every single one of her movements disabled their attacks. She was fast, so fast that while his Sharingan could see her movements, his body was nowhere near fast enough to intercept them, it was like fighting Lee. It was becoming clear to him that Maiyuri could end this fight in the blink of an eye if she so much desired.

The princess was taking this spar seriously as she had promised, but she was far from unleashing her true strength, she only retaliated as the situation demanded to stay one step ahead, nothing more, and nothing less.

And it enraged Sasuke so much, to see a gap so wide before him again...

His Sharingan eyes lowered to the weapon at her waist. "You haven't used your blade" He noted.

Maiyuri lifted an elegant eyebrow. "Gyōten? No" She shook her head as she patted the hilt. "I don't need it for this"

Both Genin lightly bristled till the princess spoke again; "I do not mean it as a slight against your skills. But I use my sword only in two occasions, against opponents capable of matching my blade, and against enemies of our nation. I see you both as comrades thus I shall not draw my sword."

Well that was good reason as far as Naruto ever heard one. His own kenjutsu skill was nowhere near close to take on the princess in a sword fight, of that he was sure. From the corner of his eye even Sasuke accepted that albeit begrudgingly. Thinking for a moment, Naruto goes through several hand seals as a dozen of crystal hummingbirds formed in the air.

With one more seal, his creations were sent flying towards her at great speeds. Yet the princess did not move, instead, she held her ground, her arms moving at blurring speeds striking down the hummingbirds with precision as the moment they got within striking distance, a pair of fingers laced with chakra was enough to shatter the crystalline constructs. The last one she did not break, she caught it in her hand and threw it right back at the Uzumaki.

Naruto yelped a quickly threw a kunai at the hummingbird, shattering it. He sighed in relief. That had been close…

"Prepare yourselves;" The princess advises. "Now I'll go on offensive"

"Oh..." Now did Naruto remember that so far, Maiyuri had stayed on defense; "I'm both excited and terrified"

For a brief moment, the princess smirked.

And then she moved.

The ground at her feet shattered with a burst of speed, wind, dust and fragments of earth scattering in the air. The princess was no longer in sight.

Fiercely the wind brushed against their faces, they gasped as time seemed to crawl to a halt, turning around they saw Maiyuri with her back turned to them. With a single leap she had cleared the distance.

Sasuke... hadn't even seen her move.

Naruto could only watch in shock, awed at the intense display of skill... also with how much the wind had picked up with her leap, plus her posture and how short her gi was, he could kind of see her pantie-

A swift slap to both their faces and both were flung through the air.

'Did it really worth the pain now knowing she likes red lace..?' Kurama only shook his head upon hearing his jailer's thoughts. Whatever mental process the blond had next had been halted by sheer pain as he slammed through not one but two trees.

A fate which was shared by Sasuke who screamed as he stopped via back hitting on the third. The ground shook as four trees fell to the earth as both Genin lie motionless on the ground. Maiyuri remained in stance; "Are you both conscious?" Her question was met with two pain filled moans; "I'll take that as a yes. You both have talent, and I don't say that because you are both Uzumaki and Uchiha. But because you both work incredibly hard to be as good as you are now."

Presently both young teens would have appreciated those words if they weren't racked by overwhelming pain.

"But you both are not ready to face someone of higher caliber at present. However I know you both shall make excellent warriors," She meant every word as Naruto and Sasuke slowly, painfully get onto their hands and feet; "And if you wish to protect me Naruto-san you will indeed have to train immensely."

The blonde groaned as he stood up, rubbing his neck. "Well, how does humility feels like, boy?" The fox teasingly asked. "Painful, I imagine"

'Tell me about it' He worked the painful cricks of his neck as he groaned out, popping his back was well. 'This ain't a fight we can win...' He'd say it pained him to admit it, but the sheer one-sided pounding they were getting from the princess already took care of that. It put things into perspective; the princess was a high caliber fighter, most likely among the S-Rank elite. The pride of his previous victories and the battles he survived felt distant, now all he could feel was the great gap between him, and warriors like his mother, Kakashi, Jiraiya, Hiruzen, people he admired so much and desired to reach one day.

Yet he couldn't shake the excitement off his person either, knowing their princess was so bad ass. Maybe it was a statement in and of itself, of the strength of their nation. She was brave, such that she was willing to put her life on the line for her people, and charismatic, for Naruto thought he wouldn't mind following the commands of someone like her, who will one day fully lead their home. He supposed he could add the princess to that list of people he admired.

But while the Uzumaki was looking at the difference in level between them with optimism, like a challenge, the Uchiha could only see it with frustration and failure, anger and feelings of uselessness overcoming him.

Sasuke growled, unwilling to let this stand. He needed to close the gap between him and people like her... He needed to close the gap with Itachi.

Lightning crackled in his right hand.

Naruto gasped as he saw this; "Woah, woah, woah! What are you doing with that?!" He snapped, looking at his friend in disbelief; "You can't use that on our princess, teme!"

"It's alright" She called out, much to the blonde's shock. Maiyuri smiled at him. "Come at me with all you have, Naruto-san!"

"Well, she's literally asking for it;" Kurama prompted. "Come on, I wanna see how she kicks your collective asses some more"

'Thank you for the vote of confidence;' Naruto dryly retorted. Still, he very much believed the fox was right; Maiyuri would most likely have something up her sleeve for this.

But still, his heartbeat sped up at the thought of it, he wanted to see... wanted to clash against her with all his strength

And so he formed a Rasengan in his left hand. The spiraling sphere of energy stood next to the lightning which cried like birds.

With a mighty leap, they closed this distance.

Maiyuri smiled, proud in with their resolve and their potential. She would repay them in kind.

Closing her eyes, she took a stance and focused. The energies from the depths of her soul surged forth; she called upon the strength of her ancestors and the mysteries of the beyond. Her left hand stood on a half-ram sign, while her right hand was down with her palm parallel to the ground.

The two boys cried out valiantly and thrust hard, driving their attacks forward.

And suddenly 'something' collided with them with great force. They saw their energies clashing with torrents of chakra against fiery flames that just weren't... natural. Flickering in a raging fire, they could barely see the shape of whatever was creating them.

Then Chidori and Rasengan exploded, sending the boys flying away before landing on their backs.

"Ohh;" The fox sounded intrigued. "Interesting"

Naruto sat up to see what he meant and he gasped in shock, Sasuke quickly followed suit, his eyes wide.

The princess kept her stance, and around her in midair were two arms, great, ethereal looking limbs of shape beyond a regular limb. They were ablaze, lit with hungry flames. The sheer heat and energy emanated from them was surreal, the density of the chakra was just so powerful...

"Looks like she had learned quite a bit with the monks" Kurama noted.

Maiyuri slowly lowered her stance, letting out a deep breath as the arms vanished. When she opened her green eyes once more, she smiled at them.

"As I stated before, both of you have talent. But it will take time and hard work before either of you can face someone like myself. There are no shortcuts, and those who believe such foolishness are cowards who know nothing of being a true warrior," Her voice while warm was also sharper than any steel blade.

Sasuke felt that last part was directed at him, especially since she stared right at him. And she was right, he was letting his temper and Uchiha blood dictate his actions. And to use the Chidori of all things on his nation's princess. While she might be dismissive of his action, The Daimyo would have sent him to prison or the headsman's axe.

"Forgive me Maiyuri-hime. As my sensei told me; The Chidori is meant only to kill an enemy... I should pay more heed to his words"

For once Naruto felt his jaw drop upon hearing Sasuke of all people apologizing. However the princess kept her smile; "You are fine, but I am glad you are seeing things clearly. I do not begrudge you for wanting vengeance, but don't let it or your rage control you. Train; focus yourself to becoming the best you can become. But do not forget what is most important."

"And that is?" Sasuke lifted a brow.

The royal nodded at Naruto; "You still have people who care about you. Don't shut them out."

Sasuke followed her finger and stared at the blonde. "I'm your friend, aren't I?" Naruto said softly.

The young Uchiha lowered his gaze.

The princess sighed; "I will not try to understand your pain or frustration, but I do understand your anger. If I had my way, I would send kill-teams after Itachi" She spoke with an edge in her voice, much to their surprise. "He is nothing but a traitor and a kinslayer, scum like him have no place in this world, they deserve no honor and no mercy" Maiyuri shook her head. "I believe Konoha has not taken enough action when it comes to their traitors, and your clan deserves justice"

Sasuke sometimes felt like that, felt that Konoha had just forgotten about what Itachi did...

"You have full right to claim your vengeance, but make sure it doesn't consume you"

"Hey, I'll help you"

Sasuke let out a soft gasp, staring at the blonde in shock.

"Yeah" Naruto shrugged. "If you wanna take him down, count me in, I ain't gonna let what that bastard did to you go unanswered, and I'm sure as hell not gonna let you do that by yourself, gods know you'll probably do something stupid" Though his tone was light, there was honest feeling behind his words. He was worried for Sasuke; he was worried for his friend.

"Naruto, you..."

The Jinchuuriki merely beamed a blinding smile at him. The princess softly smiled as well, relieved that if even if the Uchiha were to walk a dark path, there would be someone there to pull him back into the light.

"I..."

"Naruto!"

The three turned immediately upon hearing the panicking voice of Karin. She arrived to the field, panting, her eyes were wide with fear and concern. Something had happened.

"Karin?" The blonde dreaded to think had happened that put his cousin in this state.

"What's going on?" The princess asked.

Her next words made their blood freeze. "S-Something happened to the Hokage"

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XxX ~ Konoha Hospital ~ XxX

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"Vitals are stable" Said one of the medical ninja, even with all their years of training, all the cases in their careers; they couldn't fully hide the concern in their voices. Not when it came to their beloved leader.

Jiraiya sighed in relief. "Good, keep a close eye on him" He peered over to Kushina, the woman couldn't remain still and so she paced around the white room. "Any word on the ANBU?"

"Fox says he has his best elites sweeping through the every inch of the village right now, so far, no sign of Danzo or his cronies" With her arms crossed, she tightened her fingers' grip on her left bicep. "It's like he vanished like a ghost..."

The Gama Sannin only growled as he felt like punching something; "I knew Danzo was a snake. But to truly go as far to use a genjutsu on the Hokage;" But what made it so frustratingly worse was the fact it was done right under his nose.

Never in his life did he ever felt this level of pissed off. "If I find that old sack of bones before Fox don't expect much to be left of the corpse," he spoke darkly.

"Get in line," Kushina retorted in a feral manner.

"That's enough," the head doctor addressed sharply glaring at both; "Your anger is understandable but it will not help the Sandaime presently. Especially you Kushina-sama, you never could control your temper. But you must keep a calm head until our Hokage has recovered. Trust in Commander Fox and the ANBU to find this traitor."

Soon a loud crash outside the room garnered everyone's attention as they heard the ANBU stationed at the door lamented; "Naruto-san please calm down!"

"How the hell can I be calm?! What the hell happened to Jiji?!" Kushina could hear her son practically scream at the ANBU as she opened the door seeing Iguru and Kuma physically restraining her son. "Let go of me damn it!"

"Naruto, enough" His mother ordered.

"Mom!" Only when he saw her did he stop struggling, prompting the ANBU to release him as they knew Kushina would have this under control.

The blonde raced up to her, worry and fear clear in his blue eyes. "What happened to jiji?"

"He fell into a coma, but he's stable" She quickly said, trying to ease his concern the moment she said the word 'coma'. "Physically, he is fine"

"I-I don't get it" He felt so lost, "What's going on?"

"It is something I wish to know as well" To the surprise of the hospital staff, Kushina, and the ANBU the princess arrived soon after Naruto, Karin following suit. Her eyes were sharp and demanded answers.

"It's..." Tired and frustrated, Kushina had a hard time organizing her thoughts to tell her son and the princess they wanted to know without telling them everything. "It's a long story" She breathed out, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"You know of Danzo, right?" Thankfully, Jiraiya took over. "Elder, directs some of most hidden black opts for the village?" At that their princess nodded, he continued. "We began to suspect he had something to do with assault on the village during the exams"

"What?" Maiyuri couldn't keep the outrage and shock from overcoming her. Naruto could only gasp in shock. An elder had... betrayed their village?

"The old man tried to defend him, when we called out all of Danzo's actions and how the evidence reflected poorly on him, he... he looked like he was in pain, and then he passed out" Jiraiya tiredly ran a hand over his face. "The Yamanaka say his mind had fought against the effects of an extremely powerful genjutsu. The resulting contradiction of his thoughts and the illusion he was under caused the genjutsu to break... but it had much of a toll on his mind, so the result was this coma he's in"

"And this all happened" The princess tried to put the pieces together, "while you were discussing about Danzo? That's..."

"Extremely convenient" Kushina finished for her.

Maiyuri looked sharply to the ANBU as Kuma spoke up; "Commander Fox has the elite regiment scouring everywhere but there are no signs of Danzo."

While the adults conversed, Naruto almost numbly shambled into the room as he saw the first person who ever showed him kindness lying on the hospital bed. He remembered the first day he met the old man while cooking fish at his campfire. How he showed up for his birthdays when he was not busy, even if it was for a few minutes he cherished every moment of those times.

The time Naruto spent at the Hokage's office while Hiruzen worked. All the little occasions that made their mark in the blonde's heart. Sure the two argued like cats and dogs from time to time, and Naruto drove the old man crazy with his pranks. But Hiruzen was always there for him.

...Naruto had never told anyone, his other reason for becoming Hokage. One that felt was more personal, but he wanted to take over when Jiji wanted to retire again. Not just taking over the reins but to show he could do the job and Hiruzen could be proud of him.

To make his grandfather proud.

The doctor said nothing as he saw the tears start cascading from the young Uzumaki's eyes. It was no big secret the Sandaime was affectionate to Naruto in a manner of a grandparent is to a grandchild. But he seriously doubted that anyone truly understood just how much the blond loved Hiruzen Sarutobi for the simple fact he truly cared and saw him as a boy rather than as a monster.

"Doc" Naruto's voice was a broken whisper.

"He's going to be alright" The medic softly to reassure the lad. "Sarutobi-sama is strong; he just needs time to recover"

Naruto would trust in their judgement, it was all he could do. His fists tightened in frustration, he wanted to kill Danzo, make him pay for having manipulated jiji all this time. But he was gone; he escaped with his tail between his legs the moment his dirty little secret had been revealed.

He'd find him one day, and then he'd regret the day he ever took advantage of his village and their Hokage.

"Has my father been informed?" The princess prompted.

"He has" Jiraiya replied. "An emergency meeting was held not long ago. The clans expressed concern that this would leak out, so we need to find a successor to take his place while he's in this state"

"What?" Naruto sharply turned at that. "He's like this and they're just gonna replace him?!" He seethed, though not in a loud voice.

Kushina gave him a disapproving gaze, as if disappointed that the others would really treat their leader like that. "We're already in a delicate situation; we need someone to take the reins. This is what he'd want" His mother stressed the last words, causing Naruto to flinch at how rash he had been. Kushina sighed tiredly. "The Council came to a conclusion, with previous instructions and suggestions left by the old man. We need our greatest medic back, we need Tsunade to return to Konoha and become Hokage"

Karin, Maiyuri and Naruto's eyes widen upon hearing that name; "That won't be easy," the princess stated. "Especially since finding her is next to impossible."

"I have contact that found where Tsunade was last seen," Jiraiya gazed back to his sensei then back to the princess.

Naruto slowly looked to his mother, she had told him about the woman who adopted her when she came to Konoha. Who was the grandmother that he had never even known about. Honestly he wasn't really sure how to feel about her. But he knew his mom had an edge in her voice whenever bringing Tsunade up.

"Gaki," the blond looked over to Ero-Sennin; "me, you, Red, and specs there will be heading out to go visit my contact and look for Tsunade."

"No problem" Naruto said with a determined look in his eye.

"Oh, I'm 'Specs' now I see" Karin dryly replied. "Guess that sums up my personality in a nutshell. O-Oh and it's fine, you don't need to ask me first if I want to go"

"Well" Jiraiya dragged out the word. "Considering you're still on probation and was given sanctuary from my crazy ass former teammate... Hmmm, nope. You don't really get a say in it"

"...Fair enough" She grumbled, crossing her arms. "Geez, I was gonna say 'Ok' anyway. Let me have some dignity"

"Dignity is overrated" Jiraiya helpfully informed. "Now pack it up, we're gonna need your sensing skills" He turned his gaze to Kushina and Naruto. "You too, the sooner we can head out, the better"

"Alright" Kushina nodded before placing hands on the young ninja's shoulders. "Come on kids, I have a feeling it's gonna be a long trip.

Both Sannin and princess watched as they strode down the hallway until they turned in a corner and disappeared from view. "So" Maiyuri prompted. "Is this contact of yours reliable?"

"One of the best," Jiraiya said with utter confidence; "And I trust this contact, she has never let me down yet." He smirked. "You know her actually"

"Really?" Maiyuri blinked in surprise.

"Oh yes. After all, she would drive you mad and rope you into her schemes against your will all the time in the Fire Temple"

After a few seconds of silent, Maiyuri groaned and ran a hand over her face. "That woman… I shouldn't be surprised she's your contact. Always saying she'd make a name for herself…"

---

XxX ~ Naruto ~ XxX

---

Naruto took a small moment to himself, he had sent a clone to get his things ready, and so he wouldn't be wasting time.

He stood in front of the Hokage's office's door. The blonde wasn't really sure why he had come here, but he just… he just needed to think.

There were no guards, or if there were then they continued their awesome job at being stealthy. One way or another he entered alone. Wasn't the first time he was alone in the Hokage's office, he often had sneaked in when he knew Jiji was away. He'd sometimes leave the hat there and he'd play with it all the time.

He smiled faintly at the memory as he looked at the empty desk… a desk that would soon to be used by the new Hokage.

Tsunade, last member of the Senju clan, his own mother's adoptive mother… his grandmother. From what he had heard, the woman endured tragedy after tragedy, only after that bastard Orochimaru had revealed his true colors and they failed to bring him to justice was when she got fed up with everything and left, taking with her a ward, the niece of her deceased lover.

From the way he heard it sometimes, it was like Shizune went with her to make sure she'd be alright.

He couldn't understand it. To leave her family like that. His mother had recently gotten married to his father; a huge argument had broken out from what he was told.

But still, Tsunade had left. Did this village hold only bad memories for her, to leave her daughter and her growing family like that? When his mother 'died', she certainly must have had no reason to come back.

But… what about him? Did she know? She must have known. Was it too painful for her to even see him? Did she even care?

He could be angry, but honestly getting angry wouldn't help at all. There was enough anger in this mess from his mother's part. He didn't want to get angry; he just wanted his grandmother to be part of their family.

But there in laid his greatest fear; rejection. Would his grandmother deny their request to come back? Would she reject him again?

He was almost too afraid to find out…

A soft wet sniff snapped him out of his thoughts. It came from below the desk.

Hesitantly, he walked around it and peered underneath. "Konohamaru?" Indeed, the younger boy was hiding under the desk, holding his legs against his chest and sniffing back the snot gathering under his nose while the corners of his eyes were wet. He barely acknowledged Naruto.

"Ah" The blonde understood what was going on. "You heard what happened to the old man" What a stupid thing to say, he kicked himself mentally. Of course Hiruzen's family would be informing, the whole Sarutobi clan would know.

Still, Konohamaru nodded stiffly.

The blonde sighed and scooted to sit next to the young boy. He grunted in discomfort, back when he was smaller the desk wasn't this cramped.

He just sat there, knowing the kid needed the company.

"They're gonna replace him…" Konohamaru finally said.

Naruto didn't know where he had heard that, it was sensitive information after all. "Nobody's gonna replace him, the old man wanted this person to be the new Hokage"

"He's the Hokage…"

"And he'll always be" Naruto put a comforting arm around his shoulder. "I promise you nobody here will ever forget that" He smiled. "Your grandpa is a the biggest badass I know, he's gonna make it through this"

Konohamaru had said nothing.

"And hey, he'd want you to be strong. Can you be strong for him?" The blonde closed his eyes and beamed a blinding smirk. "What am I saying? You're his grandson, of course you can!"

The young boy sniffed and allowed himself to smile. One smile from Naruto and he knew everything would be okay. "Thanks Niisan…"

---

XxX ~ Uzumaki residence ~ XxX

---

"You're going to find Tsunade-sama?" Sakura watched on while Naruto was putting items he needed into his sealing scrolls. The rosette had been given the quick version of the situation; "Will you be okay?"

Naruto knew what she was referring to; "I'll feel better when Jiji is out of that coma. Maybe that Tsunade lady can help." He still felt weird to actually call her grandmother since he never knew her.

"You sure?" She hesitantly asked. "I mean, she's your... well you know" The pinkette felt very awkward saying this, like she was intruding in matters she had nothing to deal with.

"Yeah" He tiredly replied. "Yeah, I know. I honestly... don't really know how to feel right now. All I wanna do is getting her here so she can help us" He rubbed his neck in unease. "My mom is the one who's all angry. I don't want her to be, but I can't tell her what to feel or not, I just want the two to make up and-" He let out a soft breath. "I don't want her to be like this with her mom..."

Ever that realistic one, Sakura pointed out. "I don't think she's gonna make things easy"

"Who? My mom or Tsunade?"

"Either? Both?" She shrugged. "Your mom is pissed, I get it, and she's pissed about a lot of things. But..." Her jade eyes shifted. "I guess one should try and look at things from her perspective. One moment she was giving birth to you, and then twelve years passed by without her even knowing. She missed out so much, and I bet she still hasn't processed a lot of stuff that went on in her absence"

The blond was well aware of that. A few nights when going passed his mother's room he could hear her crying once in a while. His mom hid it well enough during the day, but the blond knew she was hurting a lot more than she said or showed.

Just like he did when alone…

"It's probably been one whirlwind right after another. She has to get through it her by her own time," the rosette said gently.

"I know," Naruto gave a weak smile; "I can just hope for the best right?" Sakura gave him a quick back hug which helped his nerves relax. With a ram seal the last of what the blond needed was in his scroll as he put it in his kunai thigh holster. "Be back in a few days."

"Try to keep your mom from demolishing a town, will you?" Sakura joked with a sly smile.

Naruto laughed, but it soon died down as he realized that was a very likely possibility. He just knew there would be a lot of wreckage involved in this mission of theirs. "I hope I can..."

"I'll pray for you" His teammate said sympathetically.

---

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

---

As they left the house, Naruto and Karin took notice of the outfit Kushina was wearing. Her bangs were kept away from her face by her forehead protector, while her hair was tied in a high ponytail. She wore a tan colored coat with a dark embroidered border; the sleeves weren't very long, reaching only to her forearms, which were protected by arm-guards. Underneath she wore a black kimono-like blouse with a mesh opening underneath the collarbone, held around her midsection by a white obi. It reached only to the upper part of her thighs, showing she was a wearing a pair of black tight shorts, showing off her shapely legs, which were covered by leg-guards. Finally, she wore a simple pair of updated shinobi sandals.

Looking up to the sky with a determined gaze, Kushina looked ready for action.

"Daaaayum, mom! You look badass!"

While Karin did not express herself with the same amount of enthusiasm, she did smile widely. "It does suit you"

The cool badass warrior air around her vanished in an instant as squared her shoulders, smiling sheepishly while blushing in embarrassment. "You think so? Had this for a while now, thought I'd pull it out from the old closet again 'ttebane..."

Shaking out of her embarrassment, the older redhead looks the younger redhead; "And you too look nice with your new get-up."

Karin's outfit being a long sleeve dark blue kimono top with a mesh shirt underneath. Her top was tied with a sash and stopped at her thighs with black shorts and sandals. Meanwhile Naruto kept on what he had this morning.

The glasses wearing Uzumaki lightly blushed; "Tenten gave me a discount on this stuff;" It was both functional and combat ready, like everything in their store.

Making their way to the gates, the trio saw Haku and her team with Zabuza speaking with Jiraiya and the original Naruto after leaving the Hokage tower and Konohamaru who went home. No doubt filling them in on the current situation judging by the gravely serious expression from the swordsman.

Getting close enough the shadow clone handed the scrolls of supplies over to the original before dispelling. The blond smiling now gaining the memory of Sakura's word to his clone.

"This is bad for your village, sannin" The frowning visage of Zabuza's bandaged face carried a grimness they hadn't seen before. "An invasion, of which you survived mind you but your defenses were weakened, now your Kage is in a coma while one of your very own elders turned traitor. You're not 'Bloody Mist' levels of fucked over yet, but man..."

"Don't have to tell me twice" Jiraiya grunted, crossing his arms. "Konoha is in a very delicate state right now. Inform you Kage that Danzo has been added to the list of threats for our villages and the alliance"

"Terumi-sama will make sure to order our hunter-nin to detain this Danzo if they find him" Haku replied resolutely. "He will be brought to your village to face justice"

"So you guys are heading home now," Naruto looks up to the Kiri swordsman and Haku.

"Well it's not like staying with you tree hugging hippies isn't fun and all," Zabuza snorted; "but since the Mizukage left we were ordered to stay for only a few more days. Besides brat, you got business with finding the Tsunade woman." His eye glanced to Kushina as he gave a small nod which she returned.

"We need to inform the Mizukage about this development, it'll be safer if we do so in person" Haku said, her gaze soft and understanding. "To uphold our alliance, Danzo will be hunted by our village as well"

"Though not with as much pleasure as you people will, I think" Kouhei spoke, his wavy hair swaying as he shook his head in amusement. "I bet you hippies ain't all 'Love and Peace' when it comes to traitors like him"

"Our ANBU are efficient" Kushina replied. "Let's leave it at that"

"At any rate," Jiraiya spoke up; "time to go."

All nodded as Naruto and Karin gave a quick farewell to their Kiri friends as they dashed out the gate. "So where are we going first Ero-Sennin?" Naruto asked beside Karin as they began to leap through the trees.

"I need to speak with a contact of mine, She'd know where Tsunade's current whereabouts."

"How reliable is this contact?" Kushina asked beside the Sannin.

Jiraiya smirked; "One of the best."

---

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

---

Jumping from tree to tree for some time now, the band of Leaf ninja plus Karin moved at full speed towards their destination... which the Uzumaki just realized they had no idea where said was.

"So... where are we going?" Naruto drawled as he asked.

"Tanzaku Town" Jiraiya replied with his eyes narrowed as the wind clashed against his face with each leap, making his mane of white hair sway. "Popular tourist attraction here in the Land of Fire, gambling is legal so there are lots of casinos"

"Ohhh I remember;" Kushina looked excited as memories flooded back into her mind. "Every night is a party. It's like they're in a constant festival, and when there is festival then it's a Festival!" Naruto and Karin could swear they heard the capital 'F' there...

"And pretty much hasn't changed since you remember," the Sannin faintly smirked. "Though the fireworks show did get better at least."

"Oh I loved those," Kushina was beaming as she remembered her visits in Tanzaku. "We are watching that when we get a chance." Hopefully this time around it wouldn't end with a huge gambling debt…

---

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

---

They arrived at nighttime, allowing the young ninja to take a good look at the glamour and splendor of the small city. Tanzaku Town was truly a place of festivity and merriment, with people going around the various business stands and games, laughing as they entered the various casinos to try their luck.

But they knew that was just the surface, Tanzaku town was still a place where gambling was legal, which meant a lot of people would be losing everything here. This place gathered the wrong sort of crowd, and plenty dark deals were being made behind closed doors.

However, for the rest of the people who wisely choose to just enjoy the typical festivities in the streets could genuinely have a good time. There were plenty of stands where delicious food, traditional or otherwise, were being served. As well as plenty of games where they didn't risk gambling all their money away.

Music filled the streets along with the bantering and laughter of the crowd. Paper lamps hanged above them, beautifully designed pieces of decoration of various colors and designs.

"Wooooow..." Naruto breathed out in awe, it reminded him of the festivals back in Konoha, but this place had a more energetic feel to it.

Kushina inhaled deeply and sighed in delight once she smells the scent of that sweet, sweet dango. She runs a hand over her mouth to clear the drool forming.

"Awwww, Tanzaku Town" Jiraiya smiled fondly as he rested his hands on his hips. "Where money flows right out of your pockets"

"Okay, this place is pretty awesome," Karin looked with the same awestruck as her cousin beside her. "So where are we meeting your contact?"

"Not at some brothel right?" Kushina lightly glared over prompting an eye roll from her late husband's mentor. Seriously how the hell Minato did not become an outright pervert being around this guy was a mystery to her.

"No, not at the brothel," though going there later did sound good. After this damn mess was all over and done with; "Her name is Yuma, trust me you won't miss her."

"Where is she now?" Karin asked, looking around. That name… why did it feel so familiar? Also why was Aunt Kushina squealing so excitedly?

The sannin dryly replies. "Probably drinking and eating a lot while making a big scene..."

"It sounds like you know her well" Naruto noted.

"Trust me, she's the kind of people who leaves an impression" He shrugged. "Come on, I do know she'll be at Kaihako Street. Lots of stands she loves there"

And so the team of four continued walking, Naruto and Karin watched in wonderment at the various festivities while Kushina made quick stop, buying different kinds of sweets.

"You know, eating all that stuff all the time isn't healthy" Jiraiya dryly informed him.

"Don't care!" Kushina grunted as she put three whole dango into her mouth. "Imma live forever!" She spoke passionately with her mouth full, not caring that she was spitting out pieces of her treat as she did so. She quickly looked at another stand with joy. "Oh! Cherry porky!"

Karin suddenly perked up as she felt a chakra signature. It was... big. The levels of chakra were huge, around Aunt Kushina's level or Jiraiya's. It also felt so... fiery. An unending raging fire of passionate joy. It shined brightly like a beacon on a misty night. She had to admit it kind of felt like a contagious cheerful mood. Much like Naruto felt bright and sunny.

"I feel something..." The spectacle wearing girl muttered.

"You're probably feeling Yuma" The sage spoke while tipping his chin at the path ahead, nodding a crowd of cheering people. "And if I were a gambling man, which I am, I'd say she's right there"

The people were gathered around a rather long stand were large plates with foods and drinks were being served. The crowd excitedly cheered 'Chug, chug, chug, and chug!' Encouraging the source of their admiration to finish the immense glass mug full of beer in her hand.

As they made their way through the crowd, Kushina and the young teens could finally make out the figure sitting on one of the stools in front of the stands. Her outfit was... colorful, to say the least. It was simply one of the most artistically inspired and outlandish outfits they've ever seen.

It consisted of two main colors for the theme. Red and blue. She wore a revealing blue gi that with red outlines that ended before reaching her knees. Her shins and knees were protected by beautifully carved red dyed armor plates while she wore red sandals, underneath the armor her legs and feet were covered by black stockings with a red outline, ending with two rhomb patterns above the knee.

Around her waist was a burgundy obi with a flower pattern and a lotus shaped belt at the center. Coming from under the obi was a long red cloak with flower shaped embroidery. Attached to the belt was a long golden knot were two katanas were strapped in.

Her arms were covered by a tight black undersuit going all the way to her wrists, with red lines crisscrossing around the biceps. Her elbows were protected by armor pieces of two layers. The outer lay was blue in color with intricately designed red lines, while the second one beneath it was red. At her wrists she wore wristbands with large decorations over the back of the hands, these being in the shape of large red flames with blue outlines.

Tied around her shoulders and over her back was a red cloth with golden outlines, forming flower patterns at the corners. Her blue gi was revealing on the cleavage, showing off her very ample bosom. It left the upper part her shoulders bare, at the side of her chest two thick threads were tied around a frilly choker on her neck, holding up her gi, where a silver tomoe necklace rested.

Her hair was white like the snow; a long bang fell over her right shoulder while the rest of her hair was tied in a wild high ponytail held up by a large hair piece in the shape of black and red tomoe-mon.

Throwing her head back as the woman downed the large mug of beer, once its contents emptied; she slammed it over the counter and sighed in satisfaction. The crowd cheered while the young woman threw up her arms and whistled. "WOOO!" She laughed. "Any of you nice folks wanna invite me another drink?"

The young woman was astonishingly beautiful, with an oval shaped face and clear blue eyes. Everything about this woman screamed 'sex-appeal', the beautiful curves of her athletic body, the way she moved, the confidence in her speech, the sheer joy in her voice. The people around her were pretty much throwing themselves at her feet, men and women alike.

"Woah..." Naruto breathed out. Puberty had never struck more strongly.

"Woah..." Karin muttered, feeling her own puberty hitting something fierce. As well as her sexuality coming into question.

For some strange reason, Kushina was hopping in place, shaking her hands with great energy and looking at the young woman with wonder in her eyes, "Oh my gooooods~!"

Jiraiya shook his head and chuckled. "Having fun as always I see"

The white haired female swordsman immediately turned at hearing his voice. Her blue eyes widening along with her smile; "Hey old man! Thought you wouldn't be coming for a second there!" She paused as she took notice of the other three; "Well, well, well, the legendary Red Death herself. The cute kid is your boy right? And glasses would be the former associate of a certain snake?"

All three Uzumakis look wide eyed while Jiraiya only snorted; "Showing off as usual."

"How the hell did you know?" Karin almost whispered.

"Honey when I do not know something, then you should be worried," the white haired beauty paid her tab as she stood up; "Name is Yuma, contact of the big guy here," thumbing over to Jiraiya.

The sensor girl bit her lip, lost in thought. Yuma... it had been bothering her for a time now. But she knew that name, she just couldn't place it. The swordswoman must have realized how intently she was looking at her because she smirked in a somewhat haughty fashion.

"Perhaps you know me as 'Reiken Yuma'"

The word 'Reiken' elicited a gasp from Karin as she watched with wide eyes at the older woman with amazement. "Spirit-Blade Yuma..."

Kushina and Naruto both gasped in shock... before face-faulting and dryly stating. "I have no idea who that is" Kushina said.

"Me neither" Said her son.

The smirk on Yuma's face shattered as she felt herself be pierced by two invisible arrows with the words 'unknown' written on them.

Jiraiya rolled his eyes and snorted at her reaction. "Not surprised you haven't heard of her. You're too new to the game kid, and you Kushina have been away for a long time" He looked at Karin. "Orochimaru had you informed on some players out there huh?"

"Information was always our greatest weapon" She said. "Because of Oto's structure, we rely on it far more than even most villages" She once more turned her red eyes to the white haired woman. "You're one of the best mercenaries out there"

At that Yuma winked; "Damn straight I am, busted my sexy ass to be the biggest badass woman in the Nations and beyond. My blade will one day reach the Emptine-" Her words were cut short as Kushina grasped the young woman's cheeks.

"Ohhhh look at you!" Kushina gushed with as much excitement as one would show when seeing a toddler. "You're so pretty! I-I mean I just can't believe your old man is someone like-"

"So!" Jiraiya forcefully said, placing a hand over Yuma's shoulder to make her back away from Kushina. "The info, you know, the whole reason we're here in the first place?"

"Oh right, the Tsunade woman" Yuma placed her arms akimbo as she was brought back on track. "Wasn't hard to pick up the trail. She's right here"

Their group fell completely silent.

"...Say what?" Kushina asked.

"She's here in Tanzaku Town" Yuma explained; "She has been hopping between casino after casino. Driving that young woman Shizune crazy."

A long dry look came from Kushina; "Yeah that sounds like my mother. Still gambling and absolutely sucking at like normal no doubt."

"Well they call her the Legendary Sucker for a reason," Jiraiya drones. "Which hotel?"

"She's hopping between those too," the buxom white haired beauty snorted; "For a fifty year old she is spry as hell."

"I take offense to that," Jiraiya lightly glared. "I haven't lost my edge yet."

"Because you have a libido most teenage boys would dream of having," Kushina rolled her eyes.

"Damn right"

The Uzumaki matriarch honestly didn't want to waste any more time. "Well, let's go look for her" She didn't wait for the other's response before she began marching.

"Wait a second there Kushina" Jiraiya spoke seriously. "We are tired from the journey, it's already late and there are tons of people around. We'll find her better in the morning"

"Are you kidding me?" She snorted with annoyance. "We have Karin; she's the best sensor we know"

"It's... harder if the person is keeping their chakra levels low" The spectacle wearing girl admitted with a hint of shame in her voice. "That's why I couldn't sense Orochimaru during Exams; he knew what I'm capable of and planned accordingly once he realized I was no longer under his control. He kept his chakra masked enough with multiple protections for me not to feel him"

Kushina looks at the girl in the eye. "But you could find Tsunade if you concentrate right"

"Well, yeah" The older Uzumaki brightened at that but soon Karin deflated her hopes. "But this town is filled with people, and I bet many of them are ninjas and mercenaries on missions, even if I concentrate it'd be difficult." She didn't really want to deny her aunt this, but Karin figured it was better to be honest. "And I'm a bit tired from the journey, so it adds to that..."

Naruto hummed in thought. "Come on, mom. Don't push Karin; we can do it tomorrow morning with no problem"

She couldn't say no to her son and Karin. "Alright" She relented, feeling a bit bad for not taking into consideration how Karin was feeling at the moment. Already the girl had a lot riding on seeing how she was still on probation. "Tomorrow"

"Good" Jiraiya nodded in agreement. "I'll look for hotel for us to stay" Not wanting Kushina to do anything stupid, he looked through his wallet and handed her some money. That should keep her busy for the night. "Here, play some games, buy food. Whatever you want"

Kushina grabbed the money with a sparkling smile. "Yay!" And went off to get some sweets.

"...Your mother is a woman-child"

"I'm starting to see that..." The blonde sighed and went after her. "Come on Karin, we have to watch over my mom"

She grumbled. "Aren't we supposed to be the kids in this situation?"

Once seeing the Uzu trio was out of hearing distance Jiraiya sighed; "Sorry, was this on short notice?"

"You're fine old man. Just hope I can help," Yuma said, waving off Jiraiya's concern as she gave a small smile.

The two walked together to one of the nearest hotels, the sannin paid for a room with four beds. Yuma accompanied him as he entered the rented room and begin putting down some of his stuff, namely his giant scroll which was becoming increasingly more cumbersome.

"Cheap as always I see" She quipped as she sat in a chair.

"One reason I still have money" He sighed as he let himself fall over one of the beds, letting out a long tired breath. He needed this...

The white haired beauty looked at him with concern in her blue eyes. "Dad" She softly spoke. "You okay?"

"Just... dealing with a lot of stuff. I'll be fine" He assured his daughter.

She knew him well enough to tell something had gone wrong. "What is it? Come on, you can tell me"

The sage took a long breath. "The Sandaime is in a coma"

Her father soon filled her in on the current events of Konoha. The young mercenary snarled as she felt like punching something; "You always warned me about that piece of trash. But going that far and using a fucking genjutsu on the Sandaime…"

"Do I have to ask you to tell your boss about Danzo?"

"Oh I will let him know, this bastard won't find a moment's peace anywhere," she took a long deep breath calming herself as she rubbed her temples. "Kushina coming back, the Kazekage dead and full fucking invasion in your village. Did the whole world decide to crazy when I wasn't looking?"

"Trust me kiddo, it got way worse back in the day."

"Don't need to tell me, the veterans in Kageken aren't afraid to let us know just how fucked up things could get" She went over the minibar pulled out a beer can.

That got Jiraiya too sat up on the bed and look at Yuma with reproach in his eyes. "Hey I need to pay for those"

"You can afford it" She threw one on his direction, which Jiraiya easily catches. She opens hers and took a long gulp. "Ahhh" Yuma shook her can slightly, idly looking inside it. "Anyone else know we work as your contacts?"

"Kushina and the old man kne-knows" He quickly corrected himself. Hiruzen wasn't gone yet. "Knowing we work closely will make a lot of people call for my head" He opened his can and drank.

"Well, that's what happens when your 'pals' are the Shodai Hokage's murderers" Yuma sighed as she sat back in her chair, but not before pulling out another beer.

"So, how is your mom? Doing okay?"

"You know she is"

"Yeah, yeah"

Yuma sighed for a moment, rubbing her eyes. "You think this Danzo guy suspected about you and Kageken?"

"If he did, he would have long taken me out of the picture, or blackmailed me to do his dirty work"

"Look old man, maybe it's safer for you to distance yourself for a bit. We can still get you info and all-"

"Hey, hey, hey;" His tone rose as he pointed a finger at her while the rest of his hand held his beer. "Stop worrying. I've been doing this for a long time. The old man knows it; he understands Kageken isn't what it used to be"

His daughter gave him a tired look, and he knew he couldn't stand against those blue eyes she inherited from Uma.

"Doesn't matter, we're still the guys whose original grandmaster assassinated Hashirama Senju and basically triggered the First War" She threw her head back to drink the last contents of her first can. "Few people out there that Konoha hates more than us"

"I'd say Madara is number one on that list," Jiraiya countered.

"Madara FAILED" Yuma felt the need to bring up. "Hattori DIDN'T. That's the key difference"

The sannin shock his head. "At any rate, we start looking for Tsunade tomorrow, hopefully I'll get to Kushina before she beats the crap out of her mother;" He took a swig of his beer.

Yuma sighed as she rose from her seat; "At any rate I best be going. Unless you need an extra pair of eyes?"

"Nah we're good, trust me when I say that Karin girl is the best sensor I have ever seen."

"Alright" She crushed the empty can and threw it over in a waste bin. "Hey can you lend me some money?"

"Depends, is it for food or fun?"

"You mean there is a distinction? I mean some brothels have good food"

"Use your own brothel money" Jiraiya crossed his arms, once more letting his cheapness dictate his actions. His daughter was a grown woman with her own job, so she had to act like it and pay for her own damn hookers.

The swordswoman chuckled good-naturedly. "Just remember, all my finer traits I got from you old man" She leaned in to kiss him on the cheek before turning to the door, giving him one last smile as she left. "See ya, dad"

Jiraiya groaned as he rubbed his eyes; "Still amazed your mother never cut my balls off for that."

---

XxX ~ later that night ~ XxX

---

The water cascaded over her naked form as Kushina lets the shower in the bathroom sooth her body from the aches from craziness of the day. By the Gods today was a whirlwind... Her violet eyes slowly look down to the drain as she let out a long sigh. Who was she trying kid besides herself here?

Her teeth gnashed as the memories assaulted her mind again and again when she was alone. She rested a hand on the shower wall, the redhead leaned forward as her body lightly shook, her wet bangs shadowed her eyes.

Her body trembled as she failed to contain the sobs, no matter how hard she held them back the tears still broke out, salty droplets mixing with the shower's hot water.

Kushina was grieving.

She would use all her strength to put on a brave face, a smile, anything so Naruto would see her in joy, so she could share joy with him. But Naruto has long since gone to sleep, Kushina allowed herself a moment of weakness, to let down that mask and vent her grief.

It hurt so much, like a part of herself had been torn asunder, lost and she could never get it back.

She missed Minato, who felt like not long ago was standing just by side, holding her hand as she gave birth to the most beautiful and perfect baby boy. The man who loved her so much and made her love her red hair, which was the foundation to reconnect with her lost heritage, a history that only caused her pain now she could look back with pride.

Kushina wanted to raise their son together... but Minato was gone, and Naruto was no longer a baby.

She missed Mikoto, oh sweet Mikoto, so dear to her heart. So kind and brave, Kushina watched her grow up from a lonely little thing to a proud ninja of the village surrounded by friends. She deserved so much, had it been in her power Kushina would have given her a life filled laughter and merriment. Instead, Mikoto was given to a man she never loved, like she didn't have a voice of her own... And lost her own life due to the greed of her fucking clan, her children cursed to suffer.

Mikoto had deserved more, Kushina would have... she should have... She was a selfish woman; Kushina could admit it to herself. But honestly, she didn't care if she was selfish. They could have been so happy together, the three of them...

But they were gone. They were gone and weren't coming back.

To Kushina, they had been there just one second and the next...

She fell to her knees, sobbing in grief.

In the other room both Naruto and Karin slept soundly, leaning against the wall Jiraiya gave a stony stare in no particular direction as he could hear Kushina's mournful sobs in the bathroom. She could have put on any mask she wanted, but like Naruto she could not hide anything in those emotive eyes of hers.

After everything she had learned, never mind the time gap of twelve years, you might as well just have stabbed her with a kunai in the heart and be done with it.

The old sage sighed; he never really was the type to help when it came to emotions like this.

He knew what that woman needed, the moment she came out of her scroll and found the world gone insane she needed the comfort and support of her mother... but Tsunade was nowhere to be found, making Kushina all the more bitter and heartbroken. The person who had taken her in when she had been sent to Konoha and then lost it all, who raised her and loved her like her own daughter was not there when Kushina's son needed her... when she herself needed her.

Which was why they were here, a Hokage tended to the heart of their people like a parent would to a child, and if Tsunade was to be Hokage, they needed to remind her she had family to look after. Family who needed her right now.

One way or another, they'd make sure Tsunade would return home.

---

XxX ~ the next day ~ XxX

---

"Ugh," Naruto groaned as he walked beside his mother, Karin, and Jiraiya as the four had been combing all over the town all damn day for Tsunade Senju. "For someone who's fifty she moves around like a damn rabbit."

The toad sage snorted while Karin bit her bottom lip; "Sorry."

"It's not your fault hun," Kushina spoke up fast in a motherly tone; "She has always been like this when binge gambling." Well it was a convincing enough lie to pass anyways.

Both adults of the group knew better, Tsunade knew they were there and making it deliberately hard for them to look for her. Knowing Shizune, the poor girl was not sure what even to do with them roaming around looking for them.

The young Uzumaki girl perks up. "She's stopped" Karin points at a bar at the end of the street. "She's right in there"

Kushina addressed triumphantly. "We cornered her"

"Cornered her?" Naruto repeated incredulously. "She just stopped to get a drink. How is that cornering her?"

She pretty much ignored him. "Old habits die hard, huh mom?" And marched forward

Jiraiya sighs with a roll of his eyes. "Come on; let's make sure the two don't kill each other"

Pushing pass the cloth at the bar's entrance, Kushina's eyes locked on as she saw the green haori with kanji word for gamble in on the back. Oh course she was wearing that damn thing, her long blond hair, not as bright like her late husband or her son's was done in her usual double ponytail.

Though her mother's back was turned to her, sitting on a stool at the bar, she knew Tsunade was wearing her sleeveless kimono blouse which matched her pants and mid-heel black sandals. Narrowing her eyes, the Uzu woman stomped over, not even seeing the short raven haired woman in a black kimono holding a pig in her arms, freaking out upon seeing a living ghost now standing behind her mentor.

Tapping Tsunade's shoulder, the buxom sannin turned with her chocolate eyes widen upon looking into the eyes of her own daughter. Kushina gives a bright smile; "Hey mom."

Just about as Jiraiya neared the bar's door, the entire building shook as he saw his old partner sent flying through the entrance and slamming through the wall of a building opposite the pub.

The sannin pinches the bridge of his nose as he lets out a weary sigh. Idly summoning a few clones, he sends them to hold Kushina back for the moment. "Come on" He walked back through the door, not really paying attention at the stunned faces of the two young Uzumaki. "Let's stop Kushina from killing her..."

Naruto and Karin could only share a bewildered look as Jiraiya walked towards the blonde buxom woman, who was painfully standing up. "Yo hime" He casually greets her, confident that his clones would hold against Kushina for a moment.

The female of the sannin groaned. "Jiraiya..." Her eyes look at him in disbelief, painfully mixed emotions reflected on them. "That's... that's..."

"Kushina, yes" He nods. "I imagine you heard the rumors, she's alive as you can see" He tried to be more sympathetic and tactful, but he doubted Kushina would give them such the time needed for that, he could hear her raving about while struggling against his clones. "And I think you can figure out who this miniature-Minato with Kushina's face here is"

Even though the bruise on her cheek began to swell, Tsunade locked eyes with her grandson. 'He... He looks just like Minato, but that face with those eyes...,' those emotive orbs that show more emotions than words could ever express. Just like Kushina... "Naruto," she spoke his name almost like a whisper.

The said blond Uzumaki just looked at the Senju woman awkwardly; "Um... Hi..."

"GET. OUT. OF. MY. WAY!" Jiraiya only sighed as his clones were torn apart via chakra chains. Kushina almost flew like lightning as she was ready to beat the crap out of her mom till being caught by the strong one arm of Jiraiya around her waist as her fist was cocked back.

"Enough," the Gama Sannin responded in a stern voice, not flinching as the redhead snarled at him. "This won't help you or sensei, calm down now."

His words did little calm her, though they did manage to stop her rampage. For the moment. Violet eyes stared at chocolate with great anger. The latter began to swell up with tears.

"Kushina..." It didn't feel real, after so many years. Her daughter was right there, in front of her. It made her heart throb painfully in both shame and joy.

But Kushina did not share her feelings. "Where were you?" She hissed through gnashed teeth. "Your grandson needed you; he grew up alone and you... You just turned you back on everything and for what? So you could drown yourself in alcohol and self-pity?"

Tsunade did not answer her, such was her shame

"Twelve... years," Kushina growled out slowly with pure rage; "twelve long fucking years my son spent as an orphan because his grandmother was a goddamn coward!"

"MOM!" Sharply the former Jinchurriki turned to her son who looked at her pleadingly as he shook his head; "Please... stop..."

Upon seeing his son's face, she put all her efforts into reigning in her anger. Her chest heaved with each breath. The redhead run her hands through her hair, finally settles them on the back of her head as she walked away. She stood just a few feet away but didn't leave; she just needed to take another deep breath before her anger could take the better of her once again.

Tsunade weakly raised an arm, as if to reach the redhead. But stopped mid-way through when her daughter turned away. The older blonde let her arm fall limply at her side.

Shizune stood behind the others, Tonton held tightly in her arms, watching hopelessly as the situation unfolded.

"...What do you want?" She tiredly asked her teammate, her gaze continued looking at the ground.

"The old man's in a coma" Jiraiya said forlornly. Shizune and Tsunade both gasped in shock, his old teammate finally met his eyes. "The village is in a time of instability. And I spoke with sensei before about what direction to take things to" He took a few steps closer to her; he had an unreadable look in his eyes. "The village needs a new Kage. One who's savvy and strong willed enough to deal with all this crap"

He didn't outright say it, but Tsunade understood what he wanted.

The village wanted her to be the new Hokage.

"You're fucking kidding me" The legendary medic replied sardonically.

Kushina snorted with barely scorn. "Told you she'd be like this" She quipped with her back still turned to them, her hands left her hips as to cross her arms beneath her chest. "I don't know why you even bothered"

Tsunade bristled under her words; they hurt like cold kunai twisting in her flesh.

However what sharp words she wanted to say died as Naruto talked; "Can you help Jiji..?" He walked over beside Ero-Sennin; "Can you at least come home and do that?"

Tsunade stared into Naruto's cerulean orbs before speaking; "What happened to sensei?"

"Danzo." the buxom blond glared hard at that name; "He used a powerful genjutsu on the old man, not sure how long he was under that thing. But when we learned of Danzo being a traitor sensei started acting funny then collapsed. He broke free from the genjutsu but left him in a coma."

There was more to it, Tsunade could see that in the old pervert's eyes but he wasn't going to say anymore. What the hell is going on? But still, Tsunade gazed back to her grandson who looked ready to beg her to come home.

There were so many things they had to talk about. So many things she wanted to say. She just had to agree to return and-

A quick look at Shizune's fearful eyes, and Tsunade remembered that returning just wasn't an option.

The words felt so heavy they could barely make it pass her lips. "I... I can't"

Kushina sharply turned, eyes wide in disbelief. A sentiment shared by Jiraiya who looked at her aghast.

The young jinchuuriki could only stare at her.

There is was… his fears made manifest right now. Rejection. It hurt so much he couldn't even react to it.

He hoped… he had hoped she'd say yes. That she truly wanted to return to her family, to leave the past behind…

Did she truly want nothing to do with them? Nothing to do with him?

Tsunade let out a shaky sigh, and tiredly run a hand over her face. "I can't..." She didn't give them a reason.

"Are you... Are you serious right now?" The redhead snapped, she walked up to her and grabbed her mother by the collar. "You mean to tell me that after all these years, you still won't set foot in your home, is that it?!"

Whatever was about to said by Tsunade or anyone else stopped as they all saw Naruto turning and slowly walking away. The only sound heard on the street was the chirping of night-time bugs. "S-Sochi..?"

Immediately the older redhead let go of her mother as she came quickly beside her son. She stopped him as she soon knelt in front of him; "Naruto?" Karin was soon beside her cousin with equal concern.

His eyes were nearly dim, unreadable as he looked up. He did not say a single word as he looked at his mother and cousin. Slowly walking around them, the blond continued his slow pace ahead in silence.

Kushina just gave her adoptive mother one last glare before following after her son with Karin following.

"Kushina, Naruto, I-!" Tsunade tried to say, but it was clear they weren't listening. "...I'm sorry"

Shizune's gaze turned between her mentor and the others, a subtle nod from the Senju was all she needed to go after them. Leaving Jiraiya and Tsunade alone in the street.

The toad sage let out a long sigh. "Why, hime just... why?"

Tsunade didn't look at him when she walked pass him and into the bar once more. "I need a drink... want to join me?"

The Gama Sannin let out a throaty noise as he glanced between the retreating form of his old teammate and the Uzumaki trio with Shizune following, he sighed before following Tsunade.

Tsunade was already sitting on a stool at the bar as Jiraiya joined at her side. The buxom blond stared into her cup of sake; "How..."

"How is Kushina alive?"

"That is the biggest question on my mind, yes" The woman replied snidely before take a sip.

"Tsukiko's scroll"

Tsunade's eyes snapped open as she choked on her drink. Coughing a few times to clear her throat, she gave Jiraiya a disbelieving look. "She actually used that thing?!" She said in astonishment.

"She got lucky" He nodded, understanding why she was surprised like this.

"'Lucky' is the understatement of the year" The Senju said with a grim look in her eyes. "Tsukiko herself said using that scroll was a huge gamble. I mean the amount of factors that needed to align for it to work properly, and it's not like she could actually test it..."

The Tenrai Suimin, the Divine Sleep seal... A creation of the legendary goddess of fūinjutsu herself. Inspired by the anecdotes of the animal clans, mainly the toads, who had told her of ancient masterpieces of seals designed to bring someone back from the brink of death. Complex arrays that took years, if not decades, to perfect so they could work as intended. And even then could only be used once.

That immensely powerful and dangerous seal had been her attempt at recreating such works, and even then Tsukiko said her creation should only be used in times of desperation, when death was a certainty. The seal stored the user inside, their bodies transformed into chakra to later be arranged to return to peak condition. And that was the greatest drawback, there was just no proof that the re-arranging would work, the array had never been properly tested. For all they knew, the user would have been brought back as a mangled, twisted mass of deformed flesh...

"Well, it worked as you can see" Jiraiya replied, grabbing his own cup. "The one-time use was as predicted, but at least it counted"

"But her body-"

"Blood clone"

Ah, now it all made sense. "She didn't leave any instructions?"

"She tried to, as best as she could. Her first words were for Naruto but it never really told us she was there" He shrugged. "I can't blame her. After giving birth, having a bijū ripped out of her, I'm amazed she even had the strength to breath while in so much pain, so it's a miracle she had the mental faculties to even write something" He let out a soft laugh. "Uzumaki are something else"

A tiny smile graced the corners of Tsunade's lips but it was soon replaced by a frown. "That's another flaw Tsukiko could never work into the seal, the array was so complex it didn't have room for a timed-release when the user was finally healed" She could have been trapped in there, forever.

"Let's be real" Jiraiya sighed into his cup. "The stars were aligned that day, a freaking miracle, that's how she survived"

It 'was' a miracle that was the only thing Tsunade could sum it up as. The Gods were bring benevolent and brought her daughter back. A long sigh came from the Senju woman as took a long drink of sake. Ignoring the long stare from Jiraiya; "I won't repeat myself."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" the toad sage was surprisingly calm as he spoke; "I never judged you for not being in Naruto's life cause I knew you were an emotional wreck after the Kyuubi got loose and we all thought Kushina had died with Minato. But she is alive, and right now both she and Naruto need you. Sensei needs you, who knew how much damage that genjutsu did to him because of Danzo."

"And someone should have killed that fucking one-eyed mummy years ago," Tsunade growled as she refilled her cup.

"Don't change the subject Tsunade."

She threw her head back and drank her sake.

Jiraiya tiredly sighed and ran a hand over his spiky white locks. "Won't you at least give me a reason why?"

The Senju merely set her cup down, looking at nothing in particular. She tapped her finger against the cup repeatedly.

He rolled his eyes. "And now you're giving me the silent treatment, real mature"

Tsunade glared at him from the corner of her eye. The tapping in her cup became louder.

"Oh don't give that look; I'm not the one who's being unreasonable here"

She retorted by loudly clearing her throat, slowing down the pace of her tapping.

"Well, I can play that game too" The sage crossed his arms in indignation and turned his head... then his face turned comical as the Senju bonked him in the head. "What was that for-?!" He suddenly stopped when he saw his teammate, looking extremely annoyed, subtly pointing with her left hand at her right hand, which kept tapping the sake cup.

Oh... Ohhhhhh. That's what she was trying to do.

Old Konoha code for relaying information discreetly.

Tsunade rolled her eyes in exasperation and began again, this time Jiraiya paid close attention. The pacing and speed of the finger tapping slowly formed the words letter for letter.

His eyes widened.

O-R-O-C-H-I-M-A-R-U

---

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

---

"I cannot believe her," Kushina seethed as she paced around in their hotel room. Her eyes glanced over to her son who has not spoken a word as he sat in front of the open window with a concerned Karin beside him.

Shizune could only stand in the corner with Tonton in her arms. "Kushina-san..."

"Buhi..." The pig intoned sadly.

The redhead sighed hiding her face in her palms now standing at the other open window of the room.

For a moment, nobody said anything.

"I thought..." Eyes turned to Naruto in surprise as he finally decided to speak. "I thought she'd want to come back with us... I thought she'd want to return to her family" His voice was filled with disappointment.

Kushina felt her heart break, Naruto felt as if Tsunade had personally rejected him, and any idea of being a family with them...

"It's not that-," Shizune absurdity spoke but stopped as she looked fearfully over to Kushina.

"I'm not angry at you Shizune." The Uzu woman addressed evenly before looking at the dark haired woman; "You look well by the way. Really grew up" She bet the poor girl could use a break though.

"T-thank you. But please don't be angry at Tsunade-Sama."

That earned her a hard glare from both redheads as Karin who spoke up; "She's not making a good first impression thus far." She gave her cousin's hand a squeeze.

"It's very complicated," Tonton oinked in agreement.

"Tell me exactly how complicated is it when people at home need you," Kushina countered, trying not to lash out at Shizune.

"We came here to get my mother back" She continued. "We thought we could make her come home, where she is needed now more than ever" Her gaze fell to the ground. "I thought we'd mean enough to her to actually consider it" A hollow laugh escaped her lips. "Guess she doesn't want anything to do with Konoha anymore... with us."

"That's not true" Shizune defended passionately. "She loves you, she truly does. It's not her fault, she-" Tsunade's ward tried to say, but she strangely fell silent afterwards. Her eyes shifted uneasily around the room before settling down on the rug.

Kushina blinked in confusion at Shizune's behavior. Karin and Naruto, momentarily snapped from his depressed mood, looked at each other. "Is everything okay?" The glasses wearing Uzumaki asked.

The medic said nothing.

"Shizune?" The Uzu matriarch softly asked, something wasn't right.

Suddenly, a small burst of smoke startled them, revealing a very distressed looking Jiraiya. "We've got a big problem" He spoke with urgency. The sannin sharply turned to Karin. "Is there any ninja in the vicinity? Anyone you can feel that might be spying on us?"

"Um" Alarmed by his behavior, Karin closed her eyes and concentrated. Reaching out for any signatures. "N-No"

"What's going on?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya didn't answer him, instead he walked up to Shizune. "Where's the seal?"

"Seal?" Kushina repeated. "What seal?" She had no idea what was happening.

Shizune for her part looked at him in shock and fear. "It's alright, Tsunade found a way to inform me" He assured her.

"Told you what?!" Naruto snapped, he was getting tired of being ignored.

Much to his annoyance Jiraiya ignored him. "Now show me the seal"

Hesitantly, Shizune opened her mouth and moved her tongue. What they saw made them gasp in shock.

Kushina approached slowly. "Holy- Look at that" Underneath Shizune's tongue were dark markings. "A binding seal, but for what?"

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed. "To stop people from talking about certain matters" Naruto and Karin sweatdropped when he grabbed Shizune's tongue, ignoring the woman's cries of protest as he worked on breaking the seal.

"Who did this?" Naruto breathed out.

The sage's next words made the room's temperature drop significantly. "Orochimaru... he's here. And he's manipulating Tsunade"

"WHAT?!" both Karin and Naruto yelled out before the blond soon growled along with his mother; "Hasn't that bastard done enough?" Naruto snarled angrily.

Jiraiya said nothing as he quickly broke the seal from Shizune's tongue and let her go. The young woman let out a long relieved breath as she looked to everyone; "Orochimaru forced Tsunade-Sama into helping him, he will kill a dozen hostages if she does not do something for him"

"Help him with what?!"

---

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

---

Tsunade tried to make the steps as slow as possible, anything that would keep her from actually making it to her... 'Appointment'. The hallway was dark, a row of lights only illuminated small segments, casting circles of light while the rest was covered in shadows.

She made it to the cold steel door and took a deep breath. With a turn of the handle she opened it.

Inside was a cold and grey sterile well-lit room, a surgery bed and other medical equipment had been installed to make use of the room for the occupants' intended purpose.

"Ah, my dear Tsunade-hime. So glad you could join us"

Her fists tightened, that snake had no right sounding so joyful, not after everything he's done.

At the corner of the room, the bastard's lackey pushed up his glasses. And on the bed sat a slim man with long white hair. His expression was that of indifference, and he had two peculiar red dots painted over his forehead, a type of tradition one could find in certain clans, along with red eyeliner on his eyes.

This man was her 'patient'.

"This is to be the last session, isn't it?" Orochimaru asked, standing next to his subordinate with his arms crossed.

"Yes..."

"Hmm, you're not lying to me are you?" He coyly asked. "After all, you don't want those innocent people's blood on your hands" He put emphasis on the word 'blood', knowing how much the subject affected her.

That sadistic bastard, sometimes she couldn't believe what he had become...

"While the disease he had was fatal, it can be treated and cured with the right sessions," Tsunade went to work; "It's simply due to the disease extreme rarity that the majority of doctors don't know how to treat it," she lightly glared over; "Do you doubt my skills?"

"Far from it," Orochimaru retorted seriously; "Despite our differences I never once doubted your medical skills. You are the world's greatest doctor Tsunade, even I respect that."

"...What the hell happened to you?" Tsunade kept her eyes on her patient; "Attacking Konoha, taking hostages. Those sick experiments on those infants years ago, is there anything left of person I called a friend?"

"Oh please, don't start getting sentimental on me" The snake sannin derided with quick roll of his eyes. "I've left the past behind, Tsunade. All to achieve my goals"

She didn't even want to imagine what those 'goals' were. "Did we ever mean anything to you?" She pondered, more to herself than anything. As Kimimaro lay on the table and she proceed to treat him, her hands shining with a green mystical glow.

"...Perhaps, once" He admitted with a distant look in his eyes. "But it's gone now. This is the path I've taken"

He had long since crossed the turning point that much Tsunade could see.

For now, all she could do was continue. She placed her hopes on Jiraiya, Shizune, on her daughter and grandson, to rescue these people soon.

Then, the three together they could tear this snake a new one, as a family.

---

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

---

And that's a wrap.

AND MY GODS WAS YUMA SO DIFFICULT TO DESCRIBE!

-Sigh- For you people to picture her better, her design is based (completely ripped off) From Type-Moon's Fate franchise, the character is Musashi Miyamoto (in case you can't tell, they do love the gender bending trope)