20

They had been walking for over two hours, with one short break in between. Nothing had been out of the ordinary, and shockingly, there had been periods of silence where neither of them would say anything, opting to enjoy the silence. Everything was good.

Until Naruto finally decided that he should do something productive to pass his time.

"Hey, ero-sennin," he called, gaining the other man's irritated attention. Without waiting for him to speak, he continued, "Do you know the reason why we are looking for Tsunade?"

Jiraiya gave him a confused look, "I thought you knew about her being the new Hokage? Or have you forgotten?"

Naruto scoffed, "I have a photographic memory. I forget nothing," in a more serios voice he continued, "But it's not about that. I'm asking whether you know why she abandoned the village?"

Jiraiya flinched at the bluntness of the statement. As much as he wanted to correct Naruto, there was nothing he could say to refute the statement. He knew about Tsunade's losses in the last war, and why she chose to leave the village, but Naruto's words carried a harsh sense of truth to them.

"I do, but it's not my place to tell," he replied.

Naruto frowned, but said, "Fair enough." If he did not want to tell, it was fine. He could learn it later on his own. But there was something he needed to know. "Is she a missing nin?"

Jiraiya almost missed his step at the question, turning to glare at the blonde. "What?!"

Naruto was not at all perturbed by Jiraiya's sudden anger. He reiterated, "I asked if she was a missing nin."

Jiraiya was indignant, "Do you even realize what you are saying?! She is related to the first two hokages by blood and the student of the third, not to mention one of the Legendary Sannin, who by the way, were granted travelling rights by the Daimyo of Hi no kuni himself!"

Naruto adjusted the strap of his backpack a little. This was the first time he was wearing one, "I know that, trust me. The books are full about the feats of you three. Tsunade's legendary prowess as a medic is known throughout the world, but answer me this. She has not stepped a foot in the village for the last ten years, and by extension, not performed a single mission for it. Once I asked jiji that why was it that you were allowed to spend so much time outside the village. He told me that you were only allowed to do so for you had a spy network to maintain, right?"

Jiraiya frowned, but was still confused as to where Naruto was leading him but nodded nonetheless.

"Which means that you are only allowed to travel as long as you keep doing missions for the village. If we go by that context, Tsunade has been abusing her Sannin travelling rights. Not only has she been out of contact and sight of the village, but she hasn't done a single mission for Konoha for quite an extended period of time. Not unlike a missing nin, won't you say?"

Jiraiya had narrowed his eyes at the end of Naruto's question. Naruto's words felt like ice cold water rushing down his back. Everything he had said had been brutally correct. But it was his teammate they were talking about! And he would be dammed if he let anyone talk about her this way without knowing what she went through.

"Watch your mouth, brat. You don't know what she has been through!"

Jiraiya's tone held warning, and Naruto took that as his cue to drop the topic. It was obvious as sunlight that Jiraiya deeply cared for Tsunade if he was defending her like that. But from Jiraiya's statement, he was able to learn that Tsunade went through quite a few losses, and she left the village to have some time to herself. But ten years was way too long, and if they were retrieving her, it was quite clear for him to see that Tsunade had no real intention of coming back to the village herself. But there was something he still couldn't quite understand.

Everyone had dead people, but that was no reason for them to be stuck on them for such a long time. For a seasoned shinobi like Tsunade, she should have been able to let go and carry on with her life. So why didn't she?

He would have to learn for it himself.

After fifteen more minutes, a town came into their sight. "Alright brat," Jiraiya's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, "We're approaching a travelling town, so here are the rules. Since Tsunade is quite elusive of the shinobi sent for her, blending in is necessary from this point on. So remove your jonin jacket and Hitai-ate."

Naruto gave him a deadpan look, "Oh, sure. Bright blonde hair is totally blending in. Not to mention a large, gorilla sized man in bright red clothes and white hair longer than an average girl."

Jiraiya whacked Naruto's head, causing the blonde to yelp, "Don't mock the hair, brat! And I blend in very well, thank you very much!"

Naruto sighed as he sealed his jacket and Hitai-ate into a scroll and put it in his backpack. He took out a single, black colored sash, tying it around his head like the hitai-ate. "Sometimes I wonder how is it that you became a spy master."

Jiraiya smirked, "I have my secrets."

Naruto shook his head as he took out his black and red, half sleeves jacket as well. He always felt incomplete without one. "I'm sure you do. Is this good enough?"

Jiraiya inspected him with a critical eye, "It's passable."

Naruto frowned, "Why, what's wrong with this?"

Jiraiya smirked and pointed a finger at his godson. "Oh, nothing's actually wrong. But trust me, you'll be attracting a lot of attention from the female kind with that kind of look."

Naruto froze for a moment. He took a moment to properly blurt it out. "Say what?"

Jiraiya laughed heartily as they closed in on the town, "Don't worry, gaki. It's actually a good thing. You don't get many chances to appreciate the female body. The lips, the curves…"

Naruto made a disgusted face as Jiraiya's expression turned into a look worthy of a super pervert. For kami's sake, the man was making grabbing motions in the air!

He did not need to be an expert to know what Jiraiya was imagining. He kicked the man in the shin. "Get a hold of yourself!"

Jiraiya was the one who yelped this time, clutching his shin painfully and hopping on one foot. "You'll pay for this, Naruto!"

Naruto was smirking as he continued walking ahead. 'I probably know more about how the female body feels up close than you do, Jiraiya.' His steamy make out session with Temari was one of his most treasured memories.

Naruto and Jiraiya wouldn't have been in such a mood if they knew just what was happening in Konoha.

Two intruders slipped quietly into the village, undetected. They were covered with black coats with a pattern of red clouds, quietly sitting down in a tea shop. They wore wide-brimmed straw hats to cover the parts of their faces shown above the high collar of the cloaks.

The shorter one of them, who was eating dango, was the first to notice. He motioned to the larger one, the three jonin who were eying them. Quietly, they paid their tab and left the shop.

"We should leave. It appears that the jinchuriki isn't here," a low, monotone voice said to his partner.

The cloaked strangers kept walking. They were passing a lake when they both stopped. Silently, they turned to face the tow newcomers, Suma and Kurenai.

"You two don't seem to be from the village….Who are you guys?" Asuma asked in a voice that meant all business.

"It's been a long time, Asuma-san, Kurenai-san," the shorter one commented in a rather pleasant tone of voice.

"So you are a shinobi of this village," Asuma commented, puffing on his cigarette. "What did you come here for?"

The shorter of the duo lifted his straw hat slightly, revealing his eyes, both of which had a blazing Sharingan in them, which made Asuma and Kurenai go wide-eyed.

"No doubt about it…" Asuma muttered as the shinobi removed his straw hat and unbuttoned his cloak slightly, revealing a young and handsome face with black hair, lines under his eyes, and a Konoha forehead protector with a slash through it. "Uchiha Itachi…"

"So, you're already acquainted with Itachi-san, huh? Then, I also need to introduce myself," the taller of the duo said as he removed his own straw hat, to reveal a blue-skinned man with very sharp teeth, beady eyes, and what looked like gills on his cheekbones. "Hoshigaki Kisame. Nice to make your acquaintance."

"You're not making an acquaintances here," Asuma said with a small smirk on his face. "It looks like we've got the task to take you on."

"Itachi-san, your home village doesn't seem to like you very much," Kisame commented.

"I've also heard of you," Kurenai said, staring at Kisame. "Hoshigaki Kisame, formerly of Kirigakure no Sato… A renegade ninja wanted by numerous countries, including the Water Country, for assassinating a feudal lord, and sabotage, as well as various other crimes…"

"You boys are listed as S-rank criminals in the Bingo Book, you know," Asuma said, the smirk disappearing. "Itachi, coming back to this village after what you pulled…"

"Asuma-san, Kurenai-san, I have no wish to kill you," Itachi said. "Please do not interfere with my affairs."

"Can't really just walk away," Asuma said. "What is your purpose here?"

Suddenly, Kisame grabbed his sword and swung it down with enough force to crack the ground when it hit, kicking up a lot of dust.

"This person is quite annoying," the shark-man said, a grin on his face. "Shall I kill him?"

"It does look like we can't leave the village without a fight," Itachi said, not looking away from Asuma for a second. "But don't overdo it. Your style attracts too much attention."

"It's settled, then…" Kisame said as he lifted his sword again to rest it against his shoulder.

For a few moments, there was silence as everyone just stared at each other. Then, Kisame moved with incredible speed, swinging at Asuma, who drew a pair of trench knives and blocked the swing.

Asuma gritted his teeth as he struggled, the sword coming lower and lower.

'I'm being pushed down by just the tip of his sword… What kind of monster is he?'

Slowly, the sword was placed against Asuma's shoulder, which made Kisame grin. The shark-man pulled the sword back, making Asuma grunt in pain when he felt something tear against his shoulder, looking to see the bandages coming off the sword's tip, revealing not a blade, but a series of downward-facing scales running along the entirety of its length.

"My great sword Samehada doesn't cut… it shaves!" Kisame announced with a grin.

Suddenly, Asuma grinned slightly, despite the pain.

"Kurenai, you're late."

Kisame's eyes widened as it appeared as though he suddenly started sinking into the ground, but Itachi looked quite unaffected, even as roots shot up from the ground and wrapped around him, a tree forming behind him. Above the Uchiha, Kurenai came out of the tree trunk, raising a kunai.

"This is the end," Kurenai announced, stabbing the kunai downward.

A blink was all it took, and Kurenai suddenly found that the tables had turned. All of a sudden she was the one wrapped up in roots, and before her stood Itachi, looking emotionless as usual.

"Genjutsu of this level have no effect on me."

'This is… Genjutsu counter!' Kurenai thought as Itachi drew a kunai. She closed her eyes and bit her own lip, drawing blood. The pain was enough to cancel the Genjutsu, and she opened her eyes in time to see Itachi coming at her. She ducked, the swipe from the kunai only managing to cut a few of her hairs, but that wasn't enough. A foot came flying at her at an intense speed, and she raised her arms to block. The kick was powerful, though, and sent her flying out over the river.

"Kurenai!" Asuma yelled, looking in her direction, which made Kisame chuckle as he raised his sword again.

"Not paying attention will be the end of you!"

The sword came swinging down just as Asuma turned to him, but Asuma was caught off guard so easily. He leaned to the side to avoid the swipe of the large sword, and slashed Kisame's face. The aforementioned nin's eyes widened as blood trickled from a small cut that was made by Asuma, with his wind-covered blades.

Itachi looked down at Kurenai with dispassionate eyes, "Nicely blocked, Kurenai-san. But this is the end-"

"-for you."

Itachi's eyes narrowed and glanced to the side, behind him where the owner of the said voice was standing. Kakashi glanced at itachi's back with his sharingan. There was no doubt at all that even if he held a blade to Itachi's back, the sharingan wielder was anything but helpless against him.

He grimly thought, 'Fighting Itachi is no pushover. He must have gotten stronger than when he left the village. I'll have to assume a worst-case scenario in this fight.'

Time skip

Kakashi was barely standing as he gazed at the two missing nin. He was out of strength, breath and chakra. He had made a foolish mistake of looking into Itachi's eyes, and now he was done for. 'Just what… the hell…..was that?' Kakashi tried to analyze just how did Itachi possess such a strong genjutsu. His eye certainly didn't have this ability.

Itachi had called the technique Tsukuyomi. A genjutsu of his design that was somehow connected to space-time, for Itachi had tortured him for over seventy-two hours in there, while in reality, only a second had passed. He didn't know just how Itachi had did it, but it had clearly worked. Kakashi was out of the fight. He fell down to his hands and knees. 'No! I can't black out now! The reinforcements should be almost here! I'll have to stall them….'

"Why are… you two….here?"

Itachi spoke as if he did not fight at all, "We're after the legacy of the Yondaime Hokage."

Kakashi wasn't surprised at all, while Asuma's and Kurenai's eyes had widened. By this time, it was no secret to the whole village who that was. Asuma muttered, "You are after the Kyuubi inside Naruto, aren't you?"

The silence was enough of an answer. Kakashi knew he had to stall them for a little more time.

"I know you aren't the only ones who are moving around. The name of your organization…..it's Akatsuki, isn't it?"

Itachi's eyes widened imperceptibly, while Kisame had a more visible reaction. A surprised grunt escaped his throat as he stared hard at Kakashi. Kakashi mentally smirked. It was a good thing that Jiraiya-sama had told him about the organization that was after people like Naruto.

"Kill him, Kisame," Itachi suddenly ordered.

The blue man grinned savagely, "With pleasure." He raised his sword and blazed towards Kakashi, intent on chopping him into pieces.

"KONOHA GOURIKI SENPUU!"

The kick caught Kisame right in the face, sending him skidding across the surface of the lake, back to Itachi. Kisame righted himself, and was met with an odd sight.

A man in a green, spandex one-piece suit with a jonin flak jacket. His most noticeable features were his bowl cut hair and thick eyebrows. Kakashi sighed in relief. 'Gai….'

"Who are you?!"

Gai settled into his taijutsu stance, "Konoha's noble blue beast….Maito Gai!"

Kisame snorted, "You should take a closer look at yourself. You look more like an odd beast."

Gai didn't seem to hear him as he easily lifted Kakashi onto his shoulders and said, "You two! Open your eyes, but don't look Itachi in the eyes!"

Asuma and Kurenai opened their eyes, taking in the scene. Itachi closely analyzed the scene and weighed his odds. Gai was exceptionally strong, and he had ways to fight the sharingan. Also, he must have signaled the reinforcements on his way to here. They needed to get out of here.

"Enough, Kisame," he softly said. When his partner looked at him in confusion, he said, "We've attracted enough attention. We did not come here to start a war. We're leaving."

Kisame sighed in genuine disappointment as he put away his sword, "And I was just starting to get excited… but it seems we have no choice."

Itachi and Kisame then disappeared.

Asuma and Kurenai relaxed as Guy shifted Kakashi a bit. He turned around and said with a serious voice that he rarely used. "I don't need to tell you that the return of Itachi to this village must be kept a secret from a certain someone, do I?"

Asuma and Kurenai nodded, "We'll tell the others to keep their mouths shut around him."

Guy nodded and then smiled, "Good, then I will get Kakashi to the Hospital."

Naruto sighed in mild irritation as he spun his kunai in his fingers almost lazily, sitting on his bed in the hotel room he and Jiraiya had rented for the night. This was only supposed to be a small stop in the town- until Jiraiya had spotted a pretty young woman who had winked at him. Almost immediately, Jiraiya had waved him off to find a hotel room for the night while he 'gathered some information.' Naruto snorted, he knew damn well Jiraiya was following after the woman from earlier like a lovesick puppy.

And he thought that this was an urgent mission.

Still, there was something that Naruto had noticed when the woman had winked at Jiraiya. First off, Jiraiya was not even that good looking. He was just an old man in his fifties. No sane young woman would so much as even look in his direction that way the woman from earlier did.

Second, the woman was pretty. Pretty as in above average pretty. She wore a strapless dress that was designed to show off her well-endowed chest and long legs, along with high heels. She could have gotten any man, but she went straight for Jiraiya. She did not even glance at the other men that were standing in the lobby with them. That was another thing that rang alarm bells in his mind. Also, it looked as if that woman was dressed to entice, or seduce someone, unless she was heading out on a date, that too alone. Why would a woman dress up to entice Jiraiya?

Also, Jiraiya had been correct in the regard that he would attract female attention. As soon as they had entered the town, whenever they would pass by a girl close to his age, she would blush and giggle. It was slightly confusing and scary to be honest. One girl was brave enough to even come to him and asked if he wanted to spend some time with her and her friends. He had barely kept from freaking out, and Jiraiya had just walked off somewhere, leaving him alone to deal with the girl. Thankfully, Naruto was able to gently let her down by using the classic excuse- he was here to train with his master and the time for training was drawing to a close. The girl had been visibly disappointed, but had understood. Surprising him, she had whispered an address in his ear, telling that if he was free, he was allowed to come over there. And she had kissed him on the cheek before leaving! Who the hell kisses random strangers on cheeks?!

Before Naruto could think up on this further, the knock of a door snapped him out of his thoughts. His eyes narrowed as he sensed two large chakra signatures outside his door, one astoundingly enough, a bit bigger than his own. The other one, he sensed, was shockingly similar to his teammate, Sasuke.

There was no way he was going to answer the door himself. His danger sense was ringing bells in his head.

He soundlessly created a shadow clone, who began to move towards the door. His footsteps were loud enough for Naruto to cover his own as he flipped out of the window. He knew that whoever was outside wouldn't be fooled by it, but it would have to do. He doubted that they were here just to say hello.

He would have flashed over to Jiraiya to get him, but that idea had a risk. First of all, if he suddenly flashed in the middle of a crowd and disappeared with a person, it would cause panic in the crowd.

Yeah, not happening.

' Looks like I would have to give him a 'noticeable' signal to arrive here,' Naruto thought as he flipped up to the roof and headed to the window at the end of the corridor.

'Naruto' opened the door and found himself looking up into a pair of a fully matured sharingan. His first thought was Sasuke, but then his thought process kicked in. First, this guy was taller than him, and Sasuke was four inches shorter than him. Second, his hairstyle was different, and he had tear troughs under his eyes. Third, he wore a Konoha hitai-ate which was slashed, indicating he was a missing nin.

Yep, he was facing Uchiha itachi.

' Shit! I never thought I would have to meet Uchiha Itachi of all people!' The clone thought as he diverted his eyes from the sharingan to Itachi's forehead. He carefully kept his face blank of any emotions.

"To think this boy contains the Kyuubi….." Came a voice from beside Itachi, as a very distinct figure came into view. This man was taller than Jiraiya, and he had very obvious blue skin and shark like features, such as facial markings that resembled like fish gills. He was also carrying a very large, bandaged blade. His clothing matched Itachi's- a long black cloak with red clouds on it. He was also wearing a slashed Kiri hitai-ate, making him a missing nin.

' Unless I'm mistaken, which is a very low chance, this guy is a former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. And what's the deal with his chakra?! It's almost as big as Prime's, maybe even a bit bigger! And, they know about Kurama, so I can guess they are here for him.'

"Naruto-kun, you're coming with us," Itachi said in a monotone as he gazed at his target. He was not expecting Naruto to look like this at all. No, he wasn't talking about how he was gazing at a literal, carbon copy of the Yondaime. He was talking about Naruto's stature.

He was expecting a genin, a twelve to thirteen year old. Naruto looked like he was almost fifteen and not a genin at all. Instead, Naruto's posture did not portray any fear or anxiety one might have when facing a S-rank criminal. He was smart, for he immediately averted his eyes to his forehead. The posture was straight, and very carefully guarded. Itachi might have thought he was relaxed, even, if not for the barely noticeable tensing of shoulders and the subsequent clenching of fists.

'Naruto' stared hard at Itachi. "Why?"

"… Let's go outside the room," Itachi opted to say. He watched, in silent approval, as 'Naruto' carefully stepped out of the room, keeping him and Kisame in his sights. He came to stand in front of them, keeping his feet slightly apart, and hands at his sides. 'Naruto' had no intention of running, for Prime should be here any moment now. His job was only to distract. So he began talking.

"Why do I have the honor of meeting Uchiha Itachi and a former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist?"

If Itachi was shocked, he didn't show it, because he was damn good at hiding his emotions. People found blank walls easier to read instead of him. Kisame, however, grinned.

"A smart one, aren't you?"

'Naruto' just folded his hands across his chest and gave the shark man a dry look, "I don't need to be smart in order to label you as one of the Seven Swordsmen. Your giant sword gives it away, not to mention the slashed hitai-ate."

Kisame turned to Itachi, "Itachi-san, it would be a bother to us if this kid keeps moving around. Perhaps I should chop off his legs?"

'Naruto' didn't even look the least disturbed at the threat. In fact….

"I dare you to try."

Kisame chuckled and slowly moved forward, clutching the handle of his sword. "Your bravado is amusing, but you must be a fool if you think you can stand and win against me."

Itachi watched as Kisame closed onto Naruto. Something was wrong here, he thought. Naruto looked like he won't be making a move anytime soon. He was relaxed, too relaxed…

"Move Kisame!" The command was spoken softly, but it still carried power and urgency. Kisame heard it and was barely able to move in time, for 'Naruto' glowed and exploded with a bang, blasting the walls and any area near him.

Meanwhile, Naruto heard the bang and smirked from his position outside the window of the corridor. The explosion was something he hadn't taken into account, but it wasn't a bad thing either. The clone's job was only to distract the newcomers, but this works as well. A good thing the entire floor was empty. He would go through the memories later.

Itachi and Kisame stared at the spot where the clone used to be. "Exploding Kage Bunshin," Itachi whispered in the slightest wonder. It looks like Naruto was smarter than he previously thought, and very perceptive too. He had known the danger of them and had a shadow clone answer in his place. They had been talking to a shadow clone all this time.

Kisame gave a grunt of irritation as he looked at his slightly burnt hand. It had been way too close. "Looks like the jinchuriki is going to be more trouble than we thought," he muttered as he healed the burn with his chakra.

Itachi, on the other hand, was thinking what this could mean. Naruto was obviously not here. He was out and had left a shadow clone in his place to keep guard. That, or Naruto had somehow known they were here and had gone to call Jiraiya. But-

They both jumped a bit sideways, letting the bolt of red lightning pass in between them and collapse wall on the end of the corridor to splinters. Itachi and kisame turned their heads to see the real Naruto standing behind them, right hand extended and the other holding a kunai.

Naruto smirked at the looks on their faces, more like the look on Kisame's face. Itachi was as blank as empty paper. Kisame was baring his sharp teeth in annoyance. "I can't believe you fell for that!"

Apparently, Kisame did not like the mock at all. So one second he was standing beside Itachi, the other he was right in Naruto's personal space, sword ready to cut him. The power behind the strike was enough to shatter a piece of the wall behind him, and would have sliced Naruto in half.

Keywords: Would have.

Kisame did not know of the danger sense Naruto possessed, nor of the slower perception it granted Naruto. The danger sense rang loudly, and the world had slowed down for Naruto as soon as Kisame had taken the step towards him. Naruto had watched in slow motion as Kisame flew towards him. He would have to give credit to the guy, for he was almost as fast as Kakashi, with the blade. So he was right in front of Naruto in only a second.

Oh, and neither Itachi nor Kisame knew of the marking Naruto had put on the other end of the corridor as a safety precaution.

Kisame shattered part of the wall in front of him with Samehada. He had intended to cut off the legs of the brat so he couldn't run anymore. But to his shock, he wasn't even standing in front of him anymore!

"Over here, slowpoke."

Kisame whirled around to see Naruto nonchalantly leaning against the wall on the opposite end of the corridor. Even Itachi couldn't conceal his surprise as his eyes were wide as well. Kisame's wide eyes reflected his thoughts clearly. 'How did he move so fast?! I didn't even see him moving!'

Itachi's thoughts were a bit more sophisticated than his partner's. While it was a bit much to cut off Naruto's legs, it would certainly make their job easier. He had thought that Kisame had gotten Naruto with that strike, but he had dodged it! Not only that, but it looked like he barely put any effort into it! Even with his sharingan, he hadn't been able to track Naruto's movement, and that was speaking something since his sharingan was of the highest evolution. That was the speed Naruto had so nonchalantly pulled off. All he had seen was a tiny, almost unnoticeable flash of neon blue. It was almost like he had teleported…

Itachi's train of thought was brought to a sudden stop. 'Surely not… he couldn't have mastered that jutsu… there's no way…..'

Kisame slowly walked back to where Itachi was standing, his face cleared of the shock from earlier. He could see from the look on Itachi's face that even he hadn't seen the boy move. He slowly grinned in excitement; this might be a challenge after all.

"It's been a long time… Sasuke."

Naruto may acted playful on the outside, but inside he was all serious. That sword…..he had felt as if it wasn't just taking his life. There was some sort of pull in that sword, but Naruto had flashed away before it could make contact. Seemingly, it could take chakra of its opponents. Also, Jiraiya should have reached here by now. He had caused two explosions- enough for Jiraiya to come here as fast as he could. He had activated his sensing, and he was sensing Jiraiya closing in fast. However, he sensed another person that caused a pit to form in his stomach. Why the hell was he here?!

"It's been a long time… Sasuke."

Naruto watched with narrowed eyes and a small hint of annoyance as he noticed Sasuke standing behind the two missing nin. Kisame turned around to glance at the newcomer as well. "Who?"

Sasuke represented the classic picture of a guy wanting revenge. Form straight, legs spread slightly apart, hands at the side and hair shadowing the front of his face. When he glanced up, Naruto could see it. The sharingan was blazing, and the burning hate in those eyes was unmistakable.

"Uchiha….Itachi!"

Sasuke was trembling in rage as he gazed at his older brother. When he had found out that his brother was in the village- courtesy of a loose lipped jonin- looking for Naruto of all people, his blood had nearly turned to ice.

He knew Naruto was strong, very strong for his age. Strong enough that he had been promoted straight to jonin. But his brother was in another league entirely. No matter how powerful Naruto was now, Itachi would utterly destroy him.

He had immediately set off in pursuit of his teammate.

It was fortunate that the old man at Ichiraku was kind enough to tell him that Naruto had left the village with Jiraiya, the Toad Sage and one of the Legendary Sannin. That popped a question in Sasuke's head as to just what was Naruto doing travelling with one of the most powerful shinobi in the world.

Nevertheless, he had ruthlessly pushed the question at the back of his head. Concern for his teammate had overridden his logic, not to mention the rage smoldering inside him at the piece of news that Itachi came for Naruto and not him.

He had immediately run off to the closest town, counting on the fact that they could not have gotten far if they had only set off two hours earlier. It had taken him only half an hour of running close to full speed to arrive at the nearest town. He had then stopped for a quick breather for five minutes, before resuming his search for Jiraiya and Naruto. After fifteen minutes, he was ready to pull his hair out when suddenly, a loud explosion sounded not far away from where he was. He had turned to see one of the inns' upper floors exploding outwards. It had been fleeting, but he was able to catch the distinct red lightning that Naruto used. He had immediately rushed over there.

He wasn't disappointed at the sight that met his eyes.

Naruto was certainly there, confidently leaning against the wall and facing two people whose backs were facing him. One was a ridiculously tall man, holding a large, bandaged sword that reminded Sasuke of Zabuza's sword. The other one though….

"It has been a long time….Sasuke."

Sasuke's blood boiled at the painfully familiar voice. The same voice that he had loved hearing, and the same voice that had advised him to hate him to gain power to kill him one day. The same voice that slaughtered his parents, his entire clan without an ounce of mercy.

"Uchiha….Itachi!"

His vision went red as rage started to cloud his mind. This was the day he had been waiting for so long. The day he would finally kill Itachi and avenge his clan!

Naruto could see that rage was beginning to cloud Sasuke, as any and all sense of rationality seemed to leave him as soon as he caught sight of Itachi. He frowned- there was no way Sasuke was ready to take on Itachi, a S-class missing nin at his current power. Even Naruto knew that he would only last one or two minutes after which the ex-ANBU captain would finish him off, Flying Thunder God or not.

"Sasuke, control yourself! You cannot beat him!"

Even Naruto knew that it was the wrong thing to say, but frankly, he had nothing else to say that could stop Sasuke at this point. He could only hope Sasuke would regain some of his rationality.

"Stay out of this, Naruto!"

Ok, maybe not.

He watched with wide eyes what happened next. Sasuke screamed in utter fury- rage unlike anything Naruto had ever seen before. It was as if Sasuke was screaming his soul out, willing that Itachi burst into flames on the very spot. He watched in befuddlement as Sasuke burst in a sprint towards Itachi, and the latter's complete lack of caring that his brother was running at him with lightning aimed at his heart.

Naruto slowly fell into a loose stance as Itachi just grabbed Sasuke's wrist seemingly without even trying, and redirected Chidori's power towards the side, causing the third explosion in the hallway. Sasuke struggled to get out of Itachi's hold as the power of his jutsu died out.

Naruto weighed his options. He couldn't use a jutsu, for there was a very low chance that he wouldn't hit Sasuke. Oh well, no one ever said everything could be solved with jutsus.

Eight shuriken went sailing across the air, approaching the enemy shinobi with deadly accuracy. Kisame just snorted and used his large sword to simply bat the shuriken away. Itachi glanced at Naruto for the attack, and Sasuke took this chance to once more attack his brother.

"Why you-"

"You're annoying."

The statement was said so dismissively that Naruto felt that Itachi was simply dealing with an annoying housefly, not a person hellbent on killing him. Also, following the statement, was the clean, snapping sound of Sasuke's wrist breaking. Naruto sighed in annoyance as Sasuke screamed in pain and bent over, clutching his broken wrist. This really might set back all the progress he had made with the lord of emo.

Kisame suddenly ran forward, intending to land another strike on Naruto. Naruto brought his kunai up, ready to dodge or block. Before he could do either of them, smoke burst in front of him as a toad appeared, blocking the sword with a forelimb guard. Naruto did not drop his guard as he spoke to his savior.

"You sure took your sweet time coming here, sensei."

Jiraiya arrived on the scene from the window on Naruto's end of the corridor, one leg propped up on the sill while the other was flat on the ground, carrying the body of an unconscious woman. The same woman that Naruto had seen earlier. He muttered in annoyance, "You couldn't have left her in the room or something?"

Jiraiya clearly heard this, but ignored it as he set the girl down and walked up to stand beside Naruto. "Don't be like that, Naruto. My timing was perfect!" Turning to the two missing nin, he pointed his finger at them. "Nice try, but a distraction like that could never work on me!"

"It did though, didn't it?" Naruto whispered to the older man, only to receive a harsh nudge to his ribs. He wisely backed off, opting to let Jiraiya handle this. However, he was surprised when Jiraiya was about to engage the two, Sasuke got up and snarled.

" Itachi is mine!"

He shot forward to try and catch his brother off guard. Of course, like the time before that, his ass was handed right back to him. Naruto watched with an impassive face as Sasuke was abused like nobody's business, with Itachi not holding back on him at all. Kisame saw this and grinned. "You don't seem to be too concerned about your teammate, Naruto-san."

Naruto had to bite back the instinctual response of that it was Sasuke's own stupidity that he was being beaten like that. Did he really think he was as strong as a Sannin, who were among the only few people in the world who could match Itachi? Instead, he replied, "Oh, I'm concerned all right. It's just that I don't wear my heart on my sleeve like that impulsive moron."

Sasuke grunted in pain as Itachi ruthlessly punished him. He could feel that his ribs were at least cracked, if not broken. His stomach felt like it was being crushed with each strike to it, and he was starting to see three Itachi's. He couldn't even cry out in pain as Itachi held him up against the wall by his throat.

' What is this difference? The gap between us is as large as ever. What the hell have I been doing all this while?!'

"Foolish little brother," Itachi's voice might have been a monotone and uncaring, but there was no mistaking that he scorned Sasuke in the moment. "You still don't have enough hate. You are pathetically weak. Perhaps you need something to refresh your purpose in life."

Naruto watched with a considerable amount of concern as Sasuke suddenly started screaming like there was no tomorrow. Kisame only chuckled without any sort of mercy. "As cruel as always. It seems he used Tsukuyomi on his little brother."

Naruto was just about to act when suddenly, Jiraiya raced through a series of hand signs beside him, slamming his hands onto the ground. Naruto watched in wonder as the entire hallway transformed, no, got covered in some sort of a fleshy substance. He watched as the flesh wrapped over Kisame's feet, causing the giant man to curse.

Jiraiya smirked. "Kuchiyose: Gamaguchi shibari. You two will made good food for the giant, fire-breathing rock frog." As he said it, fleshy tendrils erupted from the flesh and moved towards the cloaked nin to ensnare them. Naruto whistled in appreciation at the offensive and defensive power of the technique. It was not only capable of attacking whatever was inside it, but protecting as well, evident from the way Sasuke got swallowed behind a wall of flesh.

Neither of them saw Itachi close his eyes, but both of them felt the explosion that rocked the hallway.

' The fourth one today,' Naruto absently noted as he ran around the corner with Jiraiya, eyes going wide in surprise. Jiraiya cursed in shock- somehow, they were able to burn a hole through the organ of a frog that breathes fire, he realized.

"Fascinating," Naruto muttered as he observed the black flames, keeping a safe distance. He had never seen black flames before in his life. As far as he knew, white flames were the hottest, followed by the blue one and the yellow flame. Another interesting thing he observed was that unlike regular fire, this one kept on burning without showing any sign of getting extinguished.

He suddenly remembered that he had teammate who was attacked by a S-rank missing nin. He turned and headed to the spot where Sasuke was buried in the guts, leaving Jiraiya to seal the flames in a scroll.

After sealing the black fire, he cancelled the frog mouth jutsu with a heaving sigh. He returned to where Naruto was sitting before the Uchiha, seemingly examining him. The aforementioned Uchiha was pale, giving an absent look to the wall in front of him. It was as if he was asleep and conscious at the same time.

"Wow, he really didn't hold back on you at all, it seems," Naruto muttered in slight concern as his hands lightly brushed over Sasuke's chest area. The flinch told him all he needed to know. He lifted Sasuke's shirt, observing the impressive bruises forming on the boy's stomach and ribs. If what he heard was correct…

"Take small breaths. You don't want to aggravate your possibly broken ribs," Naruto advised him as he closely observed the pupils in Sasuke's eyes. With a sigh, he stood up.

"Ok, this is how it-" He was suddenly cut off when a kunai blazed past him, lodging itself into the wall. He watched in amusement as Jiraiya's face met a blue ninja sandal, the following body screaming out, "DYNAMIC ENTRY!"

Jiraiya flew with the kick, crashing into the opposite wall all the way down the hallway. Naruto shook his head with a resigned look. Wasn't he the one who preached how a shinobi should always mind his surroundings?

"Dammit Gai, what's wrong with you?!" Jiraiya growled out, rubbing his face to try and take away the sting. Gai wilted a little, bowing apologetically to Jiraiya.

"My apologies, Jiraiya-sama!" Gai shouted. Naruto reflected absently that all the man ever did was shouted. "I had come to retrieve Sasuke-kun, but it seems I mistook you for an enemy ninja." Here he looked sheepish, rubbing the back of his head and sweating slightly under Jiraiya's glare.

"Whatever. You came here to take the Uchiha right? Get the kid and go already, he needs to get that wrist looked at." Jiraiya said with a wave of his hand.

"Not just the wrist," Naruto said as he stood up. "He needs immediate medical attention for his cracked, possibly broken ribs, bruised stomach with possible internal bleeding, psychological damage and first degree concussion, in addition to the broken wrist," the last part was said while glaring at Jiraiya.

Jiraiya looked incredulously at Naruto along with Gai. "H-How can you possibly know about all of that?"

Naruto sighed and gave a look of boredom, "It's really not that hard. If you paid close attention to the beating he was getting, you would see it too. The broken wrist is obvious, the heavy bruises around his stomach area usually account for internal bleeding, but you never can be sure until proper examination. The cracked ribs are also obvious, I heard it. Don't know about them being broken though. Psychological damage is from the eye technique that Itachi seemingly used on Sasuke, for he suddenly started screaming, followed by transition into a semi-conscious state. The concussion is also obvious as well, for if you take a look at his pupils, one pupil is dilated a bit more than the other."

Jiraiya and Gai gaped at the thorough diagnosis. While not on a level of medic nin, Naruto's diagnosis was quite logical, now that Jiraiya thought about it. The way that Naruto said everything was obvious told a lot about the way Naruto was used to looking at life. Logical conclusion derived purely from observation- the kid was pretty damn good. He would make a pretty good spymaster, of not for his dream of being Hokage.

"… I think I should see to it that Sasuke-kun receives medical attention as soon as possible," Gai said as he tenderly picked Sasuke up. Moments like these- geniuses spouting off something- made him feel a bit awkward and inadequate. He then raced off, shouting off "Springtime" and "Youth". Naruto and Jiraiya sweat dropped at the man's excessive behaviors, before shrugging it off. Every ninja had their quirks; Gai was just a bit more unique than the others.

"So…..you know why those guys were after me?"

"Not you…..more like what's inside you," Jiraiya answered.

Naruto put a hand on his stomach, where Kurama's seal was. "Why?"

"At this point, I don't know. All that matters is, anyone who wants the power of bijuu that isn't a jinchuriki isn't up to any good," Jiraiya explained, sighing heavily.

' Looks like we'll have to be careful around those guys, don't we Kurama?'

' Indeed. We can never be too careful, even if your seal is one of the strongest in existence,' Kurama replied.

Naruto patted his stomach, 'I doubt anyone has the key to open this seal.'

Turning to Jiraiya, he said, "We should leave, don't you think?"

A nod, and they both gathered their belongings, after which Jiraiya shunshined them right outside the town. They resumed their walking in silence, each thinking about what happened back there. Jiraiya tried to think about what the Akatsuki would need all the bijuu for, while Naruto thought about a possible addition to his Hiraishin. Namely, how he could summon anything that was marked by him.

"So, what does your teammate look like?"

The question snapped Jiraiya out of his thoughts as he looked over to the blonde beside him. Seeing his questioning look, Naruto elaborated, "If she's your teammate, she obviously must be pretty old, right?"

Jiraiya snorted in agreement. "Well, Tsunade's pretty vain, you see. She's addicted to gambling, but her luck is so bad that she is known as the legendary sucker. On top of that, she has a habit of taking money from moneylenders and never returning it. So she's almost always on the run."

He rummaged in his vest for a picture of what she looked like now while Naruto shook his head in mild disgust. "She sounds like a kleptomaniac and a coward."

Jiraiya paused in his search to give a harsh glare. "Watch it!"

This time, Naruto didn't back down as he glared back. "Why? Is the truth so hard to hear? A kleptomaniac is a person who cannot help but steal for personal use or financial gain. Seeing as she steals money only to gamble it away, she certainly classifies as one. And she's a goddamn coward because she is always running away from her problems, instead of facing them! In the words of her grandfather, the Shodai Hokage, a shinobi is the one who endures! What you have told me, she is a disgrace to the title of shinobi, let alone Hokage!"

His danger sense rang true as he ducked beneath the punch that would have broken his jaw, and caught the left roundhouse to his right temple. He matched the glare of his godfather in ferocity. "Reality is hard to accept, isn't it?"

Naruto could feel the waves of malice coming from Jiraiya. They both were locked in a glaring match until Jiraiya dropped the glare and sighed heavily. He started walking again, with Naruto following behind him shortly. Silence rang for a few minutes, until Naruto broke it.

"I won't apologize for speaking out the truth."

"I wasn't going to ask you to."

The reply made him look at the older man in surprise, and for the first time time, Naruto saw sadness on the usually jovial man's face. "Everything you said is true, in a way. I knew it long before you said it, I just didn't want to say it out loud," he shrugged, "But can you blame me? I am biased for I am her former teammate."

He smirked softly, "Your pragmatism astounds me, Naruto. Then again, given the way you have lived, I should have expected that."

Naruto shrugged, putting his hands in his pocket. "I had no other option but to face whatever was in front of me. There was simply no way I was going to give up on a dream that I knew I could accomplish."

Jiraiya nodded as he finally found the picture. "Here's your answer to your earlier question."

Naruto took the picture and felt his eyes bulge out. " Holy….Shit. There's no way she's above fifty and this hot." He gaped at the picture, dragging his eyes back to Jiraiya's knowing smirk.

"This has to be a genjutsu, right?"

Jiraiya nodded, "Permanent one, I have to point out. She is on run, after all."

Naruto handed the picture back, "So, where do you think she is?"

"I don't know."

The response earned him a look of deadpan from his godson. Feeling stupid, he hurriedly explained, "We have to go to the next town to pick up more information. After that, I'll give you the training I promised to you."

Naruto folded his arms, "Can I start the jutsu training at least?"

Jiraiya thought about it. The jutsu did have three steps to be completed and none of them were easy. He supposed it wouldn't be too bad to give Naruto a head start.

"Fine." He then took out the water balloons from his backpack. "We're going to use these."

Naruto gave a wary look to the man, "You're not making fun of me, right? This is a real jutsu?"

Jiraiya bonked him on the head, "Baka! The real jutsu comes after you master the basics! Now watch closely!"

Naruto carefully observed what it Jiraiya was doing, his senses active. But he didn't sense anything, at least not in the beginning. His eyes narrowed as the balloon was poked outwards in several directions at the same time, making it burst in the man's hand. Jiraiya smirked at the thoughtful look on his apprentice's face. No doubt, he was trying to figure out what happened.

"Now you try it." He tossed a water balloon to Naruto, who held it thoughtfully. The next fifteen minutes were very peaceful for Jiraiya as he began thinking on how to convince Tsunade to return to Konoha, willingly, without blackmail. A bit harder than it sounded, but he was confident he would find a way. After all, he had insurance in the name of Uzumaki Naruto, who-

"Got it." The words so nonchalantly spoken brought Jiraiya out of his thoughts. Wide eyed, he turned to see Naruto still holding the balloon, intact. His face quickly gave way to annoyance. "How exactly have you 'got it'?"

Naruto looked up from the balloon to say the annoyed face. "What? I said I got how you popped the balloon. Not that I have popped it already."

Jiraiya folded his arms. "Tell me."

Naruto shrugged, "If you insist. You rotated the chakra in your palm in multiple directions. The high number of rotations of water happening at the same time increased the pressure inside the balloon to the point it becomes too much and it pops."

Jiraiya simply stared at Naruto in disbelief. In only fifteen minutes, this boy had figured out the first step of the jutsu and explained it as if he was answering a question in a class. But the theory by itself isn't enough. "Alright, your theory is correct. But will you be able to apply it, now that you know it?"

Naruto smirked, "Nothing is impossible, ero-sennin. I may haven't told you yet, but I don't have a chakra network. Which means, I have a direct control on my chakra instead of controlling it through chakra coils. Whatever you can do, I can do better."

The water started swirling in multiple directions, just like Jiraiya's, in the balloon until it finally popped after five seconds. Naruto held out a hand to a gaping Jiraiya, "Can I have some more?"

He spent the next hour popping water balloons with the other hand and sometimes, both hands. It was fun, and it kept him entertained. Not to mention, it was good training. After popping the balloon, he focused on how quickly he could pop them. He managed to get the time down to one second, making him grin. He finally looked at Jiraiya.

"What's next?"

Turns out, it was a rubber ball. And, it was definitely harder to pop than the water balloon, considering there was only air inside and the rubber shell was thicker than a balloon. The theory of the first step certainly didn't work for the second step, and Naruto carefully kept his face free of emotions, for he absolutely refused to give the smirking sage the satisfaction of knowing just how frustrated he was. His genius was baffled to a previously, unreached degree.

They passed and stopped in several towns over the course of the next few days. One time, Jiraiya tried to con him for his money so he could visit a brothel.

Flashback

Naruto and Jiraiya smiled as they looked over the bustling crowd in the marketplace. "Looks like a festival is going on, doesn't it?"

" It's a pretty famous one, if I remember correctly."

Naruto stretched and bounced the rubber ball in his hands. He still hadn't popped it, to his immense frustration. "Then would you mind if I look around a bit?"

Jiraiya waved his hand, "Go on, kid."

Naruto smiled and took out his wallet. He long suspected that the frog wallet was given to him by Jiraiya, but he figured the man would get flustered if he called him out on it. The wallet was full of money, and Jiraiya was quick to spot it.

" Oh, it looks like you are rich!"

Naruto internally smirked. The man had no idea just how rich he was, without counting the inheritance from both of his clans. However, he watched in bewilderment as the wallet suddenly disappeared from his hands. He gave a quizzical look to Jiraiya, who put the wallet in his robes.

" What the hell, ero-sennin?!"

" Don't worry, Naruto. I'll watch over it for you. After all you're just looking around, aren't you? See you at the village gates in the evening, and take care of my stuff while you're at it."

Naruto caught the bag and watched curiously as the man strutted away. He smirked as the slung the bag on and took out his real one. "I wonder how long it takes for him to realize there is just paper money in there."

Flashback end

Turns out, Jiraiya didn't find out until he had finished his time at the brothel .When it came to pay, it was then he realized that the money he was holding wasn't real money, just paper. He had to be from his own pocket, to his immense regret. Naruto watched in amusement as Jiraiya proceeded to glare at him for the next three days. He never took his wallet again, though. However, it was during his usual bar rounds on which he was finally able to pin Tsunade down.

Turns out, that Tanzaku town is having a big festival. The town was already a tourist place with its hot springs, theatres and not to mention casinos.

So it confused Naruto that they started moving even slower than before. "Shouldn't we hurry up and catch her in Tanzaku before she gets away?"

Jiraiya grinned at Naruto, "If we do that, she would know for sure that we're there for her and she'll bolt. We can't spook her just yet, so we'll get there a couple days after her and make it look like we just happened to run into each other. See?"

Naruto shook his head, "No, but I'm sure I will in sometime."

"Putting Tsunade aside, how's the rubber ball coming? It's been nineteen days."

Naruto released a breath, "I have a question for you instead."

Jiraiya frowned, "Ok, shoot."

" What….just what am I supposed to ultimately achieve?"

Jiraiya chuckled with a grin, "I was wondering when you'd ask that." "Come on, let's go over to that tree over there!" He led Naruto to over a sizeable tree on the side of the road.

"Watch my hand, alright?" He requested, left hand held up. Naruto watched, amazed, as the chakra swirled and thickened, forming a swirling, spiraling sphere. He could feel the slightest sensation of wind coming from the spinning, visible ball of chakra. Jiraiya's hand reared back and then with great force, he thrust it into the tree's trunk. Naruto was disappointed to see that when the jutsu dispelled, there was only a small, but deep gash in the tree trunk.

"That's it?"

Jiraiya, as if he had read his thoughts, smirked and pointed to the tree, "Look behind it."

Naruto moved around to view the back of the tree and whistled at the sight. The back of the tree had completely exploded outwards. It as a wonder the tree was still standing. "Ok, that is impressive." He tapped the bark of the tree lightly, and watched with eyebrows raised as the tree completely fell.

He turned to Jiraiya in excitement, "Who made it?"

The wickedly grinning sage said, "Your father, of course."

Naruto smiled softly in pride, still admiring the aftereffects of the jutsu. "Tou-san, huh? I guess I shouldn't be amazed. Tou-san was pretty amazing after all."

"Pretty amazing doesn't even cover it. But it took him almost three years to create this. I wonder how long will it take you to master this?" Jiraiya challenged.

Naruto smirked, "Now that I know what to do now, no time at all." With that, he went at the ball with renewed vigor.

One hour later, he popped the ball. He finally figured out the trick behind the second step.

The second step involved power. He had to increase, concentrate the volume and density of his chakra inside the ball, increase the pressure so much that the ball burst. It took him a fair amount of concentration to do it, but once he had the gist of how he had to do it, he began popping the remaining balls just like water balloons- with the other hand and with both hands together. The result was that his hands started trembling uncontrollably from the overuse of chakra. Naruto had almost panicked had Jiraiya not explained it to him that he probably hadn't used his chakra from his hands before in this way, so it was a process of getting used to it. He had to grow past the pain threshold if he was to perfectly use the rasengan.

The next day, they arrived in Tanzaku town. Jiraiya told him that he would explain the third and the last step of the jutsu once they were in their hotel room. For the present, they were just enjoying the sights, when Naruto suddenly asked an unusual question.

"Ero-sennin, how good are you at gambling?"

Jiraiya blinked at the random query, but answered nonetheless, "I'm not particularly bad at it, if that's what you are asking."

Naruto nodded, "Good. Then-"

He was cut off when people suddenly started running in the opposite direction of where they were facing. He muttered with narrowed eyes as he sensed a high influx of chakra. "What the hell?"

Jiraiya suddenly took off, forcing Naruto to follow him. Naruto followed as well, both heading towards the massive source of chakra, to the castle on top of a hill. Arriving there, they gaped at the level of destruction. Walls were crumbled to dust and debris, holes and gashes in the ground leading the two to believe either someone was murdered or there was a massive battle.

"Looks like our snake friend met up with Tsunade," Jiraiya surmised, looking around the scene.

"Orochimaru?" Naruto muttered, looking around for some sort of clue. It seemed reasonable as he had burnt off his arms. Why he didn't just sprout another body from his mouth instead of looking for Tsunade was beyond Naruto.

"Let's give her some time to cool off. Naruto, the third step to the rasengan is combining the first two. See you around!" And then he was gone in a swirl of leaves. Naruto glared at the spot, before sighing.

"I guess I should have expected that."

"Orochimaru-sama, I still don't understand why we came here to talk to Tsunade. You could have simply sprouted a new body to heal them." Kabuto commented as he sat by his master.

Orochimaru smiled with a wicked glint in his eyes as he looked down at his completely burnt hands. It was only because of high tolerance of pain he had built over the years that he wasn't screaming. "There are many things you have yet to learn, Kabuto. I did not shred my skin because Tsunade has a jutsu that I need."

"A jutsu?"

Golden slitted eyes twinkled dangerously, "Yes. One that can heal any injury. One that has the potential to bring back people from the dead."

Naruto spent the rest of the day until evening in their hotel room, trying to combine the two steps. He made a startling and a very pleasant discovery that it was not very difficult like the previous step. Here he was now, panting lightly as he gazed with pride at the ball of spinning chakra between his hands. He had done it! He had actually done it! He could feel the power in the rasengan, and it was enough to destroy someone's guts in a matter of seconds.

He released the hold on his chakra, causing the rasengan to dissipate. He leaned back against the tree, feeling a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. It had taken him a total of twenty days to learn his father's most prized jutsu!

"Finally! Now I can begin to master it!" He breathed out. He frowned as he thought of his father. The man was legendary, known for his speed and rasengan. It must take him only an instant to form it, with one hand. Right, Naruto needed ten seconds and both hands to form it. "Man, this is going to take a while.

He trained for another hour, and managed to bring the time down to three seconds. A big improvement, but still done with two hands. He figured that if he learned to instantly form it with two hands, doing it with one hand might become easier. Of course, at one point, the idea of using shadow clones to hasten the process had come to mind, but was immediately discarded. His father had taken three years to create the jutsu and master it all by himself. It would be cheap and insulting his memory if he used an easy way out.

He was about to try again when he heard the voice. "That was very good, Naruto!"

Naruto looked up to see Jiraiya sitting on the windowsill, grinning. He smirked, "Thanks. Took me the whole day to get to where I am."

Jiraiya came in and ruffled his hair. "You managed to master the rasengan in twenty days! This is ridiculous and all kinds of absurd! Even I took seven months to learn it! You really are a genius, kid!"

Naruto frowned and shook his head, " Learn, not master, ero-sennin. Master is when I am able to form it with one hand in an instant," he emphasized by snapping his fingers.

Jiraiya stared at him and asked, "You are a perfectionist when it comes to jutsu, aren't you?"

Naruto shrugged and got up, "I have to, to make sure I don't waste chakra while using it." He put on his jacket and zipped it up. While tying his sash around his forehead, he turned to a bewildered Jiraiya.

"What are you doing?"

Naruto paused momentarily, "I think we've given enough time for Tsunade to cool down, haven't we?"

Jiraiya's expression turned into one that told Naruto he had actually forgotten what they came here to do. "Yeah, let's go!"

Omake

Naruto and Jiraiya entered the gambling den. According to Jiraiya, this is where they would find the most information concerning Tsunade's whereabouts. They would start early next morning, make the two hour walk to Tanzaku. Jiraiya made his way towards a gambler with Naruto following, holding a rubber ball. Even though he had popped the ball hours earlier, it was fun to play with. At least his hands had something to do.

Jiraiya held up a picture of Tsunade, the same one he had shown to Naruto. "Have you seen this woman?"

The gambler, one with an afro style of hair, looked at the photo closely before making a sound of realization, "I have indeed. She said she was heading 'there' to win back her losses."

Jiraiya made a perplexed face, "What do you mean, 'there'?"

The gambler smirked, "Tell you what, why don't we trade. If you win, I'll tell you where she is for free. If I win, you'll have to pay a 1000 ryo for the info. What do you say?"

Naruto had a bad feeling about this, but he couldn't say the same for Jiraiya. "Alright!" Jiraiya sat down, apparently about to enjoy the little gamble he just walked into. Naruto rolled the rubber ball in his hand thoughtfully. The gambler wasn't suffering any loss by giving them the information. They were the ones looking for Tsunade, not him. On the other hand, they would lose a 1000 ryo if Jiraiya lost. Either way, it was the gambler's victory.

He would have to be vigilant.

The gambler shook the opaque glass with the dice in it and slammed it down, bottoms up. "Choose. Chou, or Han!"

Jiraiya made a thoughtful sound as he gazed at the glass. After a moment of thinking, he smirked and slammed his hand on the floor. "Chou!"

The gambler smirked in return, "If it's Han, it's my victory."

Naruto activated his danger sense, the perception slowing down for him. He peeked at the dice the moment the glass was lifted. And lo, his instincts ran true.

Jiraiya was about to lose a 1000 ryo.

Chakra swirled inside the rubber ball in the span of an instant. Naruto purposely overloaded it, for instead of the normal pop, it exploded with air that was compressed in high amounts. It easily knocked over the gambler in front of them and the other one in the room, who was playing with some other guy.

Jiraiya seemed to not notice it at all, for he was mournfully muttering. "A 1000 ryo…"

Naruto nudged his master, nodding the man to look at the dice. Jiraiya blinked when he saw that the dice had suddenly changed from Han to Chou, which meant he won. The gambler got up and groaned. "What the hell was that?!"

"Oh damn," Naruto mock scowled while gazing at his hand, "Looks like I used too much power again."

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at that. He knew Naruto had perfectly popped the ball over twenty times, so he shouldn't be making any mistakes now. Unless….

He smirked when he realized what had happened. Naruto had deliberately overloaded the ball causing it to explode rather than pop. He saw Naruto giving him a discrete wink. Turning to the gambler, he said with no small amount of smugness, "Looks like I win."

Grumbling, the gambler had no choice but to give them the information. As they were about to leave, Naruto nudged Jiraiya. "Hey, can I try that too?"

Jiraiya blinked, "You want to try gambling?"

Naruto nodded resolutely, "Yeah!"

Jiraiya smirked, "Then go ahead. We can wait for another hour. Let's see how much money you can make or lose."

Naruto grinned happily as he sat down before an empty dealer. "Deal me in!"

Jiraiya's smirk was soon lost when Naruto bet the double amount of what the gambler had demanded from him. He tried to warn him, "Naruto, that's too much!"

He received no reply as Naruto engaged the dealer in a game of high card. And he won.

Five times in a row.

Jiraiya and everyone else in the room were now gaping at Naruto, who was happily counting the 20,000 ryo he just made. With each victory, he increased the bet until the last one, the dealer was literally in tears from losing so much. Naruto put the money in his backpack and got up, bowing respectfully. "Thank you for the game."

Jiraiya was grinning like a fool as he slung his arm around Naruto, "Who knew you had your mother's luck in gambling, Naruto!"

Naruto blinked up at him, "Not my dad's?"

Jiraiya replied, "For all his smarts, your dad sucked at gambling."

"WAIT!"

The two shinobi halted, turning around to see the same gambler who had played with Jiraiya. He was holding up two dices while smirking. "How about a last game before you go?"

Naruto and Jiraiya looked at each other, then looked back, both of them smirking. Naruto challenged, "Haven't you lost enough for one day?"

The gambler kept on smirking, "I intend to win it all back, with interest."

Now both of them could have easily declined and walked away, but Naruto whispered to Jiraiya, "He seems quite confident that he could win. Could it be that he would use faulty dice?"

Jiraiya whispered back, "There's a solution to that as well." Out loud, he said, "Fine! One last game before we go!"

Naruto walked over to the gambler sitting down in front of him. He noticed that the others were also standing around them, watching closely. He mentally cursed- his chances of cheating just went down drastically, with all the attention that was upon them.

"So, shall we begin?"

"Wait!" Both Naruto and the gambler looked over to Jiraiya, who was holding up a pair of dice of his own. "Do you mind using this one instead of yours?"

The gambler scoffed, "If this is your attempt at cheating, then it's beyond pathetic, old man."

Jiraiya was not offended at all, "It's not that, actually. There's a chance that you might be cheating with your dice, but there's also a chance that we might be cheating as well." Naruto had to give credit to the guy; he gave no outward sign to the statement of lying. "So how about we use the dice of a neutral party, huh?"

The gambler asked, "Whose dice is that, old man?"

Jiraiya nodded to the other gambler, "His."

The other gambler's eyes widened as he whipped over to look at his table. His dice wasn't there! The old man must have picked it up, he realized. Looking back, he gulped and nodded at the other gambler.

The gambler lazily turned towards the two, but he was mentally cursing on losing his chance at using his other dice. His dice always assured him of his victory. If he denied now, he might get caught. He had no choice but to agree.

"Fine."

Naruto asked, "What's the bet?"

The gambler smirked, "If you lose, you return all the money that you won from us."

Naruto smirked back, "What happened to interest?"

It looked like his theory was right after all. He was prepared to cheat his way out.

The gambler smoothly returned, "I suppose I can waive that. After all, you guys have been most entertaining."

"And if you lose, you will give me double the amount."

The crowd around them broke into excited whispers at that. Jiraiya had to hand it to Naruto- the kid had balls of steel, that was for sure. The gambler gulped, "Don't you think that's taking it to a bit too far?"

Naruto shrugged and made a motion to get up, "You were the one who wants to play. That's my bet, take it or leave it." The gambler considered this heavily. On one hand, he could go the safe road and leave it, saving the gambling house a potential loss of 40,000 ryo. If this kid won, they would go bankrupt and, be the laughingstock of the town. If he won, they would be back in normal business.

Ultimately, lure of the risk of gambling won out.

He took the dice from Jiraiya and rolled it in his glass, slamming it on the ground. "Choose! Chou, or Han!"

Naruto did not even look at the glass, staring the gambler right in the eyes. "Han!"

The crowd leaned over each other, almost falling over in the process to see what the result was. Jiraiya and Naruto leaned over in anticipation as well…..

"How can you be grinning?"

Naruto grinned as he comfortably laid on the bed. "Because I won?"

Jiraiya snorted, "You singlehandedly put them out of business, brat. How can you even sleep after tonight?"

Naruto closed his eyes, "Like a baby, old man."

"You better not let Tsunade know of your insane luck. She won't let you leave her side when she goes gambling."

Naruto snorted in amusement, "I don't intend to."