Return of the Flash by Kamikaze132

Chapter 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.