Chapter 4: Reality Check

Naruto awoke with a groan, "Ugh… Okay, I guess I still can't use all of my jutsu yet." The previous night Naruto had exhausted himself trying one of his more upper tier ninjutsu. Waking up in his own bed he realized that Tsunade must have been spying on him again. Naruto chuckled, "Heh heh, I wonder if she saw that one."

Naruto jumped out of bed and tripped over a black bundle at the foot of his bed. As it groaned he realized who it was, "Shizune-san? What are you doing here?"

Shizune's hazy eyes opened and widened as she jumped up, surprising the blonde, "Tsunade-sama! Where is she?"

Naruto grabbed Shizune to calm her down, "Hold on a second, just wait. You're saying she did this to you?"

Shizune stopped stirring and rested in his arms, though he felt her breathing was still frantic. Naruto sighed and let her go. Shizune immediately made for the window, "We have to find Tsunade-sama! It might be too late to stop her!"

As Shizune left through the window a kunai buried itself to the right of her head into a wall. They both turned to see Jiraiya standing on the ledge uneasily, "Where's Tsunade?" His voice held a threatening tone as he slinked along the wall up to Naruto and Shizune.

Naruto took note of Jiraiya's condition, "Geez ero-sennin what the hell happened to you?"

Jiraiya sat on the ledge and experimentally flexed his arms, "Tsunade drugged me last night. I should have known better, she wasn't as pissy as she usually was when she drank with me."

Naruto's attention was drawn up at an adjacent rooftop. But when he peered up he saw nothing. Shizune had gone to fetch Jiraiya an antidote to whatever Jiraiya had ailing him. She ran back and handed Jiraiya a glass of water and some crushed up pills, "Sorry Jiraiya-sama, there isn't an antidote to the poison, this should even you out though."

Jiraiya took the pills and swallowed them with the water, "Thank you Shizune." When Naruto's attention returned to the roof he could no longer sense anyone's presence.

Naruto looked at Shizune, "It's Orochimaru isn't it?" Shizune looked surprised. Naruto looked over to Jiraiya, "How you feeling ero-sennin?"

Jiraiya crushed the glass in his hands, "It's not much. My chakra is still fluctuating, but it'll have to do."

Shizune looked down sadly, "Orochimaru came to us last week with an offer; restore his arms and he'll return Tsunade-sama's most precious people to her from the dead." She looked at Jiraiya hopefully, "Today is the day they meet, we might still be able to keep her from doing it."

Jiraiya stood, "So how are we going to find her."

Shizune grabbed Ton-Ton and jumped to the ground before placing the small pig onto the ground, "We need your help Ton-Ton. Can you find Tsunade-sama for us?"

The pig oinked as it sniffed at the ground. Jiraiya and Naruto dropped down around them just as Ton-Ton began oinking wildly at Shizune. Shizune turned to the other two with her, "Ton-Ton has her scent. Come on, it's this way!"

XxX

They returned to the area of the ruined castle and found even more signs of destruction, though they were newer. Naruto smiled at the sight of the pulverized wall, "It looks like the old bat turned him down."

Jiraiya nodded, "Yeah, that might not be so good for her though. Come on. We still have to find her."

As they ran into a field they found Tsunade being beaten by Kabuto. Shizune shouted for her mistress as she ran over to her side, "Tsunade-sama!"

Naruto and Jiraiya waited close by as Shizune took out a handkerchief and wiped blood from Tsunade's face. Naruto looked at the scene in confusion, "Ero-sennin, what's going on here? Is it a genjutsu or something?"

Jiraiya shook his head in the negative, "Tsunade has hemophobia. She's afraid of blood kid, even the sight of it messes her up and makes her like that. Right now she's utterly useless."

Naruto looked out at Orochimaru, whose arms were wrapped up, but Naruto could see faint traces of blood coming through. Next to him was Kabuto who was wearing a headband with a musical note on it. Naruto's eyes narrowed at the sight, "Kabuto Yakushi, I can't say it's good to see you again. At least I know my information was right, I just wish I could have gotten your ass before the invasion…damn seal."

Jiraiya looked down at the now fuming blonde, "Kami kid I said I was sorry. Hindsight is 20-20 they always say."

Orochimaru chuckled as he saw the arrival of his third teammate, "Jiraiya, and Naruto-kun too. What a warm reunion this is. Though I do know wonder what you are doing here."

Jiraiya held his arm out in front of Naruto, keeping him from beginning to engage the enemy, "Protect Tsunade gaki. Orochimaru is too much for you, and that Kabuto kid is out of your league also, it would take an… Anbu…"

Jiraiya trailed off as he looked down at Naruto who was giving him a dead-pan look, "Trying to be funny old man?"

Jiraiya sighed and waved, "Fine… Shizune can watch over Tsunade I guess. Go ahead and fight specs over there, I'll handle Orochimaru."

Orochimaru heard this and chuckled, "You'll handle me Jiraiya? You were always the weakest of the sannin, even handicapped you can't beat me. And sending your little blonde against Kabuto here, you must not like him too much."

Jiraiya looked back at Shizune, "Can you keep an eye on Tsunade? Me and the gaki will handle the snake and his flunky." Shizune nodded and returned to trying to calm Tsunade down.

"You ready brat?" Jiraiya looked over at Naruto who smiled up at him angrily, "This one's for Sarutobi-sensei."

Naruto snorted, "You can make it for the old man if you want. This one's for the hebi-douche siccing those five suped-up cursed seal assholes on me when he chased me out of Oto. That son of a bitch with the bones wasn't a joke, I've still got a gripe with him."

"Kabuto now!" Kabuto pulled the bandages off of one of Orochimaru's arms and ran his own blood down the summoning tattoo on it, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Jutsu)!"

Kabuto and Orochimaru then stood atop three rampaging snakes, heading towards Naruto and Jiraiya.

Jiraiya went to summon himself, and in a small puff of smoke Gamakichi was revealed, "Oh, hey! Good to see you again!"

Naruto sweat-dropped, "Seriously? I could do better than that. Come on this is serious!"

"Gaki! Room!" Naruto moved back as Jiraiya made a set of hand-signs and slammed his hands on the ground, "Doton: Yomi Numa (Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld)!"

The ground in front of him turned into a dark murky substance, trapping the snakes within, disabling their movement. Jiraiya audibly cursed, "Damn it! It isn't very deep at all! I must still be under the effects of Tsunade's drug."

Naruto shook his head, "Man ero-sennin, you sure do suck today. Come on, we don't need any help right now anyway." Naruto turned to Gamakichi, "Go over to the lady in black and the blonde woman and stay put. This won't be a nice battle." Gamakichi hopped off as the battle stalemated.

Jiraiya and Naruto both launched out at their chosen opponents, who broke off to confront them separately. Jiraiya began assaulting Orochimaru who was noticeably unable to attack using his arms, instead lashing out with kicks and slipping away from Jiraiya's assault.

Jiraiya decided to tease his former teammate, "Man it must be hard to use jutsu with no arms eh? That must suck for a guy like you huh Orochmaru?"

Orochimaru gave a superior smirk, "I don't even need my arms to destroy you Jiraiya. I saw your weak jutsu, you're just as bad as me."

Jiraiya barked out a laugh, "I guess that's true as well. I guess we're just going to have to wait for our retainers to finish off their little speck of business before we can really get to the main event."

Orochimaru laughed slowly, "The Kyuubi-child Jiraiya? I've seen what he can do. Against Kabuto he has no chance, the boy has absolutely no skill as a shinobi."

Jiraiya gave a big grin, "And that would be my fault. But don't worry 'Roachy, I fixed him up before we even got to this town. I'm letting him fight Kabuto down there because I know he'll win. Consider this his coming out party so to speak."

Orochimaru looked befuddled, "I fought him Jiraiya. Even going as hard as he could, Kyuubi's chakra and all, he didn't come close to impressing me. Now the Uchiha, what strength. A true genius."

Jiraiya broke down in laughter, "I guess the standards for a genius are seriously declining these days. If just being a genin at the regular age makes you a genius then I don't know what the hell to call Naruto."

Orochimaru gave a cruel grin, "How about failure? Loser? Cannon fodder? Front-line trash? Take your pick or make a few more of your own."

Jiraiya had a placid smile on his face as he just stared at Orochimaru, "Ah, that's a good one."

Orochimaru contorted his face in confusion, "What is? What are you talking about."

Jiraiya gave him a hard look, "That face of yours just now. I want to remember it for later. Just so I can compare it to the look on your face after you see what the gaki can really do."

XxX

Naruto faced off with Kabuto a distance away from where Orochimaru and Jiraiya were currently in conflict. Kabuto crossed his arms, a decided superior smirk on his face, "You might want to leave this place before things get messy, you're a little out of your element here. Orochimaru-sama, myself, Jiraiya, Tsunade, even the woman with Tsunade. All of us are high-level shinobi. I myself am on par with Kakashi Hatake. And you, you're just a cute little genin that's out of his place."

Naruto started chuckling, but then chuckling gave way to full-blown laughter, "Haha, man I'm glad I didn't end up broken like everybody else in Ne, because hearing that little 'threatening' rundown was too much. You? Comparable to Kakashi Hatake? I'll believe it when I feel it."

Naruto pointed back in Tsunade's general direction, "I already beat Tsunade the other day. I could have killed her if I wanted to, knowing she's got hemophobia would have easier than it was." He pointed in the direction of the trapped snakes, "Orochimaru is crippled. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch for me to beat him too, especially if he's underestimating me like you."

Kabuto laughed loudly, "To be naïve genin… Believing that you can fight and defeat anyone."

Naruto scratched his head, "How to get you to understand? …Okay, you obviously remember four years ago when one of Otogakure's bases got sacked and Orochimaru sent out his elite bodyguards to handle the intrusion."

Kabuto nodded, "Those fools were punished for allowing the intruder to escape. A spy like that could have been detrimental to our efforts. They haven't failed since." Kabuto's eyes snapped open wide, "Wait? Are you really saying? There's no way, you would have had to have been eight years old!"

Naruto grinned widely, "DING DING DING DING DING! Got it in one Kabu-teme! It was me! I'd have gotten away clean too if it wasn't for ero-sennin's love for dramatic bullshit. Who blows up the information depot during a reconnaissance mission? Honestly, how is that stealth?"

Kabuto pointed at him accusingly, "No way. From what I've seen and from the information on you you're nothing! A low level genin!"

Naruto chuckled, "Well that's what the Konoha records had on one Kabuto Yakushi also if you'll recall. We all know how that turned out right Mr. Spy? If you were capable of it then why wouldn't I be? I didn't even have to join any ranks and keep suspicion off like you did, all I had to do was not get caught."

Naruto tapped his finger on his head, "I had the plans for your invasion all up here way back then. Every move you had planned out over the long term was all up here. All of your bases, the info that was listed on your cursed seal, the true nature of Orochimaru's immortality jutsu, it's all here. The only reason your invasion had even half of a chance of even getting off of the ground was because of some unfortunate business that ended with me getting my memory and abilities sealed off before I could tell the necessary people."

Kabuto tilted his glasses and scoffed, "Well then Naruto-kun, please show me these 'skills' of yours that allowed you to breach our defenses. I'm in need of a new form of entertainment after all."

Naruto nodded sagely, "Ah I see. I guess it would get boring being Orochimaru's ass-muppet after a while. Playing hide the trouser-snake would get dull even for a flaming fruit like you I assume."

Kabuto gritted his teeth in anger, "Do not slander Orochimaru-sama like that. What could you possibly know about his power!"

Naruto grinned, "Hey, being a pedophilic creep doesn't mean he's weak, and from the way you're defending him it sounds like a fucking lie to me boy! And don't think I didn't notice how you refrained from defending yourself either!"

Kabuto rushed in at Naruto who set himself in a defensive stance. Kabuto's hands glowed blue as he neared closer. Naruto dodged his first attacks and kicked him back to get some distance between them, "Chakra scalpels I see. You're medic-ninja? Letting you in close wouldn't be too favorable as long as you're using that."

Kabuto chuckled, "Try to keep me away then Naruto-kun." Kabuto rushed back in and engaged Naruto close-up once more. Naruto ducked out of the way of Kabuto's attack, choosing to slip under and around his punches rather than block, lest his muscle tendons and other internal things in his arms be cut. He also had to watch it when he threw a punch or kick of his own to make sure that Kabuto didn't cut anything by simply blocking or parrying his moves.

Naruto dodged even more of Kabuto's potentially fatal strikes, grunting in effort, "You're really annoying to fight. You're really fast, even for a medic-nin."

Kabuto's confident smirk returned, "Like I said Naruto-kun, you're all talk. You're not on my level." Kabuto overextended on one of his attacks and allowed Naruto to spring out of close-range.

Naruto immediately began tossing out kunai at Kabuto who dodged deftly and chuckled, "Simple kunai Naruto-kun? That honestly can't be your best."

Naruto rolled his eyes, "There you go again, with that superiority thing of yours… Why are bad guys such douche bags?" Naruto rolled through a series of hand-signs, "Raiton: Denkai (Lightning Release: Electric Field)!"

Kabuto sat in place as he felt and saw nothing. Naruto simply stood in place, staring at Kabuto with cold blue eyes that seemed to analyze his every movement. Kabuto simply strolled forward, "You must not have that jutsu down quite yet Naruto-kun. Don't worry, I mean you are still just a genin after all."

Naruto's eyes showed no indication that he had even acknowledged Kabuto's words. Kabuto shrugged and strolled forward, reactivating his chakra scalpels once more, until a sharp jolt of electricity thrusted him backwards, "What is this?"

"Didn't you hear me call out the jutsu?" Naruto kept his gaze on Kabuto only this time he had a smirk on his face, "You didn't really think that I was that bad at using kunai did you?"

Kabuto turned to see a small spark of electricity coming from one of the kunai. He then noticed that the weapons Naruto had thrown were strewn about in a rough circle around him, "A barrier jutsu? I really have been underestimating you."

Naruto made more hand-signs, "I'm not done yet. From here I can branch off into tons of stuff, just watch. Raiton: Denki Meihemu (Lightning Release: Electric Mayhem)!"

Kabuto heard multiple snaps of electricity going off around him before a burning jolt hit his body. As he caught his breath from the sudden zap he could actually see random pulses of lightning rushing from kunai to kunai. Another shot hit him and dropped him to the ground while he was analyzing the jutsu. Kabuto was breathing raggedly as he turned his head towards Naruto whose hands were held out at the field surrounding Kabuto.

"Do you like it? This jutsu lets me just trap and torment you in there until you blackout or just die. The more chakra I pump into it the more frequent the bursts of electricity will come. The only thing is that I can't control the lightning coursing through the field, but it still has a great chance of hitting you as you've felt." Naruto channeled more chakra into his attack, forcing the snapping sounds of electricity to sound off more frequently.

Kabuto shakily rose to his feet once more but was quickly struck back down. Before he could even try to rise again he was hit one more time. Kabuto growled to himself and sunk into the ground before another bolt could hit him.

Naruto simply stood in a position to move quickly and jumped aside as Kabuto's hands emerged from the ground to grab at his legs. Naruto landed and formed three Kage Bunshin who swarmed around Kabuto, launching attacks up close. Kabuto had somehow recovered enough from being electrocuted to fend off and dispel the Bunshin without too much trouble.

Kabuto looked at Naruto who was once more giving him a cold stare, "That was a pretty effective jutsu Naruto-kun. If I couldn't dig my way out I don't know how I would have escaped it." Kabuto's hands glowed green as he ran them over his torso to heal himself, "You're quite a troublesome opponent."

Naruto tapped his foot impatiently while Kabuto healed, "Well while you're doing that…" Naruto made more hand-signs and thrusted his fists out at Kabuto, "Fuuton: Fuujin Seiken: (Wind Release: Divine Fist of the Wind God)!"

A visible ripple of air flew at Kabuto and hit him like a high-speed cart, sending him flying back, rolling head over heels bonelessly until he came to a stop. Naruto smirked as he saw Kabuto cease his backwards movement, "You still alive over there?"

Kabuto stood up once more with blood trailing down his chin, "That was a solid hit there Naruto-kun. I was right, you are a troublesome opponent."

Naruto scoffed at Kabuto's pseudo-praise, "Oh really? I thought I was just a genin that was out of his element. If all it took to get your praise was an ass-kicking then when I go back to Konoha I guess I'll have to start dealing them out en masse."

XxX

Shizune had cleaned the blood from Tsunade's face quickly but found that she was still lacking response. She had taken to watching Naruto fight Kabuto seeing as how Jiraiya and Orochimaru were too far away to find and that she didn't know whether or not Naruto would require her back-up. Much to her surprise and delight however, Naruto was capable of handling Kabuto handily. Were it not for the fact that Kabuto was a medic-ninja she was sure that the accumulated damage of Naruto's attacks would have beaten him.

Tsunade's eyes had been affixed straight ahead ever since Kabuto had splattered her with blood, so she actually had been watching Naruto fight Kabuto the entire time. Watching him fight off the silver haired medic she realized that she had been extremely wrong in her first impressions of him. He shot his mouth off when they first met not because he was too confident in his own abilities, but because he found her pathetic, he truly did. Someone with such a famous name, such a famous lineage, and such talent and legend known around the Elemental Nations was so bitter and disenfranchised. So much so that she let her skills fade enough for someone like himself to get the better of her, that shouldn't have happened, no matter how dangerous he was.

When she had seen him train for the entire week she had been amazed. His attempt to use a range of high-level techniques was something she had never seen from a boy so young. After he was done with one he would move right on to the next one. If he couldn't get one to work he would attempt it until he could force it or until he dropped out of exhaustion. The spark she could see in his blue eyes while he trained was the antithesis of what could be found in them in battle.

In training he would laugh, chuckle, crack jokes at himself and show his spirit and emotion. In battle he kept things bottled, only choosing to take snide verbal shots at his opponents to get the upper hand. She had to rub her eyes a few times as she watched him train, because his actions in training reminded her so much of her deceased younger brother Nawaki.

Gamakichi hopped on her shoulder and looked out at the fight excitedly, "Man my bro is kicking ass out there!"

She unconsciously clinched her fist around her necklace as the battle carried on. Maybe, just one more time, she could believe in someone.

XxX

Kabuto pulled out a hooked kunai, "As enlightening as our little skirmish has been Naruto-kun, it's time I put an end to this. Orochimaru-sama is a busy man, we all have work to do."

Naruto nodded and pointed back at Tsunade, "Yep I agree. Right now I have to go drag baa-chan back to Konoha. But I also have a bet to win, luckily for me you're going to help me with that." Naruto snapped his fingers as two pairs of arms shot up from the ground and grabbed Kabuto's legs and arms, holding him in place.

Kabuto tried to shake them off, but the grip was iron, "What? What is this?"

A familiar voice sounded off from behind where he was grabbed. He turned slightly to face the cold eyes of the boy that was also facing off against him across the field, "You didn't think you were the only one who could use Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu (Earth Release: Hidden Mole Jutsu) did you?"

Kabuto looked ahead of him to see Naruto smirking, "Now I've got this new jutsu I was taught, but I never got to use it on any real people before. I think you'll make the perfect guinea pig for me don't you think? With your healing abilities you should be fine… maybe. Meh it's not like I really care anyway."

Naruto charged up chakra into his hand. Kabuto's eyes widened and his struggling increased as he realized just what it was as a blue spinning orb took shape in Naruto's grasp. Naruto strode towards him slowly, the stride turned into a jog and the jog into a sprint as he rushed at Kabuto. He thrusted the attack out and into the exposed body of Kabuto, "Rasengan!"

Naruto ignored the blood flying as the attack tore into Kabuto's body and sent him flying off into a nearby boulder. Naruto turned towards Tsunade and walked with a purpose over to her and Shizune. When he got close a goofy grin appeared on his face, "I do believe you owe me that necklace of yours baa-chan."

XxX

Orochimaru's jaw dropped low as he had just seen Naruto handily dispatch his right hand man. A clicking sound brought him back into awareness as he saw Jiraiya holding a camera, "Ah that's a good one."

Orochimaru gritted his teeth, "Such power. He's too dangerous to leave alive! I have to kill him here before he gets too strong!"

Orochimaru flew off of the snakes at Naruto. Jiraiya tried stopping him but was tossed aside, Tsunade's drug had yet to wear off. As he launched himself at Naruto his sword, Kusanagi, emerged from his mouth. Naruto's back was turned to the murderous sannin as he closed in, sword out and about.

As he was talking to Tsunade his senses went off and he drew his sword, turning around in the nick of time just to block Orochimaru's strike. Naruto's eyes widened as he realized just who he was crossing blades with, "Orochimaru-teme, nice to see you again." He noticed the arms of Orochimaru, "The old man really did a number on you back in Konoha didn't he?"

Orochimaru hissed at the boy as he pushed against him, "Just die boy. You'll ruin my plans for the future." He pulled back and began slashing at Naruto who held up his defenses, slowly backing up due to his surprising strength.

Naruto tried to strike back but Orochimaru showed traits reminiscent of his summons as he dodged Naruto's attacks. Naruto had to take great care as he slipped around Orochimaru's strikes, even a scratch from the legendary weapon could poison him, a tactic that Naruto had to somewhat respect, a good way to ensure victory for sure. And Orochimaru knew how to use it, even from his mouth.

As the clang of steel on steel went on Orochimaru landed a kick to his body, sending him flying back next to Tsunade. Naruto gave her a reassuring grin, "Don't worry baa-chan. I'll get rid of this guy and then I'll be dragging you back to Konoha, just sit tight."

Tsunade gasped at the sight of the blonde's grinning face, 'He looks just like Nawaki.' She took notice of Orochimaru hovering over him, Orochimaru thrusted downwards with his sword, Naruto barely blocked the point of the sword with the flat of his own.

Naruto struggled against Orochimaru as the murderous intent in Orochimaru's eyes blazed. Suddenly a fist was implanted into Orochimaru's face, sending him flying a few feet back.

Naruto blinked as he was pulled to his feet by the woman who was just on the ground watching him, "Uh, baa-chan?"

Tsunade was staring out intently at Orochimaru, "Are you okay brat?"

Naruto nodded dumbly, "Yeah baa-chan, I'm just fine."

She smirked at him in response, "Good, because I owe you a serious beatdown for all of this 'baa-chan' crap you're spouting." Realization then covered her face, "Oh yeah." She took off her necklace and placed it on Naruto, "You win kid. You've beaten me fair and square and I'm an honest woman."

Orochimaru stood up and cracked his jaw back into place as he glared out at Tsunade, "Tsunade, what do you think you're doing? Why would you put your life at risk just to assist a brat like that?"

Tsunade cracked her knuckles, "I would risk my life because I am Tsunade Senju, granddaughter of the Shodai Hokage, grandniece of the Nidaime Hokage, and as of today I am the Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato."

Naruto and Shizune appeared at her side, "You tell him baa-chan. Now let's kick his ass and go home already!"

"Orochimaru-sama!" Kabuto landed by his side and drew more blood down Orochimaru's summon tattoo to call upon another summon.

Naruto blanched as he saw Kabuto still moving, "What? I ripped him apart! He should be dead!"

"Naruto!" Naruto rushed off to Jiraiya's side to summon for him, "Bring out Gamabunta." Naruto nodded and summoned for him and Jiraiya.

Tsunade followed suit and summoned her own boss creature.

As three massive puffs of smoke went up across the landscape the smoke cleared to reveal a massive snake, slug, and toad, all looking at one another. Gamabunta let out a puff of smoke from his pipe, "Well if it isn't Manda and Katsuyu. How long's it been since I've seen you two?"

Jiraiya looked down from where he and Naruto were standing on his head, "Bunta, we need your help for this one. So are you in?"

Gamabunta let out another puff from his pipe, "Sure, why not? I guess now I can finally get that Snakeskin wallet I've been wanting."

Naruto smirked, "What would a giant toad want with a snakeskin wallet anyway?" Naruto looked over at Kabuto standing on Manda next to Orochimaru, "I swear that Rasengan should have killed him. I hit him dead on, I splattered his innards all over my face and everything."

Jiraiya looked at Naruto momentarily, "If he's anything like his master then he's a bastard to kill. Don't worry kid, we're settling up right now."

Tsunade looked out at Orochimaru from atop Katsuyu, "This is it Orochimaru. After this there will be one less sannin in the world."

Orochimaru simply chuckled while Manda hissed under him, Orochimaru. What do you think you're doing summoning me out here?"

Kabuto tried to calm the massive snake down, "Manda we just-."

"Silence whelp! I won't bother speaking to a flunky like you!" Manda turned angry eyes to the top of his head, "When this is over I'll be expecting over one-hundred sacrifices."

Orochimaru smirked, "Of course. Nothing less for you Manda."

Kabuto let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, 'Thank goodness. If Manda knew Orochimaru-sama couldn't use jutsu he might just eat us.'

Jiraiya patted Naruto on the head, "Alright kid, it's deadly serious now. Stay out of things unless I say otherwise. Even if you think you see an opening it's probably a feint."

Naruto snorted and slapped Jiraiya's hand from his head, "I'm aware of the level of this fight ero-sennin. And I'm also not stupid enough to fall for any half-assed feints. As far as I'm concerned I'm your trump card if anything."

Jiraiya looked at Naruto in a confused manner, "How so gaki?"

Naruto smirked, "Think about it. Orochimaru can't use his arms to use jutsu, Kabuto and Shizune don't really have any long range jutsu, you and I are the only ones that can fire stuff from a distance, and I can make an ungodly amount of Kage Bunshin, making tons of cannon fodder/potential attackers. I'm your ace in the hole here."

Jiraiya chuckled, "Well I guess that's one thing about you that didn't change; you always want to be in the fight."

Naruto scratched his head, "Yeah, I guess it's in my blood or something."

Jiraiya patted Gamabunta on the head, "Let's go Bunta!"

Gamabunta drew his tanto and rushed at Manda who slithered away rapidly, surprising Naruto, "Damn! That big-ass snake is ridiculously fast!"

Manda moved to Gamabunta's blind spot and attempted to bite down on him, poisonous fangs glistening in the sunlight. Gamabunta jumped aside in time to dodge the strike and hopped away.

Katsuyu moved in and launched acid from her mouth at Manda. Once again showing deceptive speed Manda slipped away and rushed Gamabunta. The boss toad lifted his sword to block Manda's bite, but with a swing of his tail he knocked the sword out of Gamabunta's webbed hands.

Katsuyu launched more acid out at Manda, but he dodged before it could hit. Manda rushed over to Katsuyu and began constricting her. Tsunade noticed her boss summon in dire straits, "Katsuyu, separate!"

The massive slug did as commanded and broke off into tons of smaller forms disorienting Manda who had been wrapped around her at the time.

Jiraiya and Gamabunta decided to take advantage of the momentary advantage given to them. Gamabunta jumped back to gain some space while Jiraiya on his head went through hand signs, "Gamabunta! Give me some oil!"

Gamabunta spat out a glob of oil as Jiraiya held his fingers to his mouth to make a fireball, "Katon: Gamayu Endan (Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bulllet)!" The massive firestream that followed engulfed Manda, seemingly melting his figure, however it revealed to simply be a snakeskin.

Manda then burst from the ground behind Gamabunta. Naruto who had been sitting back the entire time saw this and whipped through hand-signs, "Fuuton: Fuujin Seiken (Wind Release: Divine Fist of the Wind God)!" Naruto shot out a double fisted punch at Manda who recoiled with the markings of fists on his face.

Manda hissed as he coiled himself up, the stinging marks still evident, "Little fucking brat!"

Jiraiya grinned at the shot Naruto had taken at the powerful summon until he blinked, "Wait. Where's Tsunade?"

Right on cue Tsunade flew at Manda, holding Gamabunta's tanto and slammed the blade through his mouth, pinning him to the ground.

Naruto's eyes widened at the feat of strength, "Ero-sennin, remind me to never pull the crap that I tried when I first met baa-chan ever again."

Jiraiya patted his head, "Well first of all, calling her baa-chan is just asking for it."

Naruto scoffed, "That's pushing it. If I won't stop calling you ero-sennin then how can she stop me from calling her baa-chan? Super-strength beatdown be damned."

Tsunade ran up Manda's body and began pummeling Orochimaru while Kabuto's attention was held by Shizune. Naruto sweat-dropped at the sight of the snake sannin taking such a beating, "Y-You think we should jump in or something?"

Jiraiya had his telescope out with a stupid grin on his face, "Nah. Tsunade's got it kid."

Naruto's eye twitched as the fight persisted, "No I mean for Orochimaru. His facial structure has to be liquidated by now… Kami, let it be known that the guy can take one hell of a punch if nothing else, he can't even get up a guard to block… That sucks."

Tsunade sent him flying with one last massive shot. Kabuto rushed to his side and picked him up. Orochimaru glared out at Tsunade, "Damn you Tsunade, my plans have failed for now. Do not think this is over, there is still another way to heal my arms, and the next time, I'll kill you both."

With that being said he and Kabuto sunk into the earth to make their escape. Naruto, Jiraiya, and Shizune appeared next to her as all of the summons had long since dispersed. Jiraiya slapped Naruto on the shoulder, "Good job brat! A high level fight like this is over and you aren't an ugly red smudge on the landscape!"

Naruto sighed and rolled his shoulder, "No respect… I don't get no respect at all."

Shizune smiled and kissed him on the cheek, "I respect you Naruto-kun."

Naruto chuckled in disbelief and shook his head with a slight smile on his face, "And that somehow made this day of bullshit somewhat worth it. Thank you Shizune-chan."

Tsunade smirked as she walked over to Naruto, "Well then brat. You won the bet, got the necklace, and now we're going back to Konoha. What are we going to do now?"

Naruto stood still in thought for a moment before turning on his heel and heading back to town. He waved over his shoulder as he walked away, "We just got through fighting Orochimaru and I've been training non-stop for about a week. I'm going to go sleep like the dead, you guys can go do whatever the hell you want."

The amassed adults had a chuckle as they heard Naruto grumbling about Kabuto's blood being all in his clothes. Tsunade shook her head at his retreating figure, "He's going to be a fine man one day. And perhaps a fine Hokage too."

Jiraiya put a hand on her shoulder, "You don't know the half of it." A lecherous grin came upon his face, "Now that that's all done, a woman like you can't be seen in clothes with blood all over them, that's a travesty, it should be a dress or nothing. Luckily for you I happen to have no dress back in my room!"

Naruto could only shake his head as the sounds of a solid 'THWACK' followed by Jiraiya flying overhead towards town rang out.