A New Path

Ch. 49 A Training Trip?

Tsunade sat behind her desk with a tired look on her face. The sun was rising outside, meaning that she had been working all night. She hadn't worked so hard in a long time and it left her exhausted. Thankfully all she needed to do now was go through the final pile of papers and run a quick check-up on Lee since he was still in critical condition.

She could still remember how the hospital had been the previous day. Some of the younger medics had panicked when seeing the severe condition in which some of the ninja from Naruto's team had arrived. She, being the example, took full control of the severe cases while keeping an eye on the others every once in a while.

The whole fiasco had ended late at night with the group of shinobi still breathing. A wave of pride washed over her being as she thought back at Kiba's condition. He had been in bad shape, no doubt about that, but it had been thanks to Ino that he didn't get worse. Her student was getting there and with a bit more of training she would turn into a good medic, it was a shame that she appeared to be more of the fighting type.

"You're spacing out a lot," she heard a masculine voice speak. Tsunade whirled her head to the side to see Jiraiya leaning over her shoulder with a perverted smile. She growled before elbowing the toad sage on the stomach.

"What are you doing here?" Tsunade asked as she rose from her chair in favor of leaning against one of the windows of her office.

Jiraiya, clutching his stomach, managed a grin, "Why, I came here to ask the great Hokage for a favor."

Thoughts of what Jiraiya's idea of a favor was raced through her mind before her eyes hardened and cautiously spoke, "What is it?"

"Oh come on Tsunade. I'm not that bad," he laughed, noticing the way her eyes had hardened. "I'm just here for a simple request," he explained further before pulling a scroll out of a pocket beneath his red cloak and tossing it to Tsunade, "I've already talked it over with the Third. I just need you to approve of it so we can get going."

Tsunade read over the contents of the scroll with a scowl on her face. Apparently they had planned to take Naruto on an extended training trip lasting three years. On this trip he would also receive missions to carry out and meet with Anko on certain times. During this time Anko would travel with Naruto alone while Jiraiya performed a few missions for the village to cover her absence. All in all, it benefited the village as well as Naruto. A well thought out trip but there was a small problem.

"What are you going to do about Ino? Those two are inseparable. They won't like the idea of being apart for so long," Tsunade informed.

"His little girlfriend?" Jiraiya asked nonchalantly, receiving a nod from Tsunade. "Don't worry about it. They might not like it but I'm sure that they'll do what's right," he walked over to the open window he had entered from before climbing out and casting a last look at Tsunade, "We'll leave tomorrow. I'm sure he will be fit to travel by then."

Ino lay on a hospital bed with her gaze on the sleeping blond on the bed next to her. His right arm was in a cast while bandages covered most of his torso and head. By medical standards he hadn't been too bad, only experiencing a broken arm and chakra exhaustion. All he would need was rest and he would get better in no time.

"Is he awake yet?" said the other occupant of the room.

Ino turned to her teammate and shook her head. "No, not yet," she responded before taking in the look of her friend, "How are you feeling Choji?"

"I'm fine," Choji smiled as his thin hand reached for the bag of chips he had gotten not soon after waking up, "Now I have to gain back all that I lost."

Ino knew that Choji's clan had to gain weight in order to use most of their jutsu but still, a small part of her hated the fact that he could lose weight so effortlessly.