Chapter 2: A Welcomed Omen

Every three years, in Yu no Kuni (Land of Hot Waters), a great festival was held. From all across the lands, merchants and traveling entertainment services would gather just to take advantage of the large traffic of people. It also served as hotspot for gambling services, ranging from casinos to all-out shinobi battles where bets could be placed on winners. In short, a gambler's delight.

"That's another one. Impressive, miss. Would you like to go again?"

"Hell yeah!" The woman in question yelled out, raising her hand up. The sake filled to the brim of her o-choko spilled over onto the outskirts of her robe, which was starting to loosen on her upper half. The men in the area were rather captivated to say the least.

"Tsunade-sama," A voice called out from behind her, robotically fixing her clothing back into correction. "Perhaps you should slow down a little?"

"Why? I'm on a roll! Somebody's gotta pay for this trip, Shizune," Tsunade slurred out. "That's why we're here, after all!"

"I can't even begin to explain to you how much that doesn't make sense considering you were the one who wanted to come here in the first place," Shizune said with a sigh. "But I was only talking about the drinking. Though, shouldn't you also be worried about the other thing? Since it's you after all, that's four in a row…"

That, for some reason, seemingly sober up the older woman a little. Grumbling, she begrudgingly turned back to the table with her arms folded, face scrunched up in irritation. "Place 'em' down."

Obliging, the dealer placed and flipped over her cards. "You win again! Wow, I don't think I've ever had someone win five times in a row before. What amazing luck you must have, miss."

Tsunade, however, was still staring down silently at the winning hand. "Shizune," she called out finally. "We're leaving."

Groggily, a pair of eyes opened to the blinding rays of the rising sun. Naruto slowly rolled over to his side, groaning from the oncoming rush of nausea. 'I don't think I could ever get used to that...' , He thought to himself. Still, after a moment of lamenting himself, he managed to get back up to his feet. Once again, he found himself next to a towering tree. Though this time, he knowingly reached up and snatched down a small tag attached to it. Stuffing it in his right pocket, he nodded to himself before setting off.

A short trek away from where he landed, he came upon a small wooden hut. The door, once again adorning a small sealing paper that Naruto took down, required a little effort from him just to pull open. He mused that it hadn't been used in years.

Stepping in the immediate onslaught of dust confirmed his thoughts as he broke into a coughing fit. Composing himself, he saw that the hut was pretty much empty aside from two boxes.

Both were once again sealed, but distinctly different from one another. Hesitantly, Naruto reached down for the red box first. It was clearly much newer than its counterpart based on the layer of dust, but Naruto could tell it had still been some time since it had been placed there. Taking the seal off, he took a final breath before pulling it open. Inside were only two items. A book with a large spiral engraved on it and a single letter. Curiously, Naruto grabbed the book and flipped through it, quickly realizing it was filled with sealing techniques and the means to perform them. There also appeared to be other chakra related techniques and information towards the end, but he didn't understand pretty much any of it.

Closing it, he turned his attention to the letter. Reaching down and grabbing it, after a bit of debating Naruto decided to keep it closed. He placed it inside of the book, closing the cover and laying it down on top of the red box. Turning over, he brought the blue box closer towards him, noting it was much bigger and heavier. The seal was one he didn't recognize, but luckily enough it seemed to work much like the ones he had been familiarized with.

Peeling it off, he opened the box and immediately gasped. There was much more packed inside it than had expected, making it hard to know where to begin. At the very top, however, was a three ponged kunai neatly placed on top of a small note. Grabbing the kunai, Naruto gave it a quick examine. Wrapped around the handle was a seal. Similar to the one he had used to maneuver back and forth from Konoha.

With his other hand, he picked up the lone note. Flipping it open, Naruto stared at its contents stoicly until slowly, a small smirk appeared on his face. This turned into a full blown laugh that could even be heard from outside the shed.

'Don't forget to actually write the letter!!!'

The sun was beginning to fall by the time Tsunade and Shizune were making their way out of Yuni no Kuni. As they were nearing the outskirts of the central village and started to head into the more rural lands, Tsunade began to take a detour from their original way in.

"Tsunade-sama?" Shizune questioned, noticing they were off track.

"We're stopping somewhere. I want to check in on something." Tsunade answered. As they moved further into the rural area, the floral life surrounding the rugged dirt paths began to obscure their vision, and were only broken up by the random bodies of natural hot springs sprinkled through out the land.

Eventually they surfaced into a clearing. On one side stood a small cabin, still clearly being taken care of based on its condition. Far on the other end stood a lone tree, and underneath it was a boy kneeling down infront of something. Coming closer, the two were able to see that it was a small makeshift grave.

Poking his head from around the tree, Naruto stared at the two newcomers inquisitively. Tsunade stared down at him solemnly, eyes shifting over to the grave briefly. It was adorned with fresh flowers, but was only signified by three kunai plunged into the ground connected by a string. Behind them stood a lone photo near the flowers, but she didn't look long enough to make out its contents.

"Are you alone?" Tsunade asked. Naruto nodded to show that he was, eyes jumping back and forth between Tsuande and Shizune. "Don't worry, we're not here to hurt you. You don't know who I am, do you?"

"...Lady Tsunade?" Naruto questioned tentatively. Tsunade's surprised face told him he was right. "You match the description."

"Well, that makes this a lot easier then. I came here to check on things since I was in the area, but seeing as you're the only one here..." Tsunade trailed off. "...You should come with us. I can escort you to Konoha. You'll be safer there."

Shizune, watching patiently from the side, was rather shocked. She had never seen Tsunade act in such a manner in her tenure as her apprentice. She could never imagine her inviting someone to travel with them, let alone a child. Said boy, however, shook his head to turn down her offer.

"Already been. Don't wanna'." Naruto said simply, looking back over towards the cabin. "I think I'd like it here more, honestly."

Tsunade stared at the boy in a blank stupor, but then a small laugh escaped her laugh. Walking over, she ruffled his hair aggressively, drawing Naruto's ire as he swatted her away.

"Well, can't say I really fault ya' on that. That would be hypocritical." Tsunade said, smiling down at him. "Still, I can't exactly leave you here on your own. That would be disrespectful to her."

Naruto looked down bashfully. She could tell he really didn't want to return to the village.

"...Fine, I'll give you two options. You can either come with us to return to Konoha, or, you can travel with us to Kaminari no Kuni (Land of Lightning)." Tsunade spoke out. "We'll be staying there for awhile. That'll give you time to get yourself together. What do you say?"

"I'll come!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly. "Let me grab my things!"

Taking off, Naruto went straight inside the cabin and began to collect his necessary belongings. Outside, Tsunade was leaning down infront of the makeshift grave, finally being able to look at the photo closely.

"Tsunade-sama, are you sure about this? No offense but...you don't exactly seem the type to take care of children."

"Normally I wouldn't, but this is a different case." Tsunade replied. Standing up, Shizune was able to get a look at the picture she was holding as well, gasping when she saw it. "We're going to have to move a little more carefully than before. I'm sure that the old man is throwing a fit right now. If he stays in Hi no Kuni, he's as good as caught."

"Which is why you picked Kaminari no Kuni." Shizune said, earning a nod from Tsunade.

"Konoha wouldn't risk poking around too much and earning the ire of Raikage. We should be able to still move around pretty freely. Plus, they also have great hot spring resorts." Tsunade said.

"But if the Hokage is looking for him..." Shizune started. Noticing her worry, Tsunade snorted and gave the younger girl a light forehead push.

"Don't worry so much. It's not like he'd actually do anything. He won't be happy that I didn't bring him right back, but what's a month or two? It'll be fine."

Before the two could continue, Naruto began to reemerge from the cabin. Closing the door, he took a step back and gave it one look over before coming to stand next to them.

"Ready!" He said, readjusting the strap to the bag on his back. "Oh, wait."

Walking by them, he once again came to stand infront of the grave. Taking a deep breath, he thrusted his fist out towards it, smiling brightly.

"I'm off!"

I kinda feel like i might be unnecessarily splitting this and the next chapter up, but this honestly felt like a good place to stop. I don't want to cram to much that it becomes a drag to read, but you guys lemme know what you prefer.

Sparking Zero has been out for pretty much a week and due to financial obligations i haven't been able to get it. Currently playing xenoverse 2 in tears. send prayers.