chapter 21

It had been a few hours since they left Konoha and they were now approaching the first town in their travels. "Ne, Ero-Sennin, we're looking for Tsunade to heal Jiji-san right? So, why aren't we in more of a rush?"

Jiraiya cursed the boy's perception as they walked. "Well, um, I'm just not anxious to see my old teammate is all...eh heh..." It was partially true. She did, after all, while did fill out some of his fantasies she also didn't like being in his fantasies to begin with.

"...Yeah, and I'll believe that for about zero seconds. Aside from the fact that she's female and she needs to heal Jiji, why aren't you in a hurry to find her?'

Jiraiya was a little angry with the statement. "What? Finding the one person who may be able to heal my, possibly dying, sensei isn't enough? It's because of that man's teachings that I'm even here today I'll have you know. We're just not in that much of a rush because Tsunade can be rather elusive, so we have to be thorough."

Naruto lowered his gaze to the ground. Sure Jiraiya had taught him things for the finals, but they hadn't been around each other nearly as much as the sannin had been around Sarutobi. Now he felt rather bad for questioning the man's anxiousness to find the medic. The two walked in silence for a while before Naruto decided his course of action. "Sorry..."

"Don't worry about it. Let's just focus on finding Tsunade. We can't rush because we might miss her if we do. She moves often, so there's no telling where she could be." His temper was cooling now that they came up to the town's entrance. The noise that welcomed them was similar to that of the streets of Konoha just before the main fights of the chūnin exams. "Hah, a festival. I...guess It won't hurt to relax a little. Naruto, we'll be staying here tonight. Feel free to explore whatever you want and we'll meet at the hotel in the center of town later."

Naruto looked around at the people visiting the entertainment stalls. It definitely looked...fun, and no one seemed to be glaring at him as they passed. It was so different from Konoha. He brought out his wallet and considered it for a moment before taking out a few ryou notes and pocketed them. That would be his limit for the day. Just because he wanted to have a little fun that he never really got to do back home, didn't mean he was going to blow all his hard earned money.

"Oh hoo! That's quiet the savings you have there. I don't think you should be walking around here with that much money on you, it could get stolen in a crowd like this. Why don't you give it to me to guard for now while you go enjoy yourself."

Naruto seemed to consider the sannin for a minute before shrugging and digging his wallet back out and handing it over. Jiraiya shuffled his hair before walking off as he tossed the wallet in the air casually. He made it about twenty feet before he heard a small poof. Looking down, he saw a small bundle of...something where Naruto's wallet once was. Seeing edges to whatever he held, he lifted it by them and let the object unfold. It only took a fraction of a second of him holding it in front of his face to realize that he was holding a pair of woman's panties. That was a fraction of a second too long though as he started to hear low growling all around him.

Naruto walked down the middle of the street playing his pipes as he took in the sights. He only stopped once to smile as he heard the girlish cries for help from his sensei. 'Try to take my money and that's what you get, Ero-Sennin.' Walking forward once again he was able to visit many of the booths and try out some real festival foods for once. The only thing he thought may have matched this atmosphere was sitting at his own table with his girlfriends, not that there was much of a contest in that respect. Thinking of them though, he decided he could splurge a little and get them some trinkets, so he kept his eyes open for anything the girls might like. Everything from jewelery and clothing to food and games was displayed as he caroused the festival and over the course of a couple hours he was able to find everything he wanted before he decided to look for the hotel that Jiraiya had told him about earlier.

With a full stomach and with his presents safely sealed away, he strode back through the town playing his pipes as people listened while he went by. Many had thought he was a street performer and he was rather surprised by how many offers he got to stop and play near stores and stands to attract customers. Unfortunately he was on a bit of a time schedule so he apologized to them all before making his way to his destination.

It was another two hours before there was finally a knock at the suite's door. Naruto was able to bring himself out of his current scroll on the next stage of tonfa kata in order to address the noise. "Hold on, I'm coming." He jumped directly from the bed to the door and peeked through the peephole. Seeing no one on the other side he shrugged and turned to go back to the bed. He made it halfway before another knock sounded through the room. "Ok, who's there? Either you're a midget or you're hiding." He narrowed his eyes at the door, and placed his hand on the hilt of his ninja-to when he heard some low whispers on the other side.

"We're looking for a certain person from Konoha. We heard that you are a ninja from there and we hoped you could help us." The voice came from a male, that much he could tell, but other than that it gave away nothing.

"Who told you I was from Konoha?"

"The clerk at the front desk."

"Who is it you're looking for?" Another set of whispers could be heard before a new voice made itself known.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto nearly laughed at the name mentioned. He probably would have if it didn't trigger so many alarms in his head. Why would someone be asking for Sasuke outside the walls of Konoha? Were these people working for Orochimaru? "And what, may I ask, do you want with him?"

"We just need to talk to him."

"Well I'm sorry but I don't think he's allowed to have visitors right now."

"He was injured?"

"Yeah."

"So he's at the hospital?"

Once again Naruto found himself trying not to crack up laughing. "Hardly, but the ANBU might know where he's being held." Suddenly there was a dense killing intent radiating through the door and Naruto's survival instincts shouted for him to run. He barely made it out of the way as the door exploded into the room. Instantly two figures dove inside and one grabbed Naruto, hoisting him into the air before knocking him against the wall. Deep blue met red and black as Naruto matched eyes with an all to familiar face from the bingo book. "Uchiha...Itachi." Once again he narrowed his eyes.

"What do you know of my brother?" Outside Itachi looked calm, but everyone in the room at the moment could feel the pressure that he was letting seep out. "What happened to him?"

Despite the obvious danger he was in, Naruto tried to keep his head clear. He was now in the room with at least one S-rank criminal and someone else that he couldn't see due to Itachi blocking his view. "Funny you should ask really. You see your brother, while seeking to gain power to kill you, ended up traveling almost the same path and started attacking allies. You really should see the legacy you left behind...it's pretty sad really." The killing intent instantly doubled.

"Tell me what you know."

"Come on Itachi, we need to go now or that Sannin is gonna come back. You can listen to all his joyful little stories about your brother after we're away from here."

"Silence Kisame. I will learn what I can, now!" The Uchiha yelled over his shoulder before turning his icy glare back on Naruto. "Now tell me."

"Well I can see where he gets his arrogance from." Naruto just barely saw the man behind Itachi cringe at his words. "Your brother is a stuck up little prick who thinks the world should be given to him on a silver platter. He even had the backing of a lot of the council to get anything he wanted too. Add to that the wealth and social standing of the Uchiha and you get one very spoiled brat. That is, until I started to defy him. Now I showed Konoha his true colors and he's gone psycho, even going so far as to threaten to rape women in front of me and attempt to attack and kill me twice. Now here I am in your hands and there he sits in an ANBU cell awaiting his fate. Other than that mistake I would say your genocide of the Uchiha went rather well, at least for me. After all, when they were gone the shinobi attending my daily beatings were nearly cut in half."

"I...see. Foolish little brother. It matters not now though. Uzumaki Naruto, you will come with us."

"Finally. As much as I love a fight, going against a Sannin would just be bad news here. I can barely swing my sword without something getting in the way as it is." Just as Kisame finished the three heard a slight coughing by the door. Looking over they found Jiraiya standing there with Naruto grinning as he stood right next to the heavily bruised man.

"Uchiha Itachi, Hoshigaki Kisame...I'm surprised to see you two Akatsuki so close to Konoha." Jiraiya sneered at the two missing-nin, daring them to make the first move.

'Akatsuki...I'll have to ask about that later.' Naruto filed what little information he was given on the two in front of him to add to their visual make-up.

Itachi considered the two Naruto's. He went to punch the one in his hand to see if it was the real one, but was forced to jump back when a couple of shuriken came at him. Dropping his Naruto, he watched with a little anger as it jumped over to the two Konoha shinobi as the one that was standing next to Jiraiya poofed away. Now the four stood face to face with the two nuke-nin inside the room and their exit being blocked by a sannin and a jinchūriki. "Kisame, we're leaving."

"Come on. It's two on two. We can take 'em."

"No, Jiraiya is not someone we can handle easily alone especially when we are so close to Konoha. The Kyūbi jinchūriki makes things even more difficult. We will retreat for now." Itachi threw a lone kunai behind him causing the wall to explode due to the note that had been attached to the handle. Before Jiraiya could move to stop either of them they were already halfway down the block.

"..."

"..."

"So what was that all about?" Naruto asked the man beside him.

"...Nothing you need to worry about Naruto."

"Bullshit! They wanted me. Why? Who are Akatsuki?"

"That's not information that you are allowed to know. Just drop it."

"Oh because I'm sure they're going to drop it just because I can't know what's going on? Maybe if someone mentioned that there would be S-ranked missing-nin trying to get me I would be able to get away before I was already in their hands. Ever think about that? I'm lucky enough that I sent a clone out to get you since you were taking so long." The blond was gritting his teeth, trying to keep himself from hitting the man.

Jiraiya had to admit, the kid had a good point. That didn't mean he wanted to tell him everything, though now that brought up another issue he'd been meaning to ask. "By the way...where did you get that sword?"

"You're trying to change the subject."

"I'm curious." Jiraiya shrugged innocently.

"You tell me why those nuke-nin were after me, and I'll tell you about the katana."

The sannin sighed. How he wished he'd been born a Yamanaka sometimes. It would have made his information gathering and...research...so much easier. Sighing at the genin's defiance he reluctantly gave in to the boy's demands. "Fine. The Akatsuki are a group of criminals that are after the bijū. We don't know to what end yet, but rumors are that any jinchūriki that they find and capture, don't come back alive, if they come back at all. Other than that we don't know much about who or where they are, or even how many are in the organization. Happy now?"

"...About as happy as I can be considering I have a bunch of criminals after my life. Other than that, yeah, just peachy." Naruto responded with an equal amount of sarcasm and venom in his voice.

"Whatever, now tell me where you got the katana."

"Which one?"

"...huh?"

"I have two in case you didn't notice. Which one do you want to know about."

Up until now the sannin had been concentrating so much on the blade that he knew to even consider anything else the teen was wearing. "...Well if you're offering, how about both?"

Naruto just sighed before bringing both swords out onto a cloth on the bed. He pointed to the black blade first. "This one I got on a mission to Nami no Kuni where I was charged with guarding the bridge builder Tazuna. On the way I encountered the missing-nin Kafu and through some stroke of dumb luck on my behalf and a moment of arrogance on his part I beat him and took his weapon. I'm sure Kiri is going to be up in arms over that once they find out about it from their genin team that was at the exams."

"It's hard for me to believe that a guy like Kafu would fall to someone of your level gaki, but I suppose the proof is in the eye of the beholder. Now about this one..." He was about to touch the red blade only for Naruto to grab his wrist and wrench it painfully to the side.

"If you so much as touch that katana without my permission I won't hesitate to break your wrist." his glare told Jiraiya all he needed to know. Even if the sannin could beat him easily, it just wouldn't be worth it no matter how much he desired to hold the weapon. "This sword belonged to a famous kunoichi refugee of Uzu no Kuni. She was famous for this blade along with her hair color and the color of her armor in battle. Her nickname of Red Death came from those features as well as the apparent joy she took in being drenched in the blood of her enemies." The sannin nodded with a little boredom, already knowing this much as it was fairly common knowledge among the higher ups in Konoha, so it only surprised him a little that Naruto would know about it. It was the next portion of information that caught his undivided attention again.

"Her name was Uzumaki Kushina and she was married to Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage." Now Jiraiya was sweating a bit. The fact that his student had been married was not a well known bit of information. If the kid knew that much... "She and Minato had one child, though that is not common knowledge. Being our resident spymaster though, I'm sure you know exactly who that child was." Naruto was now glaring at the man a bit. "His name was kept secret for his own protection, but this also caused him a lot of grief since there were certain aspects of his life that some were given free knowledge of. That knowledge caused him years of abuse and ignorance from others, but now he knows who he is."

The sannin gave a subtle shudder. The kid obviously knew who his parents were and, if his words about the village populace were any indication, he held no great love for Konoha as a whole. "So...you know. I'm guessing it was Sarutobi-sensei that told you." The boy shook his head and Jiraiya narrowed his eyes. "Then who?"

"Danzo..."

The older man hissed at the name. He knew the man all too well and had no great desire to see him, let alone speak with him. "Does Hokage-sama know about this?"

"Hai, it was just after that revelation that he gave me my parents' estate. Before you ask, no, I don't blame him for it. Regardless of what my life has been like, I understand that I would have had no life at all had word gotten out about who my father was. As it was, I would have questioned his actions if there weren't a few bright spots in my past. Only those seem to allow for his reasoning. Thankfully those bright patches have grown in number as of late, and while I'm still hated by most in the village for what is in me, I can withstand that for the sake of those who know who I really am. Not as a Namikaze, but as Naruto."

"...I see. Well since you already know who your father is, then you no doubt know that I was his sensei. That was why I decided to teach you in the first place, other than Sarutobi-sensei's request. That's also why I taught you the rasengan, though I'm glad to see you didn't go overboard with it and use it in the finals. That would have spelled bad news for all of us if word got out. Well since we're going on this little trip and I used the excuse of training you to get you away from the viper's pit that Konoha's seemed to have turned into, we might as well figure out what I'm going to train you." Reaching into and inside pocket, Jiraiya brought out a leather bound book and tossed it to the genin. "Here's the first volume for basic sealing. That should get you star..." he stopped as the book was thrown back at him.

"Don't insult me Ero-Sennin. I finished that one years ago. I'm up to the fifth intermediate volume, but if you have the sixth and ninth starter and the third intermediate books I wouldn't mind seeing them. I never managed to get my hands on those." He watched as the sannin scratched his head in obvious embarrassment.

"Hah...I guess I should have seen that one coming. After those seals you showed me, it should have been pretty obvious." Reaching back into his pocket he drew out a partially opened scroll, revealing where he had gotten the first book. Resealing the one in his hand he pulled out the first of those asked for, the sixth starter book, and handed it to the blond. "There, read up and let me know if you have questions. I plan on quizzing you on what you know as we travel, so don't take this lightly."

• • •

It had been two weeks since the start of their journey and Jiraiya couldn't be more...annoyed. He had found out about Naruto's issues with the opposite sex, and had been warned about his recent relapses. What he hadn't been told about was Naruto's zero tolerance for perverseness. Sure the kid had basically made him help with his training during the one month break for the finals of the exams, but he had played that off as wanting to be as prepared as possible for said exams. He easily got away though during the times when he had Naruto working on the Rasengan. With such long spans of time when he would be working alone that left the sannin with large chunks of free time.

Now though, with Naruto in a more relaxed situation in which he constantly had questions pertaining to seals he was reading about, the man had barely a second to himself. Sure he was both surprised and proud that the boy sped through the books he was given, but it wasn't helping his 'research' at all. When he did manage to sneak a peek in, Naruto would show up and either alert his targets of his presence or pester him until he couldn't concentrate. He could swear the kid was doing it to purposely keep him away from the fairer sex. For someone like Jiraiya this meant that he had little inspiration for his stories, but at least he made his own deadlines. Being a ninja author it was accepted that his work was often irregular due to missions. Despite all that it was still his favorite past time when duty wasn't calling.

It was because of this that the pair was ahead of schedule coming into Tanzaku-gai. "This is one of the largest gambling towns in the elemental countries. If we want to find Tsunade-hime, this is one of our best chances. One of my spies was able to spot her here not too long ago, but that doesn't mean she's going to stick around, so we have to work fast." Jiraiya looked down at his silent traveling companion, who turned out to be holding a rasengan in one hand while reading a book on sealing that he held in the other. A small tick mark appeared on his brow as he scowled and slapped the hand holding the rasengan off to the side, causing it to lose stability and whip out into the surrounding trees.

Naruto looked casually up from his book and surveyed the damage. He watched as a few branches fell and clattered on the roots below before turning back his annoyed sensei. "Was that really necessary?"

"Maybe if you'd pay attention!"

"Tsunade is most likely here and we have to look quickly unless she disappears. Hey, isn't this town supposed to have a castle?"

"Huh? Yeah it's right..." Jiraiya pointed out over the town to where he knew the tall castle would be, but his finger now pointed at nothing but clear sky and the remains of a dust cloud.

As if to answer his question, a man ran past them yelling something about giant snakes attacking the town. The two looked at each other to confirm what they heard before rushing through the gate towards where the castle should have been. Rushing through the streets they tried their best to avoid the stampeding crowds before getting fed up and leaping onto the roofs. Now with a clear path they were able to get to their destination in minutes, but that seemed to be all the attackers needed as all they found was a broken wall and the collapsed castle.

Naruto took in a few whiffs of air. "Smells like sake...and snakes."

"So he's here too. No doubt trying to get some healing." Jiraiya had heard about Orochimaru's arms from the ANBU who had witnessed the event. With the injuries that were described, it was apparent that only one of the top medics in the world would even dare to try to heal his arms. One of those medics was in Suna, but since he already betrayed them by killing their Kage it was pretty much a given that they wouldn't welcome him with open arms. Tsunade though had most likely not heard of the events in Konoha yet. In addition, Orochimaru was their teammate and would know just what strings to pull to get what he wanted. "We're going to have to step up our search. We're splitting up. If you find her don't try to convince her to come on your own. With Orochimaru involved we'll need to handle this delicately. We'll meet at the hotel in three hours regardless of what we find."

"I have a better idea. We go to the hotel now and train while I search." Naruto watched the confusion turn to realization on the sannin's face. "Tajū Kage bunshin no Jutsu! Find Tsunade. If you see her dispel yourselves. Do not make contact. Go!" As simple as that the massive search party was bounding off through the town, slowly and carefully so as not to arouse suspicion.

"Ok...well then, what do you want to train in?"

"Well, before you so rudely interrupted my reading...I was about to finish my book, so how about we do your little quiz while we wait?" With a nod of acknowledgment they were off to the hotel area to reserve a room and begin their training, leaving the clones to scour the town for traces of their target.

• • •

Four hours later Jiraiya lay on one bed snoring away while Naruto leaned against the wall as he sat on the ceiling while meditating on what he'd learned. It always seemed to surprise the hermit when he would answer the man's questions so easily. He also noticed that it made Jiraiya a bit more uncomfortable whenever he gave his own views on the topics they discussed and turned out some apparently unexpected of uses for some of the seals he would learn. He was brought out of his musings when his meditative trance went a little too deep and he splashed into some water.

"Welcome back child."

Naruto looked around, easily realizing where he was. "So fox, I see you've found an easier way to pull me in here. Was there something you wanted?"

"I noticed that you carry those swords around with you, yet you seem to never practice with them. Why is that?"

"They aren't really my preferred weapons. Small blades that keep you in close to your target are more my style, or longer blades that don't clink around too much when moving. A katana and a wakizashi clink around too much and if you're trying to be stealthy it just doesn't work."

"So why not get them shortened?"

"...?"

"It is possible to shorten a blade to fit your style. The opposite is, of course, pretty much impossible without risking the strength of the blade though. You also will not be able to get it straightened, but at least they could be more manageable. So long as they work from the tang up they will not damage the blade and it's generally a fairly quick adjustment. With weapons like those it would be a pity to not use them."

"I'll have to keep that in mind. There may even be a smith here that can do it for me."

"Word of advice, keep the scraps. We wouldn't want the possibility of another one of those weapons showing up in the wrong hands. Plus we may be able to put them to use later."

Naruto nodded in understanding. He had honestly never heard of shortening a blade, but if it could be done then he would have two, very useable, blades instead of two large noisemakers. "Was that all?"

"Yes child. Now go. You have things to accomplish outside."

With another pulse of chakra Naruto was jolted awake to find himself in a rather uncomfortable position of laying on his neck with his legs slightly akimbo as they leaned against the wall. Grumbling at the soreness in his neck, he pushed off the wall and rolled to his knees. Taking in any information he might have missed, he found that a few of his clones had dispelled already when they came across Tsunade and another woman in a bar across town. "Ero-Sennin...Ero-Sennin!" Grumbling at the man's lack of response, Naruto grabbed a hold of the mattress to his sensei's bed and with a heave, flipped it over. Now that would have been all fine had Jiraiya rolled out neatly onto the floor of the room, but Naruto had his prankster's itch flare up and instead tipped the mattress to the side...towards the window...that opened up over the roof of the bathhouse...the woman's side of course.

By the time Naruto made it to the hotel lobby, the battered and bruised sannin was just finishing ringing the extra water out of his clothing. "Quit fooling around Ero-Sennin. We found her, but we need to hurry. You wasted enough time already."

"Well maybe I would have been faster if someone didn't push me out the window!" The older man scowled at the boy, clearly angry. "The least you could have done was warn me so they wouldn't have known I'd be coming. I could have at least gotten a peek in before they grabbed their towels."

"I called you, twice. Maybe next time you'll actually get your lazy ass up instead of having to be tipped every time. You'd think a person would learn after spending so much time on the road with me." Naruto threw his hands in the air in over-exaggerated frustration before turning around and walking out into the street.

Jiraiya took a moment to grumble something under his breath. Something about "I'll break you in eventually kid. Then you'll worship me for my knowledge...spoiled brats and their multiple girls..." A random kunai whipped past his ear, nearly nicking it. "Alright, I'm coming!"

"Now listen. We have to play this off just right, so follow my lead. We're going to act like we just found them by chance. Hime is a betting woman so that'll work in our favor. Just let me do the talking and we'll be fine." Not giving his accomplice a chance to retort, Jiraiya made his way into the restaurant and looked around at the crowd inside. Using his flawless acting skills, he widened his eyes upon spotting Tsunade sitting in a booth off towards the back corner. "Tsunade!?" He shouted in a perfectly convincing, surprised voice. Naruto just rolled his eyes at the obvious fake actions.

"Jiraiya?!" Of course when someone is as drunk as this woman seemed to be, it would be difficult for such bad acting to not work. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Jiraiya lead the way over to the booth and sat opposite the slug sannin. "You're a hard woman to find Tsunade, you know that?" Surprisingly enough he was able to give her a genuine smile. A good thing too because the woman's companion seemed a little suspicious of the pair. "It's good to see some things stay the same though. How is the traveling Shizune?"

"We're doing well Jiraiya-sama." The woman replied a little nervously.

"Good, good. You know you should visit Konoha once in a while. I think you'd find things a lot different than when you were last there." Instantly both women were on guard as they stiffened. Tsunade even seemed to sober up a little.

"Smoooth Ero-Sennin." Naruto whispered out the corner of his mouth.

"Quiet. I've almost got her."

"And why would I ever want to go back to that place again? There's nothing there for me but bad memories..." Taking her sake bottle in hand she took a big swig, not even seeming to care about the scowl her assistant was giving her.

"I guess you didn't hear the news then..." At the rise of an inquisitive eyebrow he continued. "Orochimaru attacked Konoha."

"Yeah I heard. A joint attack from Oto and Suna. It failed, what else is new?"

"Sensei was stabbed buy Orochimaru's Kusanagi sword. He's dying Tsunade...We...we need you to come back and heal him." Jiraiya lowered his eyes to the table trying to show that what he said was true.

"And?"

"...What do you mean 'and?'"

"That old fool took up the title Hokage. Kage's die, it's their destiny. Only a fool would become Hokage." Tsunade sneered at the pair in front of here.

"So if it was offered to you, you would decline?"

Half the restaurant quieted at the sound of a bottle shattering on the floor. Tsunade looked at Jiraiya as if she'd never seen him before. "A-are you serious? You really came all this way to ask me...No, of course not. Like I said only a fool would take such a job. Why don't you take it if you think it's so grand."

"You and I both know I can't do that Tsunade. I'm not fit for such a title. Besides I have my spy network to run. I can't be Hokage and run around the nations at the same time."

"Well you're just going to have to find someone else. I'm not going to sacrifice my life for a bunch of people that I don't even know!." Tsunade stood up, signaling for Shizune to do the same. The second woman picked up a, previously unseen, pink bundle as she hurried to her master's side. "Maybe if you bash someone over the head enough they'll agree to lead that place, but me, I'm staying as far away as I can get." The pair turned to leave, but were stopped when the sannin felt a tug on her sleeve. She looked down to see a hand attached to an arm that lead to Jiraiya's companion. "Kid, you'll let go now if you know what's good for you."

"And you'll close your worthless trap if you know what's good for you." Once again silence filled the restaurant, but this time it was from the killing intent filling the area.

"Care to repeat that twerp?"

"I said you are a worthless piece of trash that has no hope of amounting to anything. If a person like you became the Hokage we'd end up the laughing stock of the ninja world." Naruto finally looked up at her with hate blazing in his eyes. "You have no idea how hard the old man worked to keep the village safe and stable. You have no idea how much he helped each person in it despite who or what they were. Your worst day wouldn't hold a candle to his and yet you think that you can turn down that honor because you have some personal issues with Konoha? You have no idea what it means to be Hokage let alone the backbone to take that title. All you can do is run away like a scared little girl." He let go of her sleeve and made shooing motions towards the door. "I wish to only have the presence of real ninja. I'll even take the company of this pervert over your self pitying ass."

By this point both Jiraiya and Shizune were holding Tsunade in place to keep her from killing the blond boy. "So you think you're some tough guy huh? Maybe you think you can even take me on? How about we take this outside and I show you just how weak you are, gaki."

"Ts-Tsunade-sama! You don't need to go that far. Let's just go, we have other things to worry about right now." Shizune was forced to shrink back when Tsunade glared at her.

"Fine." Before the slug princes could yell at her assistant, three heads turned to look at the boy that was now standing between them and the door. None had seen him move, but then they weren't really paying much attention to him either. "If you want a fight so bad then let's go." Naruto lead the way out as Jiraiya and Shizune reluctantly let Tsunade go. The three followed the boy down a side alley so that they wouldn't disturb anyone passing by.

"Physical attacks only. First one floored wins." Tsunade said as Jiraiya and Shizune cringed at the implications of such a fight. It was well known that Tsunade had some insane strength backing her attacks, and if even one hit the boy he would be done for.

"Fine." Naruto took off his swords and threw them to Jiraiya who gaped at such an act.

"Naruto are you sure you don't want to keep these? They could come in handy."

"I'd rather not risk breaking them." Naruto settled into an open fighting stance as he considered Tsunade's own stance. The female sannin extended one finger in front of her. "Time limit?"

"No. One finger. This is all I'll be using."

Naruto just smirked. "Fine. You win, we leave you alone and go back to Konoha empty handed." Jiraiya made to interject but was cut off as Naruto continued a bit louder to overshadow his arguments. "If I win you come back with us and Heal Jiji-san."

"You don't want me to be Hokage?"

"I could care less if you choose to not be Hokage. Like I said, I think you're unfit for the title. You will heal Sarutobi-jiji though."

Tsunade cocked an eyebrow, slightly pissed that the brat would underestimate her yet again. "Fine, and just to make this interesting I'll even throw in this if you win." She pulled a necklace out of her shirt, showing him the crystal that swung on the end.

He could see Jiraiya and Shizune gape at the action, but he himself could care less. "I don't need some jewelry from beating a drunk baa-san." The two witnesses leaned back in fright as Tsunade visibly fumed. "But if that's what will make you happy then fine. Do you're worst."

No sooner had the words left his mouth then Tsunade was on him. With a flick of her finger he was sent tumbling backwards down the alley. Shizune was already running after him to make sure he was still alive while Tsunade smirked and turned towards her old teammate. "So I guess this means I'm not coming back with you." She smiled when Jiraiya sighed.

"Not exactly." They looked down the alley where Shizune had stopped halfway to her target. Looking further they could make out a shadowy shape slowly getting to it's feet. "What? You thought one little love tap could keep me down? Please, I've had worse bumps falling out of trees." Hey, it was more or less true considering his fight with Gaara. Despite the pain in his chest Naruto made his way into the light of a lamp, just outside the back entrance to a store. He was bleeding from the mouth a bit, but that didn't quell the determination in his eyes. "Well since you already lost..." Holding his hand out Naruto created an all too well known swirling ball of chakra before rushing at the pair of sannin.

Tsunade stared at the ball in non-belief, almost allowing him to get to her before she reacted. With another burst of chakra she hit the ground causing a crevice to form down the middle of the alley. With the concentration on his rasengan Naruto reacted a little too late. Instead of taking a straight line towards his target, he ended up stumbling and loosing control of the ball. Desperate to make something out of his attack he thrust his palm forward and released it, causing a blast of chakra to rush towards the two older bodies. Jiraiya knowing what would happen, dove behind a dumpster to wait out the storm while Tsunade stood directly in the path of the attack.

Luckily Naruto was kind enough to tone down the power since he had no intention of killing the woman. Unluckily it was more than enough to send her flying to the opposite end of the alley. Shizune looked on in horror while Jiraiya shook his head and snickered. Tsunade was in shock that she let such an attack get through, but that was also matched by the shock that the kid was able to do it at all. Shock turned to anger though as she got to her feet and pounded her way to Jiraiya. "What the hell was that? Teaching a kid rasengan. No wonder he's got such a big head. Do you realize how dangerous that was?!"

"Oh pipe down Baa-san." Naruto said as he picked himself up from where he fell. "You're just lucky I went easy one you. Now, about my winnings..."

"What winnings? We agreed physical attacks only and you used a jutsu. You ignored the rules so you lose by default."

"Yeah I would have lost by default but you used a jutsu first. Don't think I'm so ignorant to not know you pack your punches with chakra. We both know that if you flicked me with just your muscle power that I wouldn't have even lost my balance. Since you broke the rules first, you lose Hime."

Tsunade grit her teeth. It was just her luck to lose, not that anyone would be surprised by that. "Fine! Best two out of three, and this time it's anything goes!" She was slightly startled at Naruto's nonchalant shrug as he once again took up a stance down the alley. Once again Shizune tried to argue against it, but her words fell on deaf ears. Jiraiya would have been worried, but at the sight of Naruto's smirk as he passed by he knew the boy was up to something.

Tsunade didn't even give Naruto a chance to see her stance before she leapt into action, speeding towards him she saw him start to make hand signs. 'Ram? So a jutsu then. Well I'll just have to smack him around before he can cast it.' Had she been paying more attention to herself than her opponents actions she would have realized a couple things. First, Naruto wasn't trying to make any other signs, instead just holding the ram sign. Second, her view of the world was starting to get lower and lower as she got closer to him. It wasn't until she was almost to him that she found her chin scratching the ground as she slid to a stop at his feet. She looked around startled and found she couldn't move right. "What the hell did you do to me brat?!"

"Binding seals. It should be pretty much impossible for you to move much." Naruto casually walked over while taking out a kunai before kneeling beside the prone woman and holding the weapon to her throat. "Yield?"

His victim spat curses at him for a couple minutes, but eventually was forced to concede as she hung her head in the dirt. "Fine you bastard. You win. Are you happy now? Now let me go!"

Naruto released his seals as he stood up. "Like I said you will heal Jiji. Even if I have to drag you back by your hair. I expect you to hold to your side of the bet."

"...Fine, but I have some things I need to take care of here first. It'll take me about a week, but when I'm finished I'll go back to Konoha and heal sensei." Jiraiya made to speak but was cut off. "No, I am not agreeing to be the Hokage. I'll heal sensei and he can pick someone else." She motioned Shizune to follow and disappeared around the corner without a backward glance.

Jiraiya walked over to Naruto who was leaning against a wall holding his ribs. "You know, you're lucky she was drunk. She would have never fallen for that if she wasn't. When did you manage to get the seals on her?"

"Before we left the restaurant. I was planning on using them if she didn't agree to go back, or I lost. You didn't really think I'd let her get away did you?"

"That's playing a little dirty don't you think?"

"We're ninja sensei. We don't do things cleanly if it benefits our cause." Naruto pushed off the wall and started to make his way back to their hotel.

"You just called me sensei!" Jiraiya said with a smirk.

Naruto paused mid-stride. "...I must have taken a harder hit then I thought..." Despite the jibe, he did actually hurt from the impact of the strike. Enough so that he fell to a knee and coughed up a little blood.

"Hey!" Jiraiya rushed over to see Naruto holding his chest with one hand while wiping his mouth with the other. "Kid you better ease up or you're going to bite off more than you can chew one of these days." As stern as he wanted to be, he couldn't help but worry for his student while oddly feeling some admiration. To fight through an injury when your life wasn't at stake seemed foolish but he had done it do help their goals, and help them he did.

• • •

It had been nearly a week since their meeting with Tsunade. It took three of those days for Naruto to completely heal from the hit he took, showing just how close to a serious injury he could have gotten. Had it not been for his tenant he would have likely been bedridden for the entire month, at least. Even with his rapid healing it took a few visits from Shizune to make sure everything was still in place and functional, during which time she made sure to mention how amazed she was that he even got back up let alone attacked her mentor back. As such Naruto and Jiraiya spent most of their time in their room with Naruto reading his new book and Jiraiya quizzing him on what he knew about seals while using a spy mirror to peek through the new window in the onsen's roof, an action that got him knocked through said window more than once.

Naruto dropped his current book and looked over towards the window where his sensei, the esteemed Ero-Sennin, sat trying to peek out the window without being in a position that could endanger his well being again. "Ne, Ero-Sennin, what are we going to do when Hebi-teme shows up?"

"When?"

"Oh come on. They were obviously in the same place at the same time when we got here. Now she says she has to wait to 'tie up some loose ends' before we can go back to Konoha. It's obvious she plans to meet him again for some reason."

"...You know kid, sometimes you're too smart for your own good. Listen, if Tsunade hadn't been drunk when you fought you'd be nothing more than a red stain on the ground in that alley. If she is going to meet with Orochimaru then I want you to stay as far away from them as possible. Got it?" Jiraiya leveled a gaze on the blond to let him know he was serious.

"Hai, hai. Stay faaar away from them. I suppose you're going to intervene then?"

"Exactly, that's why you won't have to worry about getting involved. While we're out having a nice chat you're going to be here studying seals."

"Whatever. Just don't come crying to me when she decides to join him and fight you just to get out of our deal."

"Tsunade may be many things but she won't back out of a dept or use deception to get away."

"Is that why she walks around in a permanent henge and why Shizune gets nervous every time we talk about staying longer?"

"...She'll come with us."

"Well you have more faith in her then I do. Now if you'll excuse me I believe I have some studying to do." Naruto picked up his latest book before exiting the room via the window. It was a nice day so reading on the roof of the hotel would be more than welcome if only for the fresh air.

The sannin watched his protege leave and sighed to himself. He knew there was a chance that Tsunade would do exactly as he said, but he had to believe in her...even if no one else would. She was his teammate after all, and at least she didn't abandon the village. 'I sure hope you know what you're doing Hime.' He made to get some rest, but was interrupted when there was a knock at the door. "Coming."

The door opened to reveal none other than Tsunade in all her glory. "Come on you old toad. We're going out for a drink, for old time's sake."

The offer caught him off guard but he quickly agreed to it. After all, if there was one woman he'd stop his girl chasing for it would be her...Though he would still peep. He had to have something to write about after all. "Uh, yeah...Ok." Taking a quick look around the room, it took him a second to remember that Naruto was outside reading already. 'Oh well. Wouldn't be the first time I've left him alone while I chased some tail.' Smiling, he gestured for Tsunade to lead the way which earned him a gentle smile and nod in return before Tsunade turned to lead them to their destination.

As they walked out through the lobby they were stopped by Shizune who had been reading a medical book in one of the lobby's plush chairs. "Tsunade-sama. Where are you going?" She looked at the two rather suspiciously. She knew what was happening tomorrow and couldn't help but believe this would do some harm later.

"We're going out for a drink Shizune, as old teammates. Just to reminisce about the old days and all that. Stay here and study, we'll be back later." Tsunade gave her apprentice a cold glare, warning her not to spill any information.

"I-I see. Please be careful and don't drink too much. Remember, we'll be leaving for Konoha in the morning."

"If you get bored the gaki is on the roof studying too. Feel free to...keep him compan...OOF!" Jiraiya was forced to stop his lecherous line of thought as Tsunade's elbow planted itself in his gut. Rubbing his stomach, he just laughed a bit before following the retreating back of the older woman. "Don't wait up for us!"

Shizune shook her head at their antics before considering her options. After a moment she decided to join the young blond, mainly just to have some company, though her thoughts stayed purely social rather than following the lines of Jiraiya's thought process. Being a jōnin herself and having the chakra control of a medic, it didn't take her long to scale the wall of the hotel where she was able to see the mop of hair that could only be her fellow ninja. "Hello Naruto-san. Jiraiya-sama told me you were up here studying and I thought you could use some company."

"He went out chasing tail again didn't he?" Naruto replied while flipping a page.

Shizune sweat-dropped at his nonchalant attitude towards the sage. "Heh...not exactly. He went out drinking with Tsunade-sama."

Naruto quirked an eyebrow, but shook off the bad feeling he got as the medic sat down next to him and opened her own book. "Studying too?"

"Yeah. Even when you're in the higher ranks it never hurts to know more. There is a lot about the human body that I have yet to learn, especially in regards with how to heal it."

"I see...I never really got far enough in medical jutsu to worry much about that, but I wouldn't want my other skills to even out either, so I'll keep studying no matter how powerful I get. Of course, I still have a long way to go to be of much of a threat to the ninja world as a whole." He casually flipped another page in his book and continued reading. When one learns things using kage bunshin, one tends to learn to multitask as well. Not to mention the random attacks Jiraiya would throw at him while they were traveling, no matter if he was reading, bathing or using the toilet. While it was true that a ninja should always be prepared, there were such things a limits to what was necessary for training. That's not to say that he hadn't gotten the old pervert back during his peeping escapades. One yell, or a swift kick over a wall was enough to get the witch hunt started.

"So you do know some medical jutsu then?" Shizune knew rasengan took chakra control to use, but she hadn't expected someone that seemed to like to be on the offensive to know healing techniques.

"When I first started training I kept my boundaries open, just to see where my interests and talent would lead me. I found out that, while I could do medical techniques, they just didn't interest me as much as the more 'flashy attacks' I guess you could say." Naruto gave a smile and shrug, a little embarrassed that he went for the exciting and dangerous part of ninja life over the gentler half. "I ended up settling for ninjutsu, taijutsu, fūinjutsu, kenjutsu and a little genjutsu. Right now I'm concentrating on fūinjutsu though since I'm traveling with an expert on the subject. I'm not one to waste resources when they become available."

She knew he had to be somewhat of a genius for what he'd done to the drunk Tsunade, but to have such a broad range of skills at such a young age was pretty unfathomable. "Well you definitely give new meaning to the phrase 'well rounded ninja' don't you? If you're other techniques are on par with your ninjutsu and..." She tips the book in his hands to see the title, making her eyes widen at how far he was with the level of the subject. "...fūinjutsu then you must really be a powerhouse. Hell you should already be at high chūnin or low jōnin with that knowledge."

Naruto flinched a bit at her praise. "Well there were other...issues keeping me from getting that far too fast. I only just made it to the chūnin exams this time around because Jiji made a special exception for my case. I made it to the finals, but didn't get promoted yet for some rather obvious reasons..."

His words made Shizune lower her head. She knew he had a close relationship with the Sandaime from their earlier talks when she healed him. Though they were brief, he still showed that he held the old man in high regards. 'It's no wonder he blew up on Tsunade-sama...'

"Anyway, I don't care what rank I'm at. I'll keep getting stronger to protect what is precious to me." The blond announced as he looked up from his book and over in the direction of Konoha. "I will always be there to protect them no matter what the danger, and keep those who would try to endanger them in their place."

"Whoever they are, I'm sure they're very lucky to have a guardian angel like you looking over them."

"No I'm the lucky one...for having them acknowledge me..." He returned his gaze to his book and began reading in silence. Shizune took this as a sign that he would rather stop the direction they were headed, so she reluctantly followed suit and dug into her own studies.

They ended up sitting there long after the sun started setting, waiting until the last licks of light crossed their pages before finally calling it quits. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow Shizune-san. I doubt those two will be back anytime soon, and I have a feeling that I'll need all the sleep I can get, for the trip."

"Y-yeah, I guess that's a good idea." His sudden announcement had startled her and something in the way that he worded it made her wonder if he knew about their meeting tomorrow. "Until tomorrow then Naruto-san."

Walking back to his room, Naruto tossed his newly completed book aside. Truth be told he had finished it over an hour ago, but being in the company of someone other than his perverted sensei was somehow calming. Of course anyone that could keep their mind away from the female anatomy for more than ten seconds would have been acceptable company after being on the road for the better part of a month with the man. Sighing, he flopped on his bed and tried his best to fall asleep. It was much earlier than he would have normally turned in, but if his bad feeling from before was right, and Tsunade was trying out some tricks, he would need to be prepared for a fight like none he'd been in before.

• • •

Morning came very quickly for the container since he had gone to bed so early. He found it a little odd that Jiraiya still hadn't returned, but again that was nothing new. The only reason it caused more concern than normal was because of the possible events that may unfold later that day. Determined to be ready for anything, he gathered his supplies and set them out to make sure everything was accounted for. Kunai, shuriken, blades, seals, wire, pills, ointments...everything he needed was check off his list as he went through his assortment of tools. He sealed everything back up and put the scrolls in his pants and vest, stopping to debate once as he weighed his swords. On one hand they were very powerful weapons that could help tip the scale in a fight. On the other hand though, if they were taken from him they could make someone else a lot more powerful than they needed to be at the moment.

Since he didn't really know how to use the larger weapons proficiently yet he opted to store them for now, but kept them in a readily available pocket just in case. The last thing he needed right then was for Orochimaru to decide to take him out personally with his Kusanagi and have nothing to defend against it save for his ninja-to. As faithful as the small blade had been to him in the past, he doubted it would hold up against the legendary sword for too long. Having all of his gear packed up and ready, Naruto decided on a quick shower. It wasn't that he cared about going into a fight dirty, since he really was a little bit grimy due to his training schedule and less than hygienic habits as of late. He'd normally just train, then read until he fell asleep leaving no time for such things as bathing. The reason he decided to get a shower now of all times was more practical. Using warm water was a quick and thorough way of loosening muscles before strenuous activity, and if there was a more strenuous activity than the possibility of fighting a sannin, then he hadn't found it yet...although shopping with the girls came close.

He was just coming out of the bathroom when there was a knock at the door. 'Figures he'd get wasted enough to lose the room key. Probably too hungover to climb up the wall too.' Naruto grumbled as he walked over to open the door as another, more frantic knock came. "Hang on. I'm coming." He opened the door to find Shizune there, holding her stomach and breathing heavily.

"Jiraiya-sama? Is Jiraiya-sama in?" The woman was clearly distraught as she tried to look over him and into the room. From her limited vantage point she couldn't see anyone else there so she turned her attention back to the boy in front of her finally noticing his state of dress, or lack thereof. Blushing heavily she turned around and apologize. "G-gomen. I didn't mean to come at a bad time. I just really need to see Jiraiya-sama."

"It's about Tsunade, isn't it? She went to meet the Hebi-teme..."

Shizune spun on her heel, not caring about his unclothed state anymore as she grabbed his shoulders. "You knew?! But how?"

Naruto checked the hall before pulling her inside and shutting the door, causing her to squeak a little in surprise. "When we got here we went to where the castle was and it reeked of booze and snakes. It wasn't difficult to figure out who had been there. Then there was when Tsunade asked for a week to settle her matters here but wouldn't tell us what they were. We didn't know for sure, but we had a good idea. Ero-Sennin was going to go to stop her, but I'm betting she did something to keep him away last night. I haven't seen him since they left yesterday." Naruto put his hand on the seam of his towel before looking at the medic and arching an eyebrow.

Taking the hint, the blushing woman quickly turned around as she heard the towel drop to the floor behind her. "So if you knew then why didn't you bring it up earlier?"

"Because, first we had to get Tsunade to trust us enough to come back to Konoha. A fight over whatever this meeting is about would be bad for relations. Second, if there is a fight today then two sannin against one gives us good odds of taking Orochimaru out for good. Though that'll be a little tougher if Baa-san gave Ero-Sennin any trouble last night. For all we know he could be tied up in a cellar somewhere in town. I'm finished."

Shizune turned around to see him in his full battle gear for the first time. It reminded her of some of the ninja she'd seen during the last war seeing all of the pockets full of things she could only guess at, while a sword handle poked out from behind him. Then there was the look in his eyes, a look that told her that he had already seen battle and all of it's horrors. A look that seemed so out of place, yet at the same time she couldn't think of a face it would fit better. "You actually plan to help in a fight between sannin?"

"Well I don't plan on sitting by and doing nothing if things start to go South. Jiraiya may be a pervert, but he's the only teacher I've got, and Tsunade is a cold, hard bitch but she's the only one that might be able to save the old man. If I have to stick my neck out a bit to tip the scales then I will. Of course that doesn't mean I'm going to rush in and attack right off the bat either. If the fight's going fine then I won't interfere at all. Now enough talking. If you're here that means Tsunade is already meeting with the snake." Naruto made to jump out the window, but had to duck his head back inside as two shuriken lodged into the frame near him. Unsheathing his ninja-to in order to guard against any new attack he eased his head out the window again. The blade was unfounded as he realized the source of the attack was the gama-sannin himself. "The hell Ero-Sennin? You could have cut me."

"Sh-shut up gaki. Tsunade, she used some kind of drug on me. It took me most of the morning just to get over here. It's clearing up, but it'll be a long time before I'm ready to win a dancing contest."

"Yeah, like the rest of you life. Listen Tsunade is already on her way to the meeting. Shizune, help him get on his feet. I'm going on ahead to see what I can do."

"Wait, what? I'm the jōnin here you should stay and I'll go. Besides I know Tsunade-sama the best."

"True, but you're also the only real medic here. You can help him recover a lot faster than I can."

Shizune wanted to argue further, but Jiraiya cut in. "The gaki's right. You'll just have to be quick about getting me up and running again. Naruto, be careful. I don't know what that snake offered her, but if it's enough to risk taking me out of my game then it can't be good."

"Her precious people."

"What?" The two males turned towards Shizune's soft voice.

"He offered to bring her precious people back to life..." She sniffed a bit at the thought of such a thing being possible. Being able to see Nawaki and Dan alive again would be more than she could bare. "...at the cost of healing his arms."

"Shit..." Naruto jumped off the roof and bounded over to where the castle once stood.

"Naruto! Dammit...Shizune, listen to me. There is no way to bring people back to life. What he was talking about is an abomination of a kinjutsu. I need you to heal me as fast as possible. If that kid gets involved, things could take a turn for the worst real quick."

Shizune nodded shakily before getting a glass of water and giving it to the man to drink. After a few more glasses he was at least able to stand somewhat steadily on his own. "Your chakra control will be a little iffy for a while, but you should be able to fight decent enough. With both of you, you should be able to match him while I take on his apprentice."

"Apprentice?"

"Hai, Kabuto-san. I don't know his abilities, but I should be able to keep him busy long enough for you and Tsunade-sama to deal with Orochimaru."

"An unknown ninja...that could be a problem. We need to move now. Let's go." Jiraiya didn't wait for her consent before bounding off over the rooftops, taking the same general path Naruto had taken not too long ago.

Tsunade slowly walked towards Orochimaru, her hands glowing green from her healing jutsu. The only thoughts going through her head at the moment were about her brother and her lover who would soon be reunited with her. As she came within inches of her ex-teammate they were forced to jump apart when three kunai shot between them. All three people that occupied the small road turned towards their surroundings to see who would dare interrupt them. "You!I" Tsunade sneered, furious at who had showed up.

"Good morning hime. I hope you didn't get too much of a hangover from your drinking binge with sensei last night." Naruto stood on the wall off to one side and behind Tsunade.

"Ah, Naruto-kun. I haven't seen you since the exams. Tell me, how's sensei doing?" Orochimaru asked, rather relaxed given the tense situation Tsunade was causing as her killing intent saturated the air.

"He's alive no thanks to you. Maybe next time you'll do us all a favor and fall on that damned cursed blade yourself."

"And after all of the entertainment I gave you, this is how you thank me? Oh well, Kabuto-kun, kill him." Without so much as and acknowledging nod the bespectacled youth standing nearby threw a couple senbon at the blond, impaling his neck and heart precisely. "Now that pest control is taken care of we can get back to..."

"Telling her exactly how you intend to bring back her loved ones?" Naruto's voice spilled over the scene again, this time from behind Orochimaru as he was discovered to be walking towards them on the side of the wall opposite the one he'd been standing on before. Looking back at the body Kabuto had attacked they were just in time to witness the last of the smoke dissipate.

"Kabuto, I thought I told you to kill him."

"Apologies Orochimaru-sama. I will remedy this error immediately." Once again Naruto was hit with lethal accuracy, and once again he poofed out of existence.

"These clones aren't free you know?" Now he was leaning against the hole in the wall that Tsunade had created when she first met the snake here a week ago. "Fine if you won't tell her, I will. You see Tsunade, ..." Orochimaru raged while Kabuto attacked in response. Again the clone popped, and again another showed up elsewhere. "...he plans to use a jutsu called...Edo Tensei. It's true that it brings back the dead, but...it brings them back as nothing more than emotionless zombies...there's more to the trick, but I doubt...it would bring them back completely. As it is they would...be completely...under his...control. Oh and let's not forget...the only cost is two human sacrifices."

Orochimaru roared in anger as his trickery was explained. His anger went up each time Kabuto would kill a clone only to have another continue where its predecessor left off. "I should have killed you when I had the chance you brat."

"And we both know that if you had stuck around you would have died too." This time Naruto appeared behind Tsunade, more or less using her to shield himself from attack. "So, hime, is that what you want? A couple of undead marionettes in exchange for releasing their puppeteer on the world again? Heh, most likely he'd use them to kill you as soon as you healed him."

Tsunade didn't want to believe the brat, but she couldn't help it. She knew all about her ex-teammate's sick experiments. "How do you know so much about this jutsu?" It was her last hope to discover he was lying, even though Orochimaru's actions against him pretty much proved his guilt.

"Because it was the same one he tried to use against the old man when he brought the Shodai and Nidaime back using it. He tried to bring back the Yondaime too, but that one backfired on him. Right asshole?" Naruto gave the man a full toothed smile over Tsunade's slumping shoulders.

"Is that true, Orochimaru...?" Tsunade lowered her head, her voice coming out in a growl. Not only had the snake offered to give her loved ones back to her with such a despicable kinjutsu, but he'd also already brought back both of the previous Kage, her blood relatives, to fight against the village they founded.

"Ku, ku, ku. You really are the annoying prankster aren't you Naruto-kun. You just can't let things that don't concern you alone. Well since it seems I won't be getting healed the nice way, I'll just have to make sure you can't heal anyone else either. There are other ways for me to get the use of my arms back!" Despite his threat, Orochimaru and Kabuto were forced to jump to the wall, then to a tree in order to get away from Tsunade's maddened attacks.

"Get back here you bastards!" She called out to them as she crashed through the wall.

"You know, leaping over that would have taken less chakra..." Naruto shut his mouth as the enraged sannin gave him a glare.

"I won't thank you for this, so shut up. Just be glad I'll be healing that old man when this is over with. Hell I might even take up the Hokage seat just to put you in your place...legally."

Naruto couldn't help but smile at himself as he followed the woman after the two Oto-nin. "Progress is progress I suppose. I just hope Ero-Sennin and Shizune-san can find us." He watched as Tsunade continuously cratered the ground with her attacks. 'Ok, well that shouldn't be a problem then...Guess I'll just hope they get here before she runs out of chakra. Hitting nothing is definitely not working wonders for her chakra stores I'm sure.' Sighing at her actions, Naruto followed behind, though far enough to stay out of the action for now. He would stick with his original plan of only helping if needed, and right now getting anywhere near the berserking blond woman would end up as a bad day for him.

A/N: The next chapter is going to be a very long fight scene, and the one following that will have a lot of what was happening back in Konoha during the trip.