Naruto: Ero-Ninja CONTINUED

Chapter 24: Recovering Lost Mojo

Needless to say Tsunade wasn't too surprised when her schedule had shown a meeting with Koyuki's manager to discuss Konoha supplying some shooting locations for the Spring Princess's next movie. Naturally the movie had not been on Tayuya's mind as she laid into Tsunade about her giving Naruto time to come around on his own. The two had butted head and nearly came to blows, but luckily Hinata had been there as her assistant and explained that she had also voted to give Naruto space. She had reasoned that the last thing Naruto truly wanted was to be alone, and by giving him that space it would convince him the jutsu wasn't subconsciously forcing them to stay with him. Tayuya wasn't convinced exactly until Hinata added that confronting him on the matter could be the next. Tsunade believed that Hinata saying doing it the other way around would perhaps lead him to believe they were angry at him for rejecting them which was a real possibility that he would do as the emotions of the time were still raw. Looking at Hinata now she believed the Hyuuga felt that things had calmed enough to force Naruto to recognize their feelings.

"Look Tayuya," Tsunade said keeping her tone civil, "You may not have liked it but the vote was a tie so..."

"So why was it what you wanted that won the day," Yugito said having used the teleporter seal inside her apartment after making sure her schedule for the next several days was clear.

Tsunade directed her gaze to her fellow blonde before saying, "Because the method you wanted to try had already been used by Tayuya."

"We still shouldn't have just..."

Tsunade held up her hand to silence Tayuya's response saying, "Look the giving him space method hasn't worked exactly either. He hasn't disappeared from our lives just pulled back and I know I'm not alone in saying I'm not happy with the current arrangement. Therefore today's agenda is to find a solution..." Seeing a bunch of suggestions about to be sent her way she stopped them saying, "But business before pleasure ladies. Sakura, how are Guy and the others doing?"

"They're alive only because of Guy's stamina," Sakura reported, "If he hadn't of been able to make it to the Fire temple from where they faced Pain then they'd be dead. But they are out of the worst of it for now."

Tsunade nodded, remembering the frantic message she had received from the Head Monk of the Fire Temple. At first she had thought it to be the bandits that had attacked it several months prior and were suspected to be behind the disappearance of a monk named Sora had returned. However she had quickly learned that was not the case and that the team of Yamato, Guy, and Kakashi that she had sent to secure the forbidden jutsu of the Tsuchigumo clan from missing-nin had run into none other than the leader of Akatsuki. Tsunade and the others, thanks to Konan, knew he wasn't the true leader but a public face for the organization. But since the man known as Tobi had yet to step forward acting on that information would prove hazardous to Konan since only two people in Akatsuki were privy to that fact.

Tsunade was worried about Konan since according to the report she had received from a semi-conscious Kakashi after he had been transferred from the temple to Konoha; Pain had been the only one that they had confronted although they couldn't be sure if he was alone. According to his report after defeating the bandits, Kakashi who had begun to suspect the man acting as a bodyguard out of a sense of honor to the granddaughter of the clan was in fact a jinchuriki ,had wished to talk to him. They had caught up to him after the man, Utakata, had been ambushed by six men that called themselves Pain. It was only due to Kakashi's observation skills, who had identified that the six men they fought seemed to share one will, as well as Guy and Yamato's might that they had lived to tell of the encounter. According to the report, Utakata had slipped away as the three Leaf-nin had fought the Akatsuki leader, but whether he had been caught afterwards or not they didn't know. She hoped that Pain being by himself meant he had simply been confident he could handle the jinchuriki and not that he suspected the recent setbacks that the organization was reeling from due in part to Jiraiya was a result of her turning against it. For the moment though Konan wasn't hinting in her rare messages that she feared such a possibility but that could just be her keeping things to herself. She couldn't fault the woman for hiding such things as when Naruto had learned what had happened he had very nearly left to challenge Pain. But in the end, he had relented when Tsunade had told him doing so could put Konan in danger as well as pointing out that if Pain could hospitalize three of Konoha's strongest. Then at his current level he wouldn't stand a chance.