Tsunade had learned from experience that winning streaks were anything but a good thing. When Tsunade was losing, everything was normal, but if she won for a long period of time, she knew that something horrible would happen.
The first time that she had had a winning streak had been right before her younger brother had died. She had won straight for almost two weeks, and even Jiraiya had stopped playing with her. After her world had been shattered by that death, her losing streak had returned, and Tsunade hadn't thought anything of it. The second time that she had had a winning streak was before Dan was killed in an attack. Tsunade was too distraught to worry about her gambling, but afterwards, she wondered. The third time was before the Kyuubi attack and when Orochimaru had began to act strangely. That time she had paid attention, and when she left the village after the attack, she always remembered to beware of winning streaks. They would come, but only when something horrible was about to happen. Getting attacked, meeting up with someone she didn't want to see, like her creditors, or some natural disaster always followed a winning streak, even a small one.
This was not a small winning streak. Tsunade had been winning the grand prize at everything for almost two weeks. She wondered if this meant that Shizune, her assistant and one of the last people that she was close to, was going to die as well, but she knew that if she anticipated something, it wouldn't happen. If there was something that was completely impossible to have occur, that was going to be what happened.
Shizune didn't seem to think that they were headed for anything wrong, actually, she seemed so thrilled that they were going to pay off their debt, Tsunade didn't have the heart to tell her that they were about to face some horror in the future.
Now she was just biding her time. What ever it was would come. It always did. When she ran away it met her there, when she stayed, it was waiting for her. Tsunade had developed a somewhat fatalistic attitude over the years, and the longer she had to wait, the worse the thing that was about to happen would be.
The day was bright and sunny with a mild breeze. It was warm, but not too hot. All in all, it was a perfect day in Tea Country. Tsunade had only arrived a few days ago, and she new that this was the perfect place for something horrible to happen.
At best it would just be Orochimaru or Jiraiya. Orochimaru would try to get her to join him and his stupid little crusade against Konoha that was basically his having a temper tantrum about not being allowed to be Hokage. Jiraiya would be worse. He would hit on her, and flirt with random women, and get drunk, and pass out on her, and basically humiliate her with the combination of his 'research' and romantic escapades. This would go on for about a week then Tsunade and Shizune would flee in the middle of the night.
That would be irritating, but not as bad as things could be.
"Another WIN!" the announcer yelled into the microphone as Tsunade stared at the Wheel of Fate, the casino's highest stakes game. The owner was starting to make his way towards her, and his look was all Tsunade needed to see.
The fact was, she was winning too much. It didn't matter that she wasn't cheating; the casino was starting to lose money on her.
"Shizune," Tsunade commanded, "Let's go."
"Hai!" the black hair girl chirped, she seemed to be in a disgustingly good mood, "Are we going to see your creditors now?"
"Maybe," Tsunade said thoughtfully as the reached the door to the casino.
She opened the door to face three filthy looking people, no children, in a huddle. They were of various ages, and indeterminate sex or appearance. They smelled foul and they seemed to be holding a small bag, probably something they picked up off the street, with maybe three ryou in it.
"I'll do it," one of them was saying, "I'm the one who wins."
"But what if you get in trouble for cheating?" another asked.
"I won't," the first one told them, "Why would I get in trouble?"
"Well, for one thing, you're underage," the third said with a bright smile and bit into some unknown substance that might have been food in a past life, "and for another thing, they will get really mad when you win, and then you'll get arrested and maybe killed."
"Thanks, Sai," the first one sighed, "by the way…what is that?"
The child looked down at the thing he had just taken a bite of.
"You know…I don't know…" he said thoughtfully.
"You don't know…and you're eating it?" the second one asked, looking disgusted.
"Haku said that once you got past the gag reflex it opened a broad new range of food…"
"Ew,"
Tsunade had to admit that she felt kind of sorry for the things. They were so desperate that they were going to try their luck at the slots. She was also morbidly curious, so when the three broke the huddle, and the first one walked in, Tsunade followed him. The manager was glaring at her, but since she seemed to only be watching, not gambling, he seemed content to let her be.
Tsunade was slightly disgusted that he allowed some street urchin who was obviously under age, to just walk in, but hid it well.
The first one walked straight to the table where poker was being played and sat down. The three others who were playing looked amused at the kid put down all the money that he had (three ryou) and grinned.
"I want to play!" he told them.
"Kid, you don't have the money," one of the players said bluntly.
"Oh, let the kid stick his money in the pot. If he wins, he plays normally, it not…well we have three more ryou in the pot don't we?" another said with a grin.
Tsunade wanted to punch him. Taking advantage of some kid like that! She had half a mind to grab the kid and buy him something to eat just to spite these people. She made a move, but stopped when she saw the boy's grin. She would wait. He was going to have to learn the hard way. It was the first thing she had learned as a genin. No matter how many times someone bailed you out of something, you would never really learn until the thing you were doing blew up in your face.
Tsunade watched and waited.
"I'll bet that my cards are cooler then all of yours," the kid said with a grin.
One of the players, guessing that he had never actually played poker in his life, looked like his birthday had just come early. The other two didn't seem to care all that much, since they didn't even look up. One of them looked a little guilty.
The betting went few times around until it was seen at fifty ryou. The first play set down a full house, queen high, the second one, the one who had been grinning at the idea of taking the money from the kid, put down four twos with a large grin, and the third, who had folded, was watching the kid with interest.
"Ok, gaki, show us what you got," the second one said, he was obviously gloating.
"Ok!" the kid said laying down his cards, "Didn't I tell you they were cooler! Look, it's all one color and the whole royal family is together for a change and-"
Before there could be a general uproar, Tsunade decided to get involved. For one thing…this kid had gotten a royal flush without even having to pick up any other cards…if she had him…she would be so rich…and she'd better take him before someone else got him…
Naruto raked in the ryou as fast as he could while the players were still in a state of shock. He had learned from experience that once people came to grips with the fact that they had just lost against him, they would get really mad. Normally, they would follow him out and try to take the money from him.
"...how…" one of them mumbled as Naruto dashed away, leaving the rest of the money.
"GET THE CHEATING GAKI!" the other roared.
There was instant chaos in the room.
Naruto ducked under a pair of legs and threw the doors open. He didn't think enough to call out to Sai and Hinata. They didn't seem to need to be told to run, because the second that they saw Naruto dash out the door, they were right behind him. Naruto didn't need to look back to know that he was being followed. He could feel the killing intent coming from some of those people.
"Split!" Naruto yelled.
Once they came to a three way fork, Naruto and the others each went different ways. Hopefully, it would confuse them enough for Naruto to get away. He dodged through the streets and carefully wove through the crowd of milling people. When he stopped for breath, Naruto was in a small back alley that ended in a dead end.
"Got you!"
Naruto turned around to see the two men from the poker game grinning. Naruto now knew just why they were called dead ends.
"Don't worry, gaki," one said with a smirk, "it won't hurt too bad."
Naruto backed up until his back was pressed against the wall. He could try to use Kage Bushin, but that might not help. Naruto was still trapped, and even if he multiplied himself until his collapsed, those guys weren't going to let him run away. Naruto dropped the money behind him and hoped that Sai and Hinata had found the others.
"Men like you are a disgrace to gamblers," a woman's voice said from behind the two, "Being able to take your loss is the sign of a true gambler! No matter who you lose to it is the duty of a gambler to suck it up and pay!"
She was tall and maybe in her mid to late twenties, with blond hair tied in two low ponytails and brown eyes. Her clothes were simple and cheep looking peasant wear, but something about her gave the impression that she wore them for comfort, not necessity. Her arms were crossed and her eyes were dangerously narrow.
"What ya gonna do about girly?" the man asked.
The woman smirked and sent a punch that Naruto swore could have torn down a building into the man's gut, sending him flying into one of the walls, leaving a crater. The other man stared at his companion dumbly before realizing that psycho woman was still there. That was right before he joined his friend in the crater.
Naruto stared, openmouthed at the woman who had just beaten the snot out of two adult men.
Without waiting for him to say anything walked over, picked him up and left the alley with him under her arm.
"Shizune!" she barked out.
"Hai, Tsunade-sama!" a black haired girl appeared out of nowhere.
"There'll be some other mudpuppies following this one," the woman carrying him told her, "when you find them all, take them too,"
"Hai!"
It was then that Naruto started to wonder if there was some deity that had a sick sense of humor and had allowed them to survive so long only to be caught by some psycho woman and made her slaves.
Nara Shikamaru didn't show it ever, but he was a genius.
Unlike most of his classmates, he had noticed the changes that Danzou had set up where not temporary.
He couldn't see that man as the Godaime Hokage for some reason, and his parents barely concealed their contempt for the man. He had declared war almost right after the funeral for the Sandaime, and things had changed quickly after that.
First, the Uchiha Military Police had all but taken over the ANBU. Only a few of the members who had been there before the war were still there. The Police had been given new powers. The ability to arrest without charge, hold a person in prison indefinitely, and even execute someone who they had taken in privately. The military police always seemed to be loitering around, watching people.
Second, the Academy seemed to have changed. Shikamaru doubted that many of the other students had seen it, but teachers were slowly being replaced, and the structure of the lessons had changed. They were focusing more on killing and cutting off emotions as opposed to defending yourself and learning how to control your emotions when killing was necessary. Iruka-sensei was still there, but he seemed somehow…diminished since the assassination of the Sandaime and the kidnapping. Shikamaru had a feeling that it was only a matter of time before he was replaced.
Another was the introduction of ROOT, a branch of the ANBU that he had never heard of. From what he had seen, they were loyal only to Danzou and completely capable of anything. He had never seen one of them even give off a hint of emotion.
Shikamaru opened his eyes as the bell rang, he still slept through most of his classes, even though the punishments were stricter now. Even his mother didn't seem to mind anything. She seemed to think of it as a sign of protest. The Nara clan had taken a stand against Danzou along with the Yamanaka and the Akimichi. This was a dangerous position to be in at the moment, when almost everyone else (other then the Aburame, who never took sides in anything) supported Danzou almost completely. Shikamaru was glared at suspiciously by teachers, and along with Ino and Chouji, forced to take special classes. This, in Shikamaru's mind was probably not the best way to deal with the three of them. Ino thought the classes were a waste of time and was too busy mourning for Uchiha Sasuke to listen to them, and Chouji never listened to anything that didn't involve one of three things: food, vital information, and plans to do something he enjoyed. Shikamaru was smart enough to understand brainwashing, so he simply taught himself how to sleep with his eyes open.
He passed the gym were he, Kiba, Chouji, and Naruto had used to hang out before, and a feeling of slight sadness welled up in him. He had actually gotten to somewhat like the troublesome guy, and for some reason he didn't thing that he was really being told the truth about what happened to him.
"Tch, troublesome," Shikamaru complained to no one, "Why would a bunch of troublesome enemy nin kidnap Naruto? Sasuke and Hinata I get, but Naruto?"
He shook his head and sighed.
Shikamaru was a true genius in that he knew when to put something off until it made sense.
Naruto stared up at the small bathhouse. Hinata and Sakura had been there yesterday, looking at it and dreaming of what it looked like inside. It was a traditional looking place, with a small, but pretty ornamental garden in front, complete with bamboo fountain. There didn't seem to be any guests there, and the milling crowd paid no attention to it. Naruto knew that there was another bathhouse in this town, a really big expensive looking one, which everyone seemed to go to.
The psycho woman had carried him all the way here, and was walking up to the door as he looked. Naruto wondered if she was the owner. That would make sense; she would need cheap labor to keep the place going.
The psycho woman opened the door and dropped Naruto.
He was in a small entrance room with highly polished walls and floor. In one corner there was a reception desk that was empty, the worker was probably on break, and on the wall behind it were two doors for men and woman. There was another door opposite the desk that Naruto assumed led the individual rooms.
"When's the last time you washed?" she asked.
"I got rained on a few days ago…"
The woman stared at him and twitched a little.
"Alright, gaki, you're going to go in there and take a bath, get in there," the woman told him.
"But-" Naruto started.
"Gaki, do you want to see just what I did to those men?" the woman asked.
"No…"
"Then get in there and come out when you look like a human again,"
"H-hai!"
Naruto dashed into the room and shut the door, undressed, carefully took off his scroll, placed it in a corner and put on a towel. In a second he was in the bath and not sure whether he was about to die of happiness or not. There was soup and the water was hotter then he had felt for almost a year.
That came as a slight shock to him. He had run away from Konoha almost a year ago. He wondered just what had changed. Was Iruka-sensei still giving his boring lectures? Were Shikamaru, Kiba, and Chouji doing alright? Who was Hokage now? What about the war? Naruto didn't know that much other then everyone was really jumpy since Konoha had attacked Iwa and it looked like the Third Ninja War had begun.
"WHADDA MEAN THERE ARE NINE OF THEM!" a voice screamed from outside, it sounded like the psycho woman.
Naruto looked up from his thoughts and released that the rest must have been caught. Well, at least their slavery would clean. He stood up and went to the door, he wanted to see just what was going on.
The psycho woman was looking at all the children with a sort of horrified shock. She was leaning against one of the walls. She looked up at the black-haired girl that Naruto had seen earlier. She was holding a small pig that was snorting strangely as it wiggled to be let go. Sasuke, Kimimaro, Sakura, Hinata, Neji, Haku, Gaara, and Sai were all standing in a group each with a rope around their necks that the black-haired girl was holding.
"You're sure you didn't accidentally pick up most of them by mistake?" she asked.
"Where's Naruto!" Sasuke said loudly, planting himself right infront of the woman with his arms crossed and his legs a little apart.
"Yeah! What did you do to him!" Sakura said just as loudly.
"Even if we're all weaker then you, there are still eight of us, and since where smaller, we can get away from you easily," Sai said with a smile, "would you please tell us what you did to our friend?"
"If…you hurt…Naruto…I'll," Gaara looked simply dangerous, and Naruto was reminded of how he was before he had met them…almost about to snap.
"The most I've done with him, is given him a bath," the psycho cut off all of them, "Alright, so there are nine of the mudpuppies." She started to mutter things under her breath that Naruto couldn't hear, but had a good idea of what they were. Adults liked to do it when they were angry or something, but they always got made when he did it, "Now that I've brought them here, at least I'll give them a bath and a meal. Then they all go. I don't want that kid's luck that much. All of you! Baths! Now!"
Naruto ran back into the bath and pretended that he had been washing for a while, but he did get to hear one final thing as he retreated.
"Why are you two going into the girl's baths?"
"We're girls," Hinata's voice answered.
"…really?"
Naruto had to hold his breath to keep from laughing.
It turned out that they spent about three hours in the bath. Even Gaara was enjoying the feel of cleaning himself off. Naruto could here the sound of Hinata and Sakura giggling on the other side of the wooden wall that separated the men and women's baths. Naruto was amazed that he had that much dirt on him, and was even more amazed when he saw what Haku looked like with the layer of filth.
"Haku…you're prettier then Sakura-chan!"
Haku looked a little irritated.
"I am a boy…" He muttered.
"Are you sure?" Sai asked.
Haku glared at him, showing that he actually was capable of glaring.
"I don't have to prove anything to you,"
"This is a stupid conversation," Kimimaro pointed out, "We would know if he was a girl by this time."
Sasuke nodded his agreement.
"We all look kind of like girls," he pointed out, "I always used to fight Ka-san all the time about cutting my hair, but I understand now.
Gaara, who had been floating on his back for a while, sat up and looked around, "What should we do now?"
Naruto noticed that everyone was looking at him.
"I think we should wait," Naruto told them, "The psycho woman said that she was going to feed us, and we can escape if we need to. I'll just make a bunch of Kage Bushin and cause problems."
There were nods from everyone.
Naruto felt his stomach rumble and went to the pile of clothes and the corner where the scrolls were. The clothes hadn't lived up to being taken off and placed on a damp surface. Naruto picked up what was left of his shirt and stared at the gaping hole that hadn't been there before. He sighed and was about to put it on when he noticed that there were a bunch of two piece robes that were for the bathhouse guests. There was a simple uwagi and zubon of a grayish blue color that was held by a dark gray obi. Naruto dug around for a while until he found something that fit him, and tied the scroll to his back.
It had been a long time since Naruto had worn clean clothes and truthfully, it felt wonderful.
Naruto left first, knowing that the others would probably follow him. When he opened the door, he noticed that a young woman who was probably a worker was standing outside the door.
"Tsunade-sama has asked me to direct you to the room where you will be eating," she said politely, and gesturing towards the door that led to the guestrooms. Please go through there and enter the door at the end of the hall. Tsunade-sama should be there."
Naruto thanked her and followed her directions. From the sound of the door opening and shutting again, Naruto assumed that he was right in his assumption that the others would follow him.
The room was big enough for at least ten adults to be comfortable. The large windows showed the overcast sky and Naruto vaguely noticed a few light spots of rain. It was probably the best room in the house, and there was a large table in the center of the room. Unfortunately, there was no food on it yet. The psycho woman, who must have been 'Tsunade-sama', she was still in the same clothes, and stood up as the sliding door opened again to show the rest of the boys.
"Well, I guess that brownish gray weren't your actual hair colors. And here was me thinking that all of you were related somehow. The two girls are with Shizune, my assistant. She's cutting their hair, and you're going to get yours cut too. I can't even see what you look like, and if people are going to know that I gave you a bath and a meal, at least I can finish things by making you look something like normal kids."
She grabbed Naruto by the head and began cutting randomly with a kunai that had appeared in her hand. Naruto struggled at first, but when one of the cuts came way too close to his head, he stopped moving. While she was attacking his hair, Naruto noticed that the assistant had come in with Hinata and Sakura and was beckoning to the boys. Neji, Kimimaro, and Haku noticed and started to creep forwards. Gaara, Sasuke and Sai were too busy staring at Tsunade with horror to notice.
In an instant, she had let go of Naruto at grabbed the struggling Sasuke to give him the same treatment. Gaara and Sai were still staring with horrified fascination and Naruto ran off to see if there was somewhere for him to survey the damage.
Naruto able to see himself in the rain spattered glass of the window. His hair was standing up in spikes like it used to, and actually, Tsunade the psycho woman seemed to have known what she was doing. That was strange, Naruto thought, it had looked to him like she was just cutting randomly.
When Naruto looked over at Sasuke he wondered if it had just been luck. Sasuke's hair was sticking up at the back, giving him the look of a cockatoo. The again, that was how his parents had cut his hair…did this woman know instinctually how they had looked before they had run away?
The assistance, Shizune returned, but the only thing she had seemed to have done with the boys was trim their hair and tie it back. All three of them seemed pleased with this arrangement.
Hinata and Sakura were now both sporting short hair. Then again, before their baths it had been hard to tell if they did have short or long hair since he had knotted itself into a big ball, but he could see their eyes again. Their bangs had been so long before that it had almost been impossible to really see any of their faces.
"Everyone lets have a look at you," Tsunade said moving off to them and speaking in higher voice then usual, "My what pretty little…" her eyes took in the Hyuuga eyes, Naruto's whiskers, Gaara's rings, and Sakura's bright pick hair and something seemed to connect, "chil…dren…" She sat down very fast, "I need a drink, now!"
The assistant handed something to her, "I knew that you wouldn't want to drink in front of the children, so I've made some lemonade!"
Tsunade looked like she wanted to cry but refused to do it in public.
"Alright, assorted mudpuppies," Tsunade said over the meal, "it's story time."
They had all been silent ever since Tsunade had realized who they were. The meal had been brought in very soon and for while all they were doing was staring at their food or, in the case of Naruto, trying to inhale as much food as humanly possible.
Everyone looked up with what they were eating, and looked at each other.
"You're all going to tell me what you're doing here," Tsunade said in a sweet voice that somehow made Naruto know that if they didn't, there would be major problems, "Ok, who's the leader?"
They all raised their hands.
Tsunade's eye twitched.
"Who's the head leader?"
Naruto raised his hand.
"You?" Tsunade looked somewhat incredulous.
"Whadda mean 'me'!" Naruto said indignately, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, the future Hokage of Kohona!"
Tsunade snorted.
"What a stupid kid," she muttered, "talking about things like that. Only an idiot would what to be Hokage."
"I'm not an idiot!" Naruto yelled, jumping up, "The Old Man said I was his heir, and he wasn't stupid!"
"Sarutobi-sensei proclaimed some gaki his heir. That he must've been going senile before he was killed. I bet the counsel loved that."
"They didn't know," Sasuke muttered.
"The Sandaime was dying when he did it," Sai informed her.
Naruto and Sasuke both jumped Sai and forced him under the table.
"What did he say?" Tsunade had stood up and her eyes were very wide.
"Nothing," Neji said, "When he has nothing to say he talks nonsense."
Gaara and Haku nodded in agreement, but Kimimaro looked somewhat confused. Naruto realized with a little panic that although he had told him all about what had happened, he hadn't told him that they were being looked for. For some reason it had completely slipped his mind. It just hadn't seemed important at the time. It didn't seem like anyone really noticed them or that any adults were going to no. Only Hinata and Neji's eyes would betray them, and they were working on making a genjustu that would make their eyes appear brown, but at the moment all they could do was close their eyes or keep them down so that no one noticed. The long bangs had helped.
"Sarutobi-sensei was dying when you were made his heir…" she said thoughtfully, "You're saying that you saw him being killed by Rock nins and they didn't notice you?"
"There weren't any Rock nin to see," Sai's voice said under the table.
Sasuke sat on him.
"I read the report." Tsunade said, "Assassination by Rock nin. Danzou's a warmonger, but the old fossil wouldn't lie about that, even to get into a war with Iwa. I don't know what you kids are doing here, but your families are worried about you."
"No they're not," Kimimaro said, "Naruto and Sai don't have any parents, Hinata and Neji were disowned from their clan, Sasuke's family never really cared, Gaara's father tried to kill him, Haku's parents are dead, and my clan were killed in an attack on Kiri. Sakura's parents are the only ones who might have cared."
"So you ran off as some sign of protest, and you six helped to start a war that's already killed a lot of people," Tsunade looked disgusted.
Naruto felt rage boil in him. Not only had this woman said that the Sandaime was stupid, but was calling them liars.
"We didn't run away because we wanted to! All of us had to. Sakura-chan, Hinata, Neji, Sasuke, Sai and I saw the old man being killed by that Danzou guy. He wasn't killed by Rock nin! We saw it!"
"Shut up, Naruto!" Sasuke and Neji hissed, but Naruto wasn't listening.
"Ya want proof?" Naruto asked, "The old man told us to hide these scrolls!"
Naruto took off the Scroll of Sealing and started to wave it around in the air. Tsunade seemed to recognize it, because she made a grab for it. Naruto danced out of her reach, but was caught a moment later.
"Tsunade-sama," Shizune said looking over her shoulder, "is that really..?"
"Yes," she said, nodding, "It's the real Scroll of Seals, and those kids couldn't have gotten their hands on this without help. I assume that all of those scrolls came from Konoha?"
"Mine, Sakura-chan's, Hinata's Neji's, Sai's, and Gaara's. Sasuke's came from his aniki, and Kimimaro's came from the Kaguya library," Naruto ignored the murderous looks of the others.
The sound of the rain was the only thing that broke the silence of the room. Naruto had the feeling that Tsunade was thinking hard about something. Her eyes were extremely hard and she was looking at him, but didn't seem to really see him.
"So, what are you going to do?" she asked after a long time of staring.
"We're going to get stronger," Naruto told her, "Then we're going to go back to Konoha and stop Danzou, and I'm going to take over as Hokage!"
"You think that the nine of you can stop Danzou and the war machine he's building?" she asked scornfully.
"I don't care what it takes!" Naruto replied, "I won't ever take back my words! I promised the Old Man I'd be a Hokage like no one else! I'm going to be the greatest Hokage ever! I'll crush Danzou!"
"You know," Tsunade said her tone somewhat different, "you're a man, and a man never takes back his words…stop now…and we'll forget it, and Konoha. Konoha is corrupt you know…and it's not wrong not to want to be it's savior. Sarutobi-sensei was delirious. He didn't mean to make you say those things. Stop now, and forget what you saw, I'll even let you come with me...Konoha deserves its fate…"
There was dead silence in the room for a minute and then the room erupted with noise.
Naruto was yelling that he would never take back his word even if it meant that he had to die himself. Sasuke was yelling that if Naruto didn't keep his word, he would beat him up until he did. Sakura was both giving her confidence that Naruto would never break his word and threatening to kill him if he did. Neji was calling Tsunade a few very rude words. Sai was helping Neji. Hinata was telling Naruto that he didn't have to prove anything to this woman, and that they should just leave. Kimimaro was saying that this woman was testing them, and she wanted something. Haku and Shizune was telling all of them to settle down
"SHUT UP!" Tsunade's head seemed to get very large and there was a vein coming out on her forehead.
Dead silence reigned again.
"You brats are lucky I'm such a nice person," Tsunade said irritably, "I'm going to let you stay the night, and you," she pointed at Naruto, "would you like to make a little bet with me?"
"Bring it, Baa-chan!" Naruto yelled.
The vein appeared on Tsunade's forehead again, but she didn't act on it.
"Alright, gaki, if, by the time you're twelve, you've proven to me that you have to stuff to reach kage level, I'll acknowledge you as future Hokage, and I'll give you this necklace. If you haven't, you have to give it up being Hokage and never return to Konoha. Cause if you can't impress me, there's no way you could beat Danzou.
"You're on!" Naruto shouted back at her.
For a moment, Tsunade was reminded of Nawaki and Dan by Naruto's grin and constant yelling about being Hokage. Just for a moment. Maybe that was why she made that bet. These kids were infectious.
"You brats'll stay here tonight," Tsunade told them, "Shizune, let's go,"
Both woman left and closed the door.
"Tsunade-sama," Shizune began, "Do you mind if I ask a question?"
"What?"
"Why did you make that bet, I mean…we're not going to be seeing those children again are we?"
"Maybe we will, and maybe I'll help them a little. They're trash that Kohona wants to get rid of, and anything that Kohona hates already has some kudos with me."
"What about the other ones?"
"You mean the stays they picked up?" Tsunade shrugged, "I always heard that misery loved company, but I guess it's more that things that are miserable are magnetically attracted to each other."
"But…would you keep all nine of them?" Shizune looked rather worried.
"I don't know what I'm going to do with them yet. I made the bet because I have nothing to lose, and because if that kid does try to take on Danzou and he and his friends aren't tough enough, they'll be killed the same as all those other people who've wasted their lives for an ideal that they couldn't possibly reach."
"And you don't want them to die?"
"What kind of monster do you think I am, Shizune?" Tsunade looked faintly amused.
"Gomenasai,"
The explosion of thunder jerked Tsunade awake from a dream of Dan. She hated those dreams so much. Tsunade was sure that it had something to do that that obnoxious kid who had been constantly shouting about being Hokage. She sat up and looked around. Another flash of lightning illuminated the room that she and Shizune were staying in. Shizune was sound asleep.
Tsunade stood up and crossed the room silently, not knowing what was bringing her into that room where the kids were sleeping. She pressed her hand against the sliding panel that divided to two rooms and hesitated. What was she worried about? She couldn't understand the nagging feeling that was gnawing at her. She had to see what was happening in that room.
The door moved silently and another flash accompanied by an even louder roar of thunder showed her the room.
The kids had all moved into a sort of pile, where they were whispering together in frightened voices. They didn't seem to notice that Tsunade was even there. For a moment she was frozen in the door, but in a spilt second she had crossed the floor.
"Sh," she whispered to one of them, the blonde one, Naruto, "It's just a storm,"
"Says you," Naruto mumbled, "the woman at the orphanaged always told me it was a monster that ate bad kids like me."
"We'll be fine," Sai's voice sounded a little tight, "We always were, and it's better now that we have one another."
Hinata sniffed, "Father would be disgusted with me…" she mumbled.
Tsunade was disgusted, and before she knew it she had drawn them all towards her.
"Little child, Be not afraid.
The rain pounds harsh against the glass
Like an unwanted stranger
There is no danger.
I am here tonight,"
At first Tsunade didn't recognize the voice, but then realized that it was hers. The kids stopped they whisperings almost immediately, but all of them, even the older ones were looking at her in a strange, almost longing yet afraid. She realized that some of the younger ones, like the pink haired girl had been crying.
"Little child,
Be not afraid.
Though thunder explodes
And lightning flash
Illuminates your tearstained face
I am here tonight,
And someday you'll know
That nature is so
This same rain that draws you near me
Falls on rivers and land
And forests and sand
Makes the beautiful world that you see
In the morning."
All of them had inched as close to her as they could, crowding each other to get near her. Tsunade had never known that so many kids could manage to get their heads in her lap. All of them had such hungry eyes. They were like abandoned kittens, she realized, starved for affection. She remembered what the pale one had said about their parents not wanting them. This was probably the first time that anyone had sung some of them a lullaby.
"Little child,
Be not afraid.
The storm clouds mask your beloved moon
And its candlelight beams
Still keep pleasant dreams
I am here tonight."
Tsunade had made up this lullaby when she was younger for her brother. There was a genjustu in it to help someone sleep. Nawaki had been afraid of thunder to the point of near bedwetting, and it had been the only thing that helped. She had remembered that when her parents had been alive they had sung him to sleep in storms, and the night that they had been told that they had been killed on a mission, there had been a monstrous storm.
She had always thought that they had been what started it. When Nawaki died, she had sworn never to sing this again, but suddenly she was singing her lungs out to nine kids that had just come out of nowhere right to her.
"Little child,
Be not afraid.
The wind makes creatures of our trees
And the branches to hands
They're not real, understand
And I am here tonight,
And someday you'll know
That nature is so
This same rain that draws you near me
Falls on rivers and land
And forest and sand
Makes the beautiful world that you see
In the morning."
Already some of them were quiet, the rumble of the storm seemed forgotten as they closed their eyes. Hinata, the Hyuuga girl, had curled up and was smiling a little, Tsunade wondered if she was thinking of her mother.
"Nii-san?" Sasuke's sleepy voice asked, then he was silent.
Tsunade realized that she was stroking each of their heads in turn. They were all so small…had people really not cared about them?
"For you know, once even I
Was a little child
And I was afraid,
But a gentle someone always came
To dry all my tears
Trade sweet sleep the fears
And to give a kiss goodnight."
The Hyuuga boy was dead still with a small smile on his face.
Two of them were Jinchuuriki. It made sense for people to fear them so much, but was it really? This Naruto kid was the vessel for the Kyuubi, and he was hardly to be hated, aside from being load he was a good kid. Was it fair that these children were unwanted? Was if alright for someone to decide that that child was a wasted existence? Even when her parents had died, she had had Sarutobi, who had become like a father to her. What did these kids have?
"Well, now I am grown,
And these days have shown
Rain's a part of how life goes,
But it's dark and it's late,
So I'll hold you and wait
'til your frightened eyes do close,
And I hope that you'll know
That nature is so
This same rain that draws you near me
Falls on rivers and land
And forests and sand
Makes the beautiful world that you see
In the morning."
Naruto's eyes had shut, and there were tears coming out of them, and he had gotten some of the fabric of Tsunade's shirt into a death grip. Tsunade smiled a little, and felt her necklace with her free hand. One of the older boys, the one with the dark hair and pretty face, was crying as well.
"Mommy," Sakura whispered, moving closer to her.
She looked at the faces of the other children and sighed, but she sang the last three lines of the song, knowing that they were both a comfort and a promise.
"Everything's fine in the morning.
The rain will be gone in the morning,
But I'll still be here in the morning."
Naruto sighed a little and the others moved closer to her, and Tsunade felt her heart, carefully frozen with years of practice and memories, melt. She wouldn't be able to
It had truly been the worst possible of omens.
Omake: Insomnia
Tsunade was broken from her revelry by Gaara stirring. He lifted up his head and looked shyly at her.
"That was a pretty song," he told her.
"You're supposed to be asleep," Tsunade said looking someone confused.
"Oh, I can't sleep," Gaara said softly, "The monster will eat my mind if I sleep. No one believes me, but it's true."
"I believe you," Tsunade assured him.
This was the vessel of Shikaku, and the seal on him was good for some kind of inanimate object, but not a person. She was surprised that this kid was as sane as he appeared. Most vessels were completely nuts from not being able to sleep. Then again, this kid had been pretty unstable when his friend had been threatened.
"Does being unconscious count as being asleep?" Tsunade asked smiling.
"I don't think so, because once I tripped and hit my head, and I didn't get eaten," Gaara told her thoughtfully.
"I see," Tsunade said.
Faster then Gaara's sand could react, she had touched a pressure point. Gaara's eyes rolled back into his head he fell forward. Tsunade caught him and smirked. This ought to solve the problem of this kid. While she couldn't do it very much, once a month ought to help this kid stay in his right mind.
"Sweet dreams, brat,"