Natsumi Uzumaki

Tsunade Senju Part I

Autumn was approaching later than usual in Hi no Kuni.

It was that time of the year when the vistas were only just staring to adapt to the climate change and the weather got noticeably chillier and the sun was going down earlier than it did during the summer.

Wind bellowed leafs past Natsumi and Jiraiya as they walked down the dirt road in the countryside forestry for what seemed hours on end, embarked on a quest to retrieve none other than the legendary kunoichi, Senju Tsunade, granddaughter of the Shodai Hokage and quite possibly the only person in the world that could save Sarutobi Hiruzen.

So where did you say we were going again?" Natsumi asked, detaching her canteen from her utility belt and taking a sip of refreshing water.

They had been travelling for Twelve days now, journeying from town to town, city to city, in search of Tsunade the Slug Sannin, said to be the greatest healer in the world

"Just keep doing that exercise I showed you," Jiraiya told him, not particularly answering his question and chucking a water balloon over his shoulder.

Natsumi frowned, but deftly caught the water balloon in her free hand and gripped onto it. "What kind of chakra control exercise is this anyway? I've been trying for days but the damn thing won't pop. Can't I just use clones to do it for me? It'd sure as hell cut down the time process."

"No," Jiraiya replied sternly as he had done so many times before when posed with the question. "Now get cracking, we still got a long way ahead of us."

You know, this isn't like anything I expected when you told me you were going to be teaching me stuff," Natsumi complained as she channelled his chakra into the water balloon, willing it to burst.

It was much harder than it sound, popping a water balloon with chakra, and though Jiraiya had yet to tell him what this chakra exercise was for, Natsumi persevered, intent on finding it out on her own.

Had nothing but time to kill anyway, as they journeyed to their destinations on foot. "My team is going to be pissed at me when I get back. I don't think they know what happened to me. Then again, why would they know? You said this was a secret A-ranked mission, didn't you?" Natsumi didn't know why retrieving a Hokage candidate wasn't an S-ranked mission.

Jiraiya didn't respond and kept walking. Natsumi would've liked nothing better than to pelt Jiraiya with the water balloon but she had been given the impression this exercise was too important for him to wasting the balloons on such childish escapades, and so the young jinchūriki continued to channel chakra through the balloon and tried to manipulate the water inside of the balloon to explode.

"Try spinning," Jiraiya suggested after a while.

"Spinning?" Natsumi repeated. "Alright…" Natsumi conceded after another moment of silence.

She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath as dhe fine exercised as much possible control over her chakra as she channelled it into the balloon. 'Spin… spin… SPIN, damn it!'

Natsumi almost jumped as she felt the water spin in the water balloon rapidly. "I did it- I mean, I'm doing it!" Natsumi hadn't expected to be this excited over achieving some progression but he was. "Now to up the chakra output…"

With a snapping sound the water balloon burst and Natsumi's right hand felt wet. "Hell yeah, it worked!" He punched the air and Jiraiya shot him an approving smile over his shoulder. "So what now, Ero-Sennin

Just keep practicing," Jiraiya threw another water balloon over his shoulder, "And stop calling me that, you're cramping my style."

"What style?" Natsumi mocked. "Perving on girls less than half your age? Right, that's style."

"Would it pain you so much to show a little respect," Jiraiya complained, hanging his head as they continued down the dirt road. "You got any idea what people would give to be my apprentice? Seriously, you're the luckiest kid in Konoha to have me as your master."

Natsumi's eyes fell into a deadpan stare. "Yeah, I'm sure everyone would just LOVE being thrown down a ravine at random."

"That wasn't at random," Jiraiya said defencively. "And in case you forgot, you can draw out the Kyūbi's chakra and summon toads now. Have you got any idea how tough it is to get a summoning contract, let alone one with the toads?"

You know that's exactly what Iruka told us in school" Natsumi said

So uncle Jiraiya could you tell me more about my Parents" Natsumi asked while giving Jiraiya the puppy dog look.

Jiraiya sighed as he still tried to figure out how Natsumi knows her parents.

Well you father was the nicest person in the entire world he would fight for peace and he even saved your mother from being kidnapped" Jiraiya said.

Natsumi was speechless her father sounded so cool and to think nobody made the connection the Natsumi was Minato daughter.

And your mother was a loving person she had actually protested the idea of putting the Kyuubi inside of you" Jiraiya said.

Well i liked that my mother was worried about me but i wouldn't want to live in a world without Kyuu-chan" Natsumi thought to herself.

Aww love you to" Kurama said.

Finally Natsumi and Jiraiya spotted a village in the distance as they nodded at each other and went to the village.