Emergency Situation

Two days had passed since Naruto defeated Gaara of the Desert, Orochimaru killed the Third Hokage and since the Sound evaded the Leaf. The Leaf was in turmoil, the amount of destruction and the casualties that came along with it wasn't much, but it was painful for the village to see such losses, especially the one of the Third, but he died doing what he loved.

The Civilian Council and the Military Council were currently in a meeting. A new Hokage had to be chosen before things got out to the other villages and they plot their own attacks. A Hokage needed to be chosen to rally the Leaf and now especially the jonin's had to work hard in order to bring in more money to the village.

"I am in support of Danzo here. A new Hokage needs to be elected as soon as possible."

"Who do you have in mind?" the Fire Daimyo asked.

"If I may interject," a man said as he got up. An x laced across his jaw and bandage around a part of his face were his major defining features. Danzo Shimura. A man who has been ambitious of the Hokage name for a long, long time.

"I would like to nominate myself for the position of the Hokage."

This didn't even come as a surprise because everyone knew that Danzo had ambitions on becoming the Hokage for his own "personal reasons".

"I highly disagree with that," a man with a scared face said calmly from his seat.

"And why is that Shikaku-san?" Danzo asked the man.

Everyone was slightly tensed up because Danzo's tone just changed albeit slightly. They knew that Danzo was good at reading the mood and that he could perfectly control his emotions. It appeared as though he wanted to purposely rile up Shikaku.

"Daimyo-sama, while Danzo-sama is a highly capable shinobi. His ways are not fit for ruling the village. He is not as caring as a leader should be…"

"That is the kind of Shinobi the Leaf needs right now," Danzo said before Shikaku could continue further. "The village has long been led by the Third's idiosyncrasies and it is in dire need of change. Look what his philosophy cost him, his life and by his former student no less. The Leaf has no need for such weak-willed people. The Leaf needs someone strong."

"And are you the only possible solution."

Danzo arched an eyebrow but he knew where the situation was headed in.

"And who might be your suggestion," one of the Daimyo's escorts asked Shikaku.

"Jiraiya-sama," were the words that came out of his mouth and it greatly pleased the majority present in the room. The man in question stood up.

"So what do you say Jiraiya-san?" the Daimyo asked him. "Definitely as one of the Legendary Sannin and the teacher of the Fourth Hokage, you should be more than capable of taking on the role."

"While I am pleased… I am not the man for the job." Jiraiya paused but Danzo interjected before he could continue.

"He refuses Da-"

"I wasn't finished. I may not be the man for the job but I do know of who is skilled enough for the job." The doors opened and a beautiful young looking lady walked in. She wore a confident face and every stride of hers was taken as though she had the strength to beat anyone in front of her.

"Tsunade-sama," Shikaku said quite shocked and so was everyone. He had no idea that Jiraiya had this kind of plan in mind.

"I know her," the Daimyo said. "She's the granddaughter of the First Hokage and also one of the Legendary Sannin. This should be easy enough. Sh" He hid his face behind his fan as he noticed Danzo's expression.

"You all are still going ahead with this Third Hokage ideology. It will cost this village and when it does don't come crawling back."

"Oh can it Danzo-sama," Tsunade said with a smirk. "Are you afraid that I'll gamble away the village's assets? I assure you that that won't happen. I also happen to be the greatest healer in the world… the village needs me."

Jiraiya took this moment to glance at Shikaku. 'To think that he was planning on nominating me. Thank God I had prepared this plan beforehand.'

-Flashback: The Previous Day-

"To think that you were hiding here, Tsunade."

"How'd you find me Jiraiya!" Tsunade almost screamed as she reprimanded the white-haired man.

"I have my ways," Jiraiya said as he walked into her residence. "Before we get on with any formalities, the Old Man is dead."

Tsunade paused for some time before she scoffed. "While I find that hard to believe, I guess his old age finally caught up to him. How'd he die?"

"To think that you'd even ask the cause of his death… you must be getting soft Tsunade."

She glared at him but didn't say anything as she waited for an answer to her question.

"He died doing what he loved. He fell to Orochimaru after he invaded the village."

"So Orochimaru's pursued power to this extent. In the end, the village became his undoing."

Jiraiya knew where she was headed with this statement all too well and he wanted to avoid it.

"The Leaf will soon discuss the election of a new Hokage…"

"Don't tell me that…"

"The Leaf needs you."

Tsunade laughed… a hard one. "The Leaf has no need for me and I it. I left the village all those years ago, what use would it be going back to it now. Times have changed. I have a life now."

"I'd hardly call this," he pointed at her. "… a life. Gambling and losing money. Making a name as the Legendary Sucker… I doubt that your little protégé is happy with you."

Tsunade was shocked twice by Jiraiya. "How'd you know about that and Shizune."

"Ah… so that's her name. Shizune. I already told you not to underestimate my information gathering skills." He brought out a scroll and unsealed the contents within. A sake bottle and two flat cups came out.

"You plan on getting me drunk enough to accept the proposal."

"Far from it," he said with a chuckle. "It's been years since we had a drink like this and if I remember correctly, you always used to like drinking or did it also change?"

"Far from it," Tsunade said as she took the bottle and poured herself a drink.

"Not even checking to see if it was drugged or anything… you really have changed."

"I haven't changed. It's just that you wouldn't be able to hurt me. Never have been, never will be. So, while I am still like this, make your proposal and I will tell you if I am interested."

Jiraiya took a deep breath as he steeled his resolve for what he was about to do to her.

"Dan and Kawaki, two people you loved, killed before your very eyes. You turned your back on the village and left with that as your main reason for defection. Blood became your biggest fear and the battlefield became your deepest hate."

"Get to the point before I change my mind." She was pissed at what just came out of his mind and if it wasn't for the bottle of sake she would have downright attacked him.

"Uzumaki Naruto…"

"Who's that?"

"My student and son of the Fourth."

Tsunade paused. Minato's brat and it appeared that Jiraiya was training the boy.

"What of it?"

"I want to teach him the rasengan."

"So…"

"I bet you that he masters the rasengan in a week."

Tsunade spat out the sake in her mouth and began to laugh.

"What a stupid bet?"

Jiraiya didn't say anything. He just filled his cup and drank again as he arched an eyebrow at her. "So are you taking the bet?"

"Hardly… I doubt he masters it."

"So what then is the fear behind you not taking the bet?"

"What's in it for me?"

"We pay back all your gambling debts…" Jiraiya said it so casually that Tsunade couldn't help but be dumbfounded. She didn't know if she would believe him or she would just outright ignore him.

"You're kidding right?" she asked but she knew that the look on his face told a different story.

"I am not playing Tsunade," he said calmly. "I am dead serious."

She kept trying to read into his thoughts, but she couldn't come up with anything to not believe him outright. "Alright. I accept."

"Good… we leave right now."

"Why soon?"

"A council meeting would be held tomorrow and I don't want us to miss it. If we do, Danzo gets control over the village and it wouldn't bode well for anyone. Time is of the essence."

"One question though?" He turned to look at her and raised his eyebrow. He nodded at her, acknowledging the question. "How did you find me?"

Jiraiya guffawed. "You underestimate me Tsunade." And that was all he said.

-Flashback End-

"I still refuse to accept Tsunade as the candidate for Hokage," Danzo said. "I have the village at heart. Tsunade will just gamble away the funds."

"Aww… it's bad that you think that of me. At least I won't gamble away the lives of the villagers."

"Mind your words, Tsunade."

"I didn't say anything wrong, did I Danzo?"

There was silence in the room as both Tsunade and Danzo sized each other up. No one dared say a thing as both giants looked at each other. It was like that for some time before Tsunade spoke up.

"Care to make it interesting Danzo?"

"Can it Tsunade," Jiraiya whispered.

"What do you have in mind?"

"If I resign within the week then I rescind the title of Hokage to you."

"Tsunade," Jiraiya whispered again.

"That is not enough incentive for me to consider you for Hokage."

"Jiraiya and I will also denounce ourselves from the Leaf and plus we'll also give all intel that we have on us over to you. How's that sound?"

A loud gasp simultaneously escaped everyone's mouth. Losing Jiraiya would be a huge blow to the Leaf. Jiraiya was even shocked at how Tsunade had turned the situation on him and it looked like everything was now in his hands… or rather Naruto's hands. 'Sorry,' he mentally apologized to him.

"Fine," Danzo said as he sighed. "Daimyo-sama, is this fine by you?"

The Daimyo nodded, too scared to even speak up. After realizing that everyone was waiting for him, he cleared his throat. "Okay. I now appoint Tsunade Senju as the Fifth Hokage in accordance to the wager that was made today. If she resigns within the week, this position will fall to Danzo Shumura."

-Break­-

Tsunade, Shizune and Jiraiya were both quiet as they made their way to the Hokage's office. They were all smiles, greeting those they passed by and even the lady who was cleaning the office. As soon as they entered the office and shut the door though, it was an entirely different affair.

"What were you thinking Tsunade?"

"I just placed you in the same position you placed me."

Jiraiya was about to ask her the position that he placed her but he remembered the events of yesterday and he held back his tongue.

"You didn't even run the situation over by me?"

"Like there was a chance we would have thought that the events of this morning would have played out the way they did."

"I guess you have a point," Jiraiya said before turning around to leave the building.

"Where are you going?"

"To train my student… apparently someone just gave us even more pressure to deal with right now."

As he left Tsunade fell into the chair in her office.

"Tsunade-sama… is everything okay?"

"No Shizune. Despite the bet I had with Jiraiya, I still have to act as the interim Hokage until the bet falls short, and that means I have to see to the duties as the Hokage."

"And what duties are those?"

"First off," she said as she took a file from the desk and opened it. "Apparently there is a ninja who forcefully opened a gate despite having his tenketsu blocked off… am I reading this correctly?" Tsunade blinked. The Eight Gates were a forbidden technique that not many people were even aware of. To see that a genin no less could use it surprised Tsunade.

"Shizune," she said as she got up. "Let's go pay this genin a visit."

-Break-

Jiraiya was making way to the Training Ground that Team 7 usually used. He guessed that the boy might be there. Naruto definitely wasn't someone who spent time in the Hospital. The Nine Tails made his already fast recovery all the more faster.

He soon spotted the blond boy but he wasn't alone. There was a brown-haired boy standing next to him. If Jiraiya remembered correctly, his name was Konohamaru, the grandson of the Third Hokage.

"Naruto-ni," the boy called. "I am no longer sad." Tears were dropping from his eyes but he was trying his best to hold the tears back.

"Don't worry Konohamaru," Naruto said as he reassured the boy. "I'll look after you from now on. That's my promise to you."

"Okay," Konohamaru said as he wiped the tears off of his eyes.

"By the way," Naruto said as he grinned. "How's your progress with the shadow clone technique?"

Konohamaru smiled. "Watch me Naruto-ni." He made the seal as he crossed both fingers together. "Kage bunshin no jutsu."

A cloud of white smoke appeared and from it Naruto could make out a complete copy of Konohamaru.

Jiraiya was impressed. The kid was smart to have learned the shadow clone technique… No. Naruto was the impressive one in this scenario. Jiraiya found it hard to believe that a genin had taught an academy student the shadow clone technique. He may have just discovered a prodigy, even though he wasn't a genius like Minato was. The kid was gifted.

"Naruto," he said as he dropped right in their middle.

"Ah! Ero-sennin!" Naruto shouted. He was taken by surprise.

Konohamaru was wondering just who the huge white-haired man was.

"Can we talk in private?" he asked the blond.

"Ok," Naruto replied after thinking for some time. "Konohamaru… I'll meet you later."

Naruto watched the brown-haired child run of before turning to face Jiraiya.

"We don't have time on our hands Naruto. I am in big trouble."

"What trouble and what does it have to do with me?"

-Break-

"What?!" Naruto yelled as he backed away from Jiraiya. "How could you use me in a bet?"

"Naruto there was nothing else I could do."

"Why not bargain yourself instead?"

"It wouldn't have worked. She wouldn't have agreed with it either."

"Who the hell is she? Just because she is a sannin you all consider her as Hokage candidate."

"Not only that. She is the granddaughter of the first Hokage."

"And so what?"

"And so if you don't want the Leaf to have Danzo as Hokage you'd better agree with this."

Naruto pouted for some time before he stopped and huffed. "Fine. What kind of jutsu is it anyway?"

Jiraiya held out his hand and slowly chakra gathered around his palm and slowly formed a blue orb. The chakra was packed together and looked to be spinning wildly.

"The Rasengan. An A-rank jutsu that was created by the Fourth Hokage as the pinnacle of shape transformation." He stopped his explanation as he looked at Naruto. The boy was wide-eyed. Truth be told he had already willingly agreed to it since he heard the words A-rank. A jutsu like that would do wonders for him.

Jiraiya smiled. This would work out well for them. "The Rasengan is an extremely powerful jutsu," he said and slammed his hand into the ground, tearing at it and rending it apart before letting the attack dissipate.

"It is a technique that is only known to a handful of shinobi. Me, the Fourth Hokage and I'd rather you find out the last person by yourself."

"So!" Naruto said, excitement clear in his eyes. "How do we proceed?"

Jiraiya smirked. "The Rasengan is a jutsu that relies on three things and each of these three things is dependent on how finely tuned the chakra control of the user is. The first thing is Rotation." As Jiraiya said this, his chakra started to rotate slowly and started to pick up speed to the point where it looked like a small whirlpool under the user's control. Slowly, another small whirlpool begins to form contradictory to the first and another one and then another one, up until the point that Naruto lost count of how many had been created.

'I bet Sasuke would be able to see this.'

"The second thing is Power. What good is the rotation if there is no power." Jiraiya amped the power of the technique and Naruto could see the intensity increase as the density and volume of the chakra output increased.

"Woah!"

"And lastly, Containment." The odd irregular shape of the technique slowly began to be regulated as a separate sphere of chakra contained the technique within itself. Jiraiya slowly let the technique dissipate.

Jiraiya dug his hands into his pocket and brought out a sphere.

"A water balloon?"

"Yes. I want you to churn the water within this balloon until it pops."

"Easy as pie," Naruto said as he collected the water balloon and placed it in his right hand.

"Hold on," Jiraiya said as he held Naruto's hand and bent his head downward. In getting the rotation right, one's progress would be much smoother. "You are of the right rotation, meaning, you have to rotate your chakra towards your right. Your body spins your chakra towards your left so for this exercise, you need to spin your chakra opposite that of your body."

"How'd you know that I was right rotation?"

"Your hair. Your hair swirls in the right direction."

"Oh!" Naruto said in realization.

"I will be with you shortly," Jiraiya said as he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto blinked and then waved his disappearance off.

"Let's start."

-Break-

"Is this the place?" Tsunade asked Shizune who was holding a clipboard. She walked in and saw Might Guy sitting beside his student.

"Who are you?" he asked as he saw the two women.

"My name is Shizune and this," she said gesturing to Tsunade. "Is the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade of the Legendary Sannin."

"The Sannin…," Guy said as though he was trying to remember who she was. Suddenly his eyes brightened up. "Then you can fix him!" he shouted as he tried to hug her but she easily moved out of the way.

"I can't promise anything. Let me examine him first." She walked up to Lee who was seated quietly and she could notice the ray of hope in his eyes. She just hoped that this was the case.

She laid her hands on his back and poured her chakra into him to get a glimpse of what might have happened to him. What she saw shocked her. She removed her hands and turned to Guy.

"I am assuming you are his sensei," she said. Her voice was slightly low and seemed to carry something grave. He nodded. He was feeling slightly dreadful.

"I apologise, but this boy can never be a ninja again."

A dreadful silence engulfed the room. Shizune was shocked. This was the first time that she was hearing that Tsunade couldn't heal something. Lee couldn't move. His eyes just widened before drooping to the point that tears started streaming down them.

Tsunade didn't know what to say. She just walked out of the room with Shizune behind her.

"Tsunade-sama what was that about? Why can't that boy be a ninja again?"

"Shizune, I am also at a loss for words that I can't understand exactly what may have caused him so much damage. His chakra points are all damaged. It is as if he forcibly used a forbidden technique with severe repercussions. It is a miracle that he is still alive. Some of his organs are shattered in some areas and even though his body is trying to heal itself, there's only so much it can do. At most I can speed up his healing but it might use up all his energy and kill him if I try to heal his chakra points. The damage to them is too great." She sighed. What had Jiraiya gotten her into?

-Break-

"Fancy you'd want to visit your village. Is it because of your brother?"

"The Nine Tails Jinchuriki is in the village. While he is still young we need to catch him and to do that we will have to infiltrate the village."

"Ooh… and how do we get in without being spotted?"

The other man lifted his hat revealing a pair of sharingan. "Easy."

-Break-

"Sasuke," Sakura called as the dark-haired teen woke up. He had been discharged yesterday but he opted to stay in the Hospital to ensure that his chakra levels were back to normal.

"Sakura," he said as he sat up straight on his bed and made his way to the dressing area.

"Why are you still here?" she asked him.

"I wanted to make sure I had recovered properly," he said as he unconsciously rubbed the area he was bitten by Orochimaru. His body felt as though it had recovered completely and he was eager to get back to training.

She nodded and opened the door for him to make his way out. As she opened the door though, they were met with a one eyed, white-haired man.

"Glad to see you awake, Sasuke?"

"Kakashi."

"Sensei what are you doing here?"

"I came to pick up Sasuke. We have a lot of work to do." He paused and turned around to see them waiting for him to continue. "Tomorrow is the Third's funeral. The Leaf is in shambles on who to select as Hokage. An interim Hokage has been chosen but it was on the grounds of a little wager. Should Tsunade fail then Danzo would take over and Kakashi had to make sure his students were up to a suitable level.

They were on their way to the training grounds when they came across something really suspicious, or rather Kakashi sensed something rather suspicious.

His eyes peered inside Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto's favourite food canteen, and while he would have loved to get a meal before they began to train, he wanted to observe what he just saw. Black cloaks with a red spot on them. He thought back. Where exactly had he seen or rather heard something like that.

"Apparently they wore black cloaks with a blood red symbol that looked as though it was a cloud. They called themselves the Akatsuki."

His lone eye widened and when he turned to look at them, they were gone.

"I have to go," he said before disappearing in the cloud of smoke.

"Sensei!" Sakura shouted after him but he was already gone. She turned to look at Sasuke but the raven haired ninja was on the move, leaping from building to building.

Sakura puffed her cheek and screamed furiously. "What am I to do now?"

-Break-

"Have they started moving already?" Kakashi asked himself as he leapt. They were headed towards one of the training grounds.

"So he must be Kakashi of the Sharingan. He seems pretty capable."

"Of course. He was my senior in the ANBU and despite not being of the Uchiha blood, he wields the sharingan rather proficiently."

"Samehada and I would like to dice him up."

It didn't take long before they arrived at the training ground. Before they could make any plans as to how they would proceed, Kakashi dropped down in front of them. His lone eye was not one of someone that was surprised but rather of someone that was slightly confused.

He looked at the two ninja in front of him. He didn't recognize the first one but the second one was a dead giveaway, especially with the pair of red eyes.

"Uchiha Itachi," he said as he looked at them.

"Kakashi-san," Itachi said as he looked straight into his former senpai's eye. "Why did you follow us?"

"You know. Even until this day, I find it hard to believe that you were the one who wiped out the Uchiha clan."

"You won't understand Kakashi-san. Somethings are of much importance than the clan. Leave."

"Why are you here?"

"He asks a lot of questions… I should take care of him."

"No Kisame. We are here just for the Nine Tails Jinchuriki, not to leave corpses in our wake."

"What are you planning?"

"Nothing that should interest you." Itachi paused slightly. "Where is the Nine Tails Jinchuriki?"

"Nothing that should interest you," Kakashi retorted as he took out a kunai. He noticed that the atmosphere was getting tense.

"Do you really think that you will be able to take on the both of us?"

"I won't know if I don't try."

-Break-

Sasuke was still jumping from rooftop to rooftop. He was able to see the trail of their chakra with his sharingan and he fairly deduced that they may perhaps be heading towards one of the training grounds.

It took a while before he got to where they were. As at the moment before they left, he had noticed Kakashi look at them with something that was akin to realization and one of the presences felt distantly familiar to him, but what he saw was not what he expected.

He instinctively unsealed the Executioner's Blade and swung downwards.

"My, my," Kisame said as he jumped back avoiding the sword strike. "What a feisty one?"

"Sasuke. What are you doing here?"

"I sensed something amiss and decided to follow you."

"You should not have done that," Kakashi reprimanded him but the Last Uchiha didn't bother defending himself.

"Who are they?"

Before Kakashi could respond, a voice spoke out. "How you've grown Sasuke."

Everything in Sasuke's mind went blank as he saw the man in front of him. The man who killed his entire clan and spared only him, claiming to measure up only his capacity. His older brother and the prodigy of the Uchiha clan. Uchiha Itachi.

As his eyes met his brother's, he saw red… literally. His sharingan spun to life and before he knew it, the blade in his hands began to crackle with lightning.

"Ho ho. What did you do to him to make him hate you so much? I agree you killed the clan but still, it's a little too much."

Sasuke dashed forward and Kakashi tried to restrain him but Kisame had other plans. He swung the Samehada at Kakashi who blocked with his kunai and leapt backward because of the force.

"I'll kill you!" Sasuke roared as he swung the blade. Itachi stood unmoving as the blade cleaved through him, him disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

A hand grabbed Sasuke by the throat and another held his left hand before slamming him face first into the dirt. "You are not worth my time," Itachi said as he snapped his wrist. "The Nine Tails Jinchuriki is your friend. I am here for him and if you don't have enough hate to stop me, then I will kill him." With a swift smack, Sasuke was knocked out.

Itachi turned around in time to see Guy appear and push back Kisame.

"Guy, what are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious? I am coming to the rescue of my eternal rival." He shuffled his feet before taking on a stance.

"Guy, you're up against the sharingan. Don't look him in the eyes."

"Of course I know that. Years of sparring with you have honed my instincts. I just have to not look him in the eyes to not get trapped in a genjutsu."

Itachi was emotionless as his the tomoe in his eyes spun until they got connected together. Kakashi's face showed one of horror as he hurriedly whipped out his own sharingan.

"Your petty taijutsu is fodder in the presence of my mangekyou sharingan," Itachi said as he focused with his left eye.

It didn't take long before Guy heard a thud beside him. He opened his eyes to see Kakashi sprawled on the ground.