Naruto woke up from the previous night to an empty bed. He placed his hand to the side of the mattress and found it to be cold, indicating that his newfound lover had left a while ago.
Naruto sighed as he fell back onto the soft mattress and let his head rest on the pillow. He didn't know what to think really. For the longest time he had thought of Tsunade as a motherly type figure. Yet, one didn't normally have their mother moaning in pleasure as they worked her. More than likely Tsunade had also seen him as a son she never had, and now that relation would forever be lost. All due to him not being able to control his inner desires.
When Jiraiya had asked him to take care of Tsunade, Naruto was sure he hadn't meant for him to fuck her.
Naruto closed his eyes as he rubbed his face with half tightened fists before running his left hand through his hair. Finally, he stared at the ceiling, wondering what would happen now that he and Tsunade had taken quite an interesting step into a new direction in terms of their relationship. Then he thought about what the people around them would say. Would they approve? Would they feel disgusted? She was easily almost forty years his senior.
He first thought of Kakashi, his first sensei. What would he say? Would he feel apprehensive towards the relationship? He would probably prefer Naruto to find someone within his own age range. Then again, Kakashi did read Jiraiya's books, so he'd more than likely congratulate him on bagging an older woman while feeling envy.
He then thought of Ichiraku and his daughter, Ayame. They had looked out for him, fed him during his lowest hours, when no one else would. He knew damn well that they wouldn't approve. Ichiraku wouldn't say anything, but he had known the man long enough. Ayame though, she'd make her position quite clear. Without doubt she would scold him and give him a lecture while he slurped down the juices of his miso ramen. He'd have to make a mental note not to provoke her by making a stupid comment about slurping on Tsunade's juices.
Then his thoughts drifted towards Sakura, the girl he had pined after for years. Sakura. Sakura. Naruto simply kept staring at his ceiling, thoughts lingering on the pink haired girl. It was as if his escapade with Tsunade had opened his eyes, because for some reason he couldn't stop the thoughts running through his head.
Why did he like Sakura?
What did he see in her?
Why did he continue to chase after her even though she made her feelings of him quite clear?
It was then that Naruto had looked at all her faults. Every single aspect about her. When they were children at the academy, she had isolated him and even made fun of him for being an orphan. She had mocked his lack of manners due to not having parents to teach him any better. He remembered all the times she would unnecessarily hit him, even when he had done nothing wrong. How she would call him an idiot. He remembered how happy he was when they were placed on the same team. How Kakashi had asked them to share a few things about themselves and how when asked about her dislikes, she immediately said his name without remorse or regret.
Naruto blinked. He had been so stupid. He didn't know why. He felt sick, any other person would have caught the hints, but he had so foolishly ignored them. It was no wonder why he was considered the village idiot. He recalled his master, Jiraiya, trying to sway him away from her, but he had blindly pushed him away. He felt so stupid. Naruto let out a frustrated scream as he clutched his head in anger. He was like this for a few minutes before relaxing and decided that he would no longer dwell on the pink haired shinobi. He wouldn't hate her, he wouldn't shun her. After all she was still technically on his team. But he would no longer give her free reign to do as she pleased. Sakura's punches hurt before, but now with Tsunade's teachings they could now be confused with attempted murder. If Sakura wanted to take out her frustrations, she would have to learn to take it out on someone or something else.
His thoughts then drifted to Iruka, his first teacher. Their relationship had been rocky at first, Naruto had been sure that the man had been placed by whatever God the world had to make his life a living hell. He always got onto him, always picked him from the bunch. It wasn't until Naruto started hanging with Shikamaru, Choji and Kiba that he realized that maybe Iruka didn't have it out for him as he initially thought. On the fateful day that Mizuki had convinced Naruto to steal the Forbidden Scroll, Iruka had unknowingly showed Naruto how much he had cared for the boy and had even given him his own headband after the whole debacle was finished. Ever since then their bond had become even closer, Naruto thinking of him as his older brother. However, now with Jiraiya gone, he guessed that Iruka was now the closest thing to a father he would ever get.
With that said, Iruka would probably also have the same reaction as Ayame only he would have the stones and reprimand Tsunade as well. Naruto dreaded the moment when Iruka would inevitably insult Tsunade's age.
Kami knows what will happen.
Suddenly Naruto became self-aware as he remembered the single person's sole reaction who was actually important. Tsunade herself. There was no guaranteeing that she would be open to a relationship with him, as a matter of fact, details suggested otherwise.
Naruto's head briefly hurt as he became aware of the situation and the clues started flooding his head. Tsunade was initially reluctant to agree to his proposal when he visited her the other day. This became apparent as he heard her take slow steps as she walked to the masseuse table from the other room. Then when he had announced himself to her as she lay on the table, her expression explained her position very clearly. She was not in a situation she wanted to be and only proceeded with the massage because she had ultimate faith in him. Then she didn't relax until he began to work her body, rubbing every ache away. Naruto could tell she was fighting herself not to moan. Later she finally gave in and let him touch her intimately before completing the act, could only be explained by her lack of lovers over the years. Her last one would be Dan over twenty years ago. Finally, the last clue would be this very morning he woke up. He woke up to an empty bed and he could hear no movements within his apartment, so it would be logical to conclude that she was no longer in the vicinity and was now at the Hokage's office. Now one would initially believe that to be normal except…
Naruto looked at the clock and read the time.
The Hokage's official duties on the weekends didn't begin until eight, giving her forty-three minutes to get ready, and judging by the coldness of the mattress, she had left quite a while ago. Far sooner than she needed to get ready for the day. Logical conclusion? She regretted what had happened the day before.
Naruto grit his teeth as he clutched his head.
What the hell, he thought. When did this level of intellect become a part of him? He had brushed off his analysis of Sakura as simply an awakening due to losing his virginity, but this. This was something much more. One wasn't blissfully unaware one moment, then perceptually adept the next.
Naruto slowly got up from his bed and went to the bathroom. He looked in the cabinet and reached for the aspirin before realizing he had no reason to take any at all. Not that his head wasn't hurting, but the medication would most likely have no effect on him at all. He had his tenant, the Kyuubi, to thank for that. After all, the Kyuubi granted him not only pure power but also the ability to heal from wounds at a rapid rate. If the Kyuubi couldn't heal his headache, Naruto didn't think a few tablets would either.
Naruto simply decided to chuck the bottle into the trash before stepping into the shower and getting ready for the day. After towel drying his hair, he made his way over to his closet and opened the sliding doors to it. Six different jumpsuits of his favorite black and orange. It was the jumpsuit that his sensei had bought him when he had outgrown the one he wore during the duration of their training. He looked further into the closet to get a view at the rest of his clothing. Contrary to popular belief, he did own more clothing than just his tracksuit, of course his clothes were mainly orange, but he did own a few pieces of black and red shirts oddly enough. His pants were mainly black and orange, but he had received stone grey pants, along with the red shirt, from Iruka as a welcome back present. He wasn't sure why, he could've just bought him ramen. Naruto shrugged, nothing he could do now. He decided to just go with the usual ensemble and went down to a breakfast shop that was newly opened. New shops were something Naruto was grateful for, it usually meant new civilians, which also meant that they had no idea of his little roommate. Naruto had found that not only was that the case from the landlord of his new apartment, but the landlord had also believed he'd owed Naruto some sort of debt.
While Naruto was training with Jiraiya, they had come across a portly man that was travelling from Kumo, all the way towards Konoha. He was wealthy, they could tell by the fact of the jeweled rings on his fingers but mainly due to his travelling party. Jiraiya estimated, based on their chakra signature, that there were four Chunin and two Jonin escorting him; A rank escort, easily. Unfortunately, they weren't the only ones to notice his status. Two A rank missing-nin noticed the man and decided to attack. They decided to attack one Jonin and successfully took him down before engaging the four Chunin and taking out two. The remaining Jonin and two Chunin attacked both missing-nin before taking one down. When it seemed that they would win, another attack came from a different squad from Iwa, A Jonin with his Chunin team. They killed the body guards of the wealthy man, seemingly affiliated with the missing ninja…until they decided to attack him as well. Naruto had to give the lone shinobi credit, he managed to seriously injure a Chunin before the Jonin fatally wounded him with a kunai to the neck. He knew the odds were against him, but he didn't die lying down, he fought back.
He wondered if that was how his sensei had died. The toad sage hadn't disclosed how it had happened, just that it happened. Naruto liked to think that he did. Jiraiya, the odds stacked against him, but still fighting like there was still a tomorrow to see. Fighting to the very end. Pain. He thought of the name with such bitterness. He hated him. He wanted to rip him apart. Naruto would show him pain.
He blinked. It was like a flash to his head, but he could remember his thoughts clearly. He felt shame. He shook his head before tuning back to the story of his landlord.
After the Iwa team had taken out the final shinobi, they rounded on the portly man, before threatening him with a kunai. The man was scared, a civilian without a doubt due to his physique. He looked left and right, searching for any sort of protection, before shrinking as he realized no one would come. At least, that's what he thought.
Naruto stood up and grabbed a Kunai from his holster, Jiraiya holding him back as he told him to stay out of it.
"We can't solve everyone's problems kid, sometimes you just have to learn to let things pass and accept them for what they are." Jiraiya said.
Naruto ripped his arm from Jiraiya's grasp before rounding on him with a fury set in his blue orbs.
"You can stay back here if you want, then go ahead a sit back like a coward," Naruto hissed as he walked away, before pausing and looking back towards his sensei, "but don't think for a second that that's me. Because I'll never turn my back on people who need my help."
And with that, Naruto walked off towards the group of Iwa surrounding the wealthy man cowering on the floor. The man had tears in his eyes, begging them to spare his life.
"P-please, leave me be! I've done nothing wrong." the man cowered.
The Jonin of the Iwa team chuckled at the man's fear.
"Don't worry, we won't kill you. You should be happy, we saved your life from the bad Kumo ninja and missing nin that were out to get you." he drawled with a sinister tone. The Jonin took a step forwards towards the man as his facial expression became darker.
"Very naughty of you to try and leave the village Hiro, to Konoha of all places. Is Tsuchikage-sama's kindness not enough?"
"K-kindness? H-he had my son executed, just because he didn't agree with how he ran the village. He threatened then killed my wife. What kindness has he shown me?" the man replied, fear still evident on his face.
"Your son should know better than to question his betters. You should thank Onoki-sama, he's rid you of a traitorous bastard and a whore. Now you can start anew. Onoki is very generous."
"He was a civilian, my son. He couldn't defend himself against you bastards, and you ran him through anyways." Hiro squeaked, with tears leaking down his face.
This time the two Chunin laughed along with their leader, causing rage to stir within Naruto at what he heard.
Naruto walked slowly, calculating as he analyzed the situation. He was an idiot, but the heat of battle brought the best out of him mentally. A year or two ago, Naruto would've jumped blindly into the fight, like he had foolishly done against Haku, but the training with Jiraiya had taught him to think things thoroughly. Being reckless wouldn't work against the Sannin and after a scolding by his sensei, Naruto had realized against a shinobi of high caliber would capitalize on his stupidity. He had gotten lucky in the fight against Zabuza, and it was Kakashi in the end who ended up finishing off the swordsman.
Naruto shook his head, he had no time to well upon the past now. The wealthy man saw him approaching and widened his eyes.
"Please, help me." he shrilled.
The Iwa team whipped around to get a look at him. Any other shinobi would've cursed the man for giving away their position, but not Naruto. Maybe another instance he would, but not now. He wanted them to see him. He wanted them to get a good look and know who it had been that killed them. Some habits just died hard.
The Jonin spoke first, voice full of malice.
"Get the hell out of here kid, this is Iwa business."
"Captain, that's a Konoha shinobi." one of the Chunin told the Jonin. The Jonin's eyes widened as he looked to say something, but the wealthy man beat him to the punch.
"Oh Kami, please! Help me! I plan to move to Konoha. I-I can help the economy. Please! Just help me!"
"Quiet." The Jonin hissed, stomping on the cowering man's left knee, earning a terrible scream with a crunch sound to accompany it. A broken knee, it made Naruto want to wince but he had a fight to focus on.
"I was planning on letting you go, even if you are a tree hugging bastard, but now I can't let you do that. Konoha are our strongest enemies, if a shinobi made it over there with the information that we have current instability, it would ruin us. Especially now that I know where this fat fuck was headed. Look around you, this area will be the last you see." The Jonin said softly, malice still evident in his voice.
Naruto snorted.
"Really?" Naruto sneered "'This area will the last you see.' Really, you couldn't make any other phrase up? That was the best you could say? Whatever, listen to me so you understand what I have to say. I was planning on letting you go, even for murdering his bodyguard's, but evidently this man needs my help. So, I want all of you to see my face. Because I'm the 'tree hugging bastard' that's killing all three of you sacks of shit."
It didn't seem as if the God of conversation was on the Jonin's side, because he was cut off once again, only this time due to the Chunin who spoke up earlier going to attack Naruto.
The Chunin sprinted at him, swinging a Kunai with his left hand, out swinging it, leaving his right side completely off balance. Naruto had to fight off a dark smile as he mentally thought out the situation.
This is too easy, if I dodge under him I can swing a right-hook to his neck, right above his Adam's Apple. Poor bastard, he'll never be promoted due to his sloppy fighting style. Then again, it's hard to get promoted when you're unconscious.
Naruto did exactly what he thought he would do, he supported the Chunin's weight as he slumped in his arms. Naruto stared into his unconscious eyes before letting him completely drop onto the floor. The other Chunin cried out with a feminine voice.
"Teka! You bastard, you hurt Teka! I'll kill you!" she screamed.
The female Chunin lunged at Naruto, her fighting style completely different. It was well balanced, she swung with a small knife in her right hand, thinner but also longer than a Kunai.
That sucks, she actually has some sort of skill. With the proper training she could be promoted to Jonin. She's too slow right now though. Oh well, it's her unlucky day. Female, though. I could've sworn it was a male. Thin body, no ample bust, not even a little, and a short haircut.
Naruto watched as her knife came closer to his throat before leaning down towards her right, using his own right hand to grab hold of her wrist, applying pressure to force her to let go of the knife. He quickly took hold of the knife with his left hand, before spinning behind the kunoichi and hitting her with his elbow from the back, right where her heart was. She let out a strangled gasp before coughing up blood. It was curious, he was sure the heart wasn't connected to her throat, yet it seemed to cause blood to come from out of her mouth anyways. He didn't support her weight as he did with her partner, she dropped on her face.
Naruto spun around and saw the Jonin simply standing there, looking at him with calculating eyes.
"You didn't even try to stop them. Not even the girl. You saw how fast I defeated the first one. You knew she didn't stand a chance, yet you let her attack me. Why?" Naruto was utterly confused. He didn't try to help them, not even once. The Jonin simply stared before speaking, malice gone and replaced with a cool and calm voice.
"Teka was an idiot, letting him attack you was a service. As for Akane, she was a fool. She let emotion cloud her judgement, she should've known to leave you to me. Iwa doesn't need that type of idiot becoming a Jonin. So in a way…thank you."
Naruto blinked. Once…and then twice.
"T-thank you?" he stammered. What the hell? He let them get defeated because he didn't think they were strong enough for his village. It only served to anger Naruto more.
"Yes." the Jonin responded "Thank you. Your fighting is impressive, so brutal yet to the point. I anticipate our fight, Jonin."
Naruto simply stared at him, fighting the smile that was coming to his face. Despite how abhorrent the man was, the fact that a Jonin acknowledged his skill to be equal meant a great deal to Naruto. It meant the training with Jiraiya had paid off and while he was technically still a Genin, he wasn't going to ruin the moment and tell the Jonin that.
Now that he thought about it, why was he a Genin? Shikamaru had given up his fight and was promoted to Chunin. The odds were stacked against Naruto, yet he still won. If it was because Shikamaru had fought off multiple Chunin level ninja, then Naruto still had him beat. Gaara was the trump card of Suna, had successfully fought off assassination attempts from the Chunin and Jonin ninja of Suna. He had defeated Gaara in a one on one and saved the village. Those council bastards, because the old man had died, the council had unofficial control, so they decided on who to promote. Sasuke was disqualified from promotion due to being late, yet he was sure that if it had been Sasuke who defeated Gaara, he would've been made Chunin the moment he walked back through Konoha's gates. He shook his head. No need to be bitter. He was about to fight an official Jonin ranked ninja from one of Konoha's strongest enemy villages.
They stared at one another, each one waiting for the other to make the first move and hopefully the first mistake. It took all of Naruto's willpower not to lunge first, but he kept telling himself that Jiraiya was watching and he wanted to make the man proud. Seconds ticked by, feeling like hours, before the Iwa shinobi lost his patience and struck first.
Naruto held his breath, eyes calculating the Jonin's movements. He was fast. Faster than his deceased comrades. So much fucking faster. Naruto would be lying if he said he wasn't panicking as he blocked each punch, dodged each swing of his opponent's fists. Naruto tried to swing once for every ten blows he either blocked or dodged. He was fighting defensive, he knew it, but he was way too nervous to take a chance. His friends would think he was being irrational, he fought off a Jinchuuriki and trained with Jiraiya of the Sannin. A Jonin from Iwa should have been right up his alley. But he didn't know why, he was just so nervous. He couldn't control it, he was blocking and dodging, blocking and dodging. A punch towards his opponent's face and then back to blocking and dodging. The Jonin didn't seem to share his nervousness, he was having the time of his life. He laughed at each block Naruto made, shouting "Good," when Naruto blocked a right jab or "You're a quick one, aren't you?" when he dodged a left hook. Finally, the Jonin took a huge swing with his right hand down towards Naruto's head. Naruto knew he couldn't dodge it and he wouldn't be able to simply block it with one hand either. Naruto grabbed the Jonin's closed fist with both hands as struggled to keep it in place. The Iwa shinobi gave him a wicked grin.
"Well this has been fun Jonin, but I think this fight has dragged on too long. I'd like to fight you using Ninjutsu, but you know how it is. Taking risks like that can end up killing you. Why do that, when victory is already assures?"
As soon as the Jonin said that, a blade slid out of his left sleeve, about the length of his forearm. Naruto's eyes widened as one thought went through his head.
What the fuck?!
The Jonin aimed to stab Naruto through his neck when suddenly a blade went through the back of his skull. Naruto's eyes widened, along with the Jonin, at what had happened. Suddenly Jiraiya appeared in Naruto's view, right behind the Jonin's head.
"If you're going to fight a group of ninjas, make sure you're in the right mental state." Jiraiya said through gritted teeth. He swiftly pulled back the blade and the Jonin fell dead, similarly to his defeated teammates. The irony, he was beaten in the same fashion as those he had contempt for.
The only difference, Naruto was way too compassionate to kill his comrades.
He was going to smirk in victory before he was smacked ungently on the back of his head.
"AH! What the hell! Why'd you do that Ero-Sennin?"
"Because you're an idiot."
"What? I just took out two Chunin and managed to hang with a Jonin."
"The Chunin were easy pickings and the Jonin…you feel proud of sticking with him?" Jiraiya questioned with a look of bewilderment.
"What the hell? Yes! Why wouldn't I feel proud? He's a Jonin level ninja and I was hanging with him. That mean's I'm better than I was two-"
"You shouldn't have been hanging with him!" Jiraiya screamed. "You should have been able to take him out. You've been training with me for the past two years. Have I been training you to just sit on your ass? To just fuck around?"
Naruto looked down and shut his eyes tightly as he gritted his teeth.
"You panicked, didn't you?" Jiraiya said softly. "You thought you had to kill the Jonin?"
Naruto simply nodded his head. Jiraiya sighed
"Look-"
"Uhm" they both turned to the wealthy man, guilt overfilling them as they had forgotten about the man on the floor, "could you guys help me? I think my knee is broken…" he whimpered.
Naruto winced because there was no 'thinking', his knee was definitely broken.
"The Iwa team, they said you were from Konoha right?"
"Yeah, you said were headed there, right?"
The man nodded in response. This time Jiraiya spoke up.
"May I ask why you're headed there? I mean, Konoha are arguably Iwa's most hated enemy. Iwa has been on more agreeable terms with either Kumo, Suna, or even The Land of Iron. You also said you could help the economy in Konoha, how?" Jiraiya was curious while also being wary. An Iwa citizen moving to Konoha, that was already a shady decision, but one that claimed he could help the economy? Sounded too good to be true.
"I understand your concern. I may have been blowing a bit of smoke on the improvement of Konoha's economy, heh, but I do know a bit of business. I owned an apartment complex you see, luxury living, in Iwa. So, you can see why I wouldn't move to a place like Suna, not many wealthy residents there." Jiraiya nodded, understanding the logic. "Call me a bit of a pansy, but I hate the cold, so that would rule out the Land of Iron. Always snows there. So, in terms of wealth, the only options viable were Kumo and Konoha. I did plan on moving to Kumo, but I heard the Raikage wasn't an amicable man. Konoha on the other hand is stated to have a kind ruler, much more agreeable. I guess I could try my luck with Kumo, but I'd rather not risk the walk and end up being denied. Plus, seeing as how you're Konoha shinobi, I was hoping you would vouch for me."
Jiraiya sat down and contemplated it for a while before making his decision.
"Alright, I'll help you." The man visibly cheered at that. "Seeing as me and my student's training is already completed, you can tag along with us. Naruto, this man needs our help with his knee, so you'll have to carry him. Don't give me that look, you wanted to help him, so you'll help him. Plus, I'm the master, so do what I say."
"Oh, bless you good sir. Thank you. You won't regret it. Tell you what, when I manage to build the apartment complex I have in mind, you can live there at a reduced rate."
Naruto simply waved him off, not believing in helping people solely for the reward, but for Jiraiya, it seemed like the pieces were falling in place to get his godson a good home.
Naruto had finished with his morning routine and headed down to the first floor. He was about to leave when the landlord stopped him.
"Naruto," the man called over to him.
Naruto turned to face him as a smile broke out on his face.
"Hiro," he greeted in return "what's up?"
"Ah, not much. Are you doing well?"
"Yes, thank you. I'm actually in a bit of a hurry…"
"Oh! My apologies. I just wanted to know what the Hokage was doing here. Gohan told me he escorted her to your room. I hope you're not in any trouble."
"What? Oh. Tsunade? Yeah, she came. Not in any trouble. She just came to, uh, talk."
Naruto was nervous. He didn't want anyone knowing about the escapades with Tsunade just yet, or even at all. If it turned out that Tsunade would rather forget all about it, he'd take this secret down to the grave.
"Oh, good, good. I thought she had gone to inspect the apartment. Did she like it? The room? I handpicked the décor for the entire room, hopefully she found it suitable. What about the balcony? Did she enjoy the view?" Hiro was excited to know if the Hokage had enjoyed the aesthetics he put time into.
"Uh, I think so…I mean she didn't really spend time on the balcony. She sort of just came to talk. Personal reasons." Naruto added quickly at the end.
"Oh. Well, if she didn't say anything, I guess it wasn't a complete failure." Hiro said, slightly dejected.
Naruto put his hand on Hiro's shoulder.
"Hey, it doesn't matter what she thinks. I live there not her. Personally, I think you did a good job with the room."
Hiro visibly brightened at that.
"That's very true. Ah, you said you needed to get somewhere. Goodbye." and he walked off happily.
Naruto smiled. He liked helping people, even if it was only emotionally. Naruto then walked to the breakfast shop and ordered some fluffy pancakes that were on the menu with some chocolate milk to go with. He ate his food in silence, before finishing his meal. He decided to take a walk around the village and reminisce on his sensei.