Naruko was sitting in her golden kimono with a lily pattern on it and her ocean blue obi in her home and was in a somewhat somber mood as she watched the rain fall down as she sat on the deck of her backyard.
Jiraiya was playing a game of shogi with Karin, who had finally moved in to her permanent home, and she was winning too, much to Jiraiya's shock.
Haku was calmly reading as she looked at the match between her newest mistress and her lady's new sensei every now and then.
Naruko let out a sigh as she did a rewind in her mind during the funeral of the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
While the man had indeed caused most of her problems by announcing her status, he was the only human who tried to care for her during her childhood.
She did hold a lot of respect for the man and she was truly saddened by his passing, but he went like any Hokage would, all for the sake of protecting the village.
"Jiraiya-sensei, who is going to be select as the next Hokage?" Naruko asked with a twinge of curiosity. As whoever it was, she needed to know how this person would affect her standing in the village.
Jiraiya, realizing that he was going to lose, turned his head so his large ponytail would swipe over the board, thus knocking the pieces over and answered her.
"Hey you cheater! You did that on purpose!" Karin shouted in outrage.
Jiraiya waved her off as she started to pick up the piece in anger and trying to set them up back where they were.
"Not too sure really. There are a few people, but we'll have to wait and see." The sage commented.
A knock came from the gate and the alert seal on it informed them.
Haku stood up and laid her book on the floor and walked outside to see the visitors.
As she opened the gate, Haku was surprised to see the village elders and Danzo.
"Greetings elders, Shimura-san." Haku said with a curt nodded.
"We believe Jiraiya-kun is here correct, also we wish to speak to Uzumaki-kun about her performance during the exam and invasion." Homura said as he adjusted his glasses.
Haku nodded and escorted them in.
Naruko turned her head and saw the elders and Danzo enter her home with a bit of surprise. She guessed it was mostly to see Jiraiya.
Jiraiya expected to see the elders, but wondered why Danzo was here too.
Haku had prepared some tea for everyone and both she and Karin sat in the corner of the room to stay out of the way.
Koharu decided to start, "Jiraiya-kun, we need to discuss who will become the next Hokage and since you are the only one-"
"Not going to happen." Jiraiya said cutting her off.
"Jiraiya-kun, see reason!" Homura said
"You're forgetting that there is someone even more qualified for the job." He hinted
Koharu gasped, "You can't mean her?" she asked
Jiraiya nodded, "Yep."
Danzo snorted, "She's been away from the village far too long and we know she won't come back." He commented
Jiraiya sent him a glare, "Well, name one who would be more qualified than her?" he challenged
Danzo said nothing.
"Thought so. I'll set out to get her in the morning." Jiraiya said
"Very well, we'll gather an Anbu squad for you by the morning." Homura said
Jiraiya waved him off, "No, they'll only slow me down."
"At least take Kakashi-kun with you." Koharu said
Jiraiya shook his head, "No, I got someone else in mind." He said grinning at Naruko.
Naruko raised an eyebrow at her sensei, "May I know who we are looking for?" she asked
"Why my old team-mate Senju Tsunade of course." He said
Naruko nodded, "Yes, taking me with you would be beneficial due to our relation and show her that even though most of her family has passed she still has family alive due to Mito-Oba-sama being her grandmother and my great great grandaunt." The blonde concluded.
Jiraiya nodded, but he also knew that if anyone could get Tsunade out of her funk it would be Naruko.
Koharu and Homura agreed as due to their relation it may very well work.
"Also it would be wise to take Karin-chan with us due to her sensory ability and thus tracking someone of Kage level chakra much easier." Naruko added
Karin got stars in her eyes at the thought of meeting someone like Tsunade and remembering that they were also distantly related. This was going to be awesome!
The elders agreed to this as well, since the meeting of the redheaded Uzumaki with the Sandaime was interesting as her sensory ability was indeed extraordinary.
"Uzumaki-san, may I inquire about the suddenly large amount of power you used against the Ichibi Jinchuuriki?" Danzo asked with interest laced in his voice.
All talks about Tsunade were put on hold after that question.
Jiraiya wanted to comment on that too, but wanted to wait till they hit the road.
As he remembered seeing that tower of light hit the Ichibi in the distance and also when that very light erupted in the sky...the war had stopped! Everyone, Konoha, Suna, and Oto, just stared at the light in both awe and fear.
After seeing the Ichibi defeated, it caused most of the Suna-nin to retreat and the Oto-nin were taken down easily due to the lack of support from their retreating allies.
It seemed Danzo had other plans.
"What I preformed is something only I can do." She stated cryptically.
"Yes, but what was it?" he pushed further.
Naruko smiled at him, "The power of a King." She answered cryptically again.
Danzo frown and didn't ask further since the blonde would most likely continue to answer cryptically.
"Ah yes, your performance in the exam was superb Uzumaki-kun. While it is normally the job of the Hokage to give out the promotion of Chunin rank, but since it was already decided you are one from the exam, congratulations on becoming Chunin, even if it is unofficial." Homura said as he handed her a sealing scroll that had a flank jacket inside.
Naruko nodded and smiled, "Thank you. I will continue to do my very best." She said with genuine excitement in her voice.
Jiraiya smiled and ruffled her hair, much to Naruko's dismay, "Nice going gaki, I saw your match too and it was really impressive." He complimented with sincerity.
Naruko gave him a soft smile, "Thank you, Jiraiya-sensei." She said in a soft whisper.
Haku and Karin had congratulated her as well and the two Uzumaki's headed to their rooms to get ready for their new mission as Haku followed them.
The elders and Danzo had departed as well and Jiraiya said they would leave in the morning and meet at the front gate.
'Senju Tsunade...I hope our meeting will be wonderful.' Naruko thought with a big smile at meeting her distant relative in person.
Truly she was in for a surprise.
0 Konoha, front gate 0
Naruko and Karin were walking to the gate to meet Jiraiya, but they had some extra baggage with them or rather yet hugging Naruko's leg.
"Take me with you!" shouted Tenten from the ground.
Both had stopped at Tenten's shop to restock on weapons and get Karin some new clothes to wear.
The short haired redhead was currently wearing a black skirt with long black thigh height stockings and black Shinobi sandals with a pair of black gloves and a navy long sleeve shirt with a brown short sleeve jacket with an Uzumaki swirl on the back of it and a Konoha headband on a blue cloth on her forehead.
When they said they were going on a searching mission and Karin said they were going to find Tsunade, Tenten's idol, the bun haired girl latched onto Naruko's leg and wouldn't let go.
"This was a mission specifically assigned by the elders to both Karin-chan and I along with Jiraiya-sensei Ten-chan, you would have to take it up with them." Naruko said as she continued walking without much difficulty with the added weight to her leg and glared lightly at Karin for saying the mission parameter.
Karin just looked apologetic towards her relative at her slip.
Tenten whined at this and still wouldn't let go.
They finally made it to the gate and Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at the girl latched on to his students' leg.
"Something you're not telling me?" he asked jokingly.
Naruko sighed, "Jiraiya-sensei Tenten my best friend, Ten-chan Jiraiya." She said plainly as she introduced them to each other.
"Hi Jiraiya-sama." Tenten as she still held on to the blondes' leg.
"Hi to you too. Can you please let go of my students' leg now?" he asked as put his hands on his hip.
"But I want to meet Tsunade-sama!" Tenten whined again.
Jiraiya looked to Naruko for an elaboration.
"Tsunade is Ten-chan's idol since we were kids." The blonde answered.
Jiraiya nodded, "Ah, I see. You know, the sooner we leave the sooner we can get her back so you can meet her, I mean, I'm sure if you let Naruko go I can set up a meeting between the two of you." He suggested with amusement.
Tenten thought this over and reluctantly agreed and let go of Naruko.
"Bye Ten-chan! Watch Haku-chan for me while I'm gone. See ya soon!" Naruko said as she waved at Tenten from the gate.
Karin gave her relatives' friend a wave too and followed Naruko as they both followed Jiraiya.
0 On the road again 0
They walked down the dirt road heading to their destination until Karin decided to ask a few questions.
"So...why did you pick Naruko as your apprentice?" Karin asked interrogatingly as she had her Kagura Shingan-(Mind's Eye of the Kagura) active to see if he would lie.
Jiraiya hummed a little and took about a minute to come up with his answer, "To be honest...I see a lot of my old student in her." He started, but Naruko cut him off with a growl.
"DO. NOT. Compare me with that man." The blonde had literally snarled that man.
Jiraiya remained composed, but Karin could feel sadness admit from his chakra when Naruko said that...curious.
"I only say that because of how talented you are gaki." Jiraiya said in a whisper, "You can hate him all you want, but you have the ability to surpass him with the way you're going...and I'm going to help you." He said as his voice went back to normal by the end of his sentence.
Naruko huffed, "I swore on my sword I would already surpass him and I plan to." She said as she walked a bit ahead of the group to calm down.
Jiraiya sighed, "Great." He muttered
"She'll calm down in a bit." Karin whispered to him.
Jiraiya gave her a half smile and nodded at the redhead's assistance at understanding his new pupil.
"So what is Tsunade-sama like?" Karin asked in interest.
"Well, she is by far one of the most powerful and beautiful kunoichi you'll ever know and she's known as the legendary sucker." He said and a kunai flew to his head, which he caught, "Now now gaki, no throwing sharp objects at your sensei outside of practice." He chastised lightly.
Naruko just stared at him blankly, "Call one of my relatives my such a lewd name again...and it will be more than just a kunai you'll have to worry about." The blonde said in a monotone voice.
Jiraiya thought for a second and just laughed, "Sorry, it was just a nickname she picked up from her terrible luck at gambling gaki...and besides if I said something like that to her she would kill me in a heartbeat." He whispered towards the end of his sentence.
"Really?" Karin asked with her head tilted to the side as she had heard him.
Jiraiya shivered a bit, "Without a doubt, hime's got one hell of a temper."
"Then she and Karin-chan will no doubt get along beautifully." Naruko quipped as she joined the group.
"What was that?" Karin shouted in anger.
Naruko just pointed at her, "My point in full bloom." She said with a crooked smile.
"If you weren't such a power house, I'd kick your ass." Karin muttered as she folded her arms and had a pout on her face.
Naruko just patted her head, "No worries, you'll be a good sparring partner in time."
Karin just pouted further since Naruko was just making fun of her now.
Jiraiya laughed at the family interaction since they had only met a month ago and were already so synced...must be a girl thing he guessed.
0
As the group walked through a post station, they enter a small hotel and Jiraiya saw a pretty black haired girl winking at him and he gained a goofy grin, "Hey kids, why don't you go to the room and I'll...meet with you later."
Naruko sighed, "Be sure to came back soon as you remember we are on a mission." She said as she and Karin went to their room to relax for a little.
They sat for a while and Karin suddenly jolted up in surprise.
Naruko raised an eyebrow at her relative, "What?" she said with some concern.
"Tw-two Kage-level chakra signatures just entered town and are headed here at high speed!" the redhead said with some fear.
Naruko softly cursed, "Do you mean here." The blonde said as she pointed at the floor, indicating their room.
Karin nodded her head yes.
"Go find Jiraiya-sensei, I'll stall." Naruko said as she grabbed some scrolls she carried and looked through them.
"But-" Karin started in protest, but Naruko placed a finger on her lips.
"You are my family; you can find sensei faster due to your sensory ability and get him here faster. Out of the two of us, I have more experience with fighting S-class Shinobi due to my training with Jiraiya-sensei, now go." Naruko finished
Karin nodded and jumped out of the window to find the white haired Sannin.
Naruko breathed to calm herself and checked her gear and prepped.
She couldn't help but wonder what they wanted. Sure, capturing an Uzumaki and having her repopulate her clan in a different village could be a reason, killing her before she became more of a threat, or were they after Jiraiya? These and many other questions filled her head till she heard a knock at the door.
"Coming." She answered and placed her hand into a single hand sign and leaped out of the window.
She whispered one word, "Katsu."
She had placed a strengthening seal on the door and placed four explosive tags on each corner of the door so she could launch the door like a cannonball and it would withstand the force of the blast, hopefully stalling her soon to be new friends for a few seconds.
As soon as she landed on the ground she started roof jumping and entered the forest near the post station so she could use more of her more wide-area attacks.
She was sure Karin could find her and maybe the noise of her attacks would help too.
'So who are we facing?' Kyuubi asked with some excitement as he woke up from sensing her distress.
'Two Kage-level Shinobi.' Naruko answered as she observed her surroundings.
Kyuubi grinned wildly, 'Excellent and since we're in this forest, I can guess that you'll be letting me out to play?'
'If it comes down to it...yes.' She thought back.
"Greetings Naruko-chan." A smooth voice said filling the air.
Naruko turned to see who she was facing, her eyes went wide when she saw her opponents eyes...his red eyes with three tomoes in them.
Kyuubi recognized them too and snarled.
'Uchiha/ Uchiha!' They both thought, though Kyuubi was thrashing in her mindscape in anger at seeing those eyes.
"Uchiha Itachi." Naruko spoke in a monotone voice, "For what reason do you would the only Uchiha I could probably tolerate, unlike that that pathetic brother of yours, want with me?"
"Seems you got a fan Itachi-san." A deeper voice said from Naruko's left flank.
Naruko turned her head and saw a blue skinned fish-like man with a huge bandaged bundle on his back.
They both seemed to be in black cloaks with red clouds on them.
"Hoshigaki Kisame, Kirigakure no Kaijin (Monster hidden in the mist) and O o Motanai Biju (Tailed beast without a tail), wielder of the famed sword Samehada." Naruko commented
"Oh ho, seems we got ourselves a smart one here Itachi-san." Kisame said with a deep chuckle.
"I just like to read the bigger for my britches side of the Bingo book for future reference when I wished to fight some individuals of your caliber gentlemen." Naruko said in an amused tone.
Kisame snorted at the gentlemen line.
"Your little door maneuver was interesting Naruko-chan, but I ask you to come with us." Itachi said
Naruko summoned Kubikiri Houcho and held it in a guard position.
Kisame gave a whistle, "Kubikiri Houcho? Did that weakling Zabuza-chan loose to a little bitty genin?" he asked with deep interest.
"He said he was impressed with my Kenjutsu skills and gave it to me before he died a Shinobi's death...and I am a Chunin just for future reference." Naruko answered, trying to stall for time.
"Oi Itachi-san, can I fight her? I want to see what Zabuza-chan saw in her." Kisame asked with a toothy grin.
Itachi sighed, "Try not to play with her for too long and be sure to keep her alive." He commented in a light chiding tone.
Kisame just waved him off as he pulled Samehada off his back.
Naruko faced Kisame in a half turn as she still guarded herself incase Itachi decided to join in.
She breathed and released her gravity seals, reinforced her body to the maximum, and flooded her body with chakra to enhance her body as she was going to need it.
0 With Karin 0
Karin had her Kagura Shingan on and she finally found Jiraiya with his lady friend. She looked at the lady for a second and felt that she had a genjutsu around her.
"Jiraiya-sama! Two Kage-level Shinobi entered town and are fighting Naruko! That lady's under a genjutsu too!" the redhead shouted as she did a Genjutsu Kai on the lady and she promptly fell asleep.
Jiraiya cursed loudly and grabbed Karin by her waist to carry her, "Where?" he demanded from the sensor and Karin pointed to the outskirts of town.
Jiraiya nodded and ran as fast as he could.
0 With Naruko 0
Naruko jumped over Kisame and brought her head cleaver sword down to clash with the shark skin and the force from the two colliding attacks caused a shockwave.
Kisame grabbed her leg while she was in mid air and tossed her into a tree, but Naruko recovered in mid-air and landed on the tree, causing it to crack from her landing.
Naruko pushed herself off the tree with Prana Burst, destroying the tree, and launched herself at Kisame like a blue bullet and made another shockwave from the force of their blows.
They stayed in deadlock and Naruko glared at the shark man and Kisame grinned at her like no tomorrow.
"You are good girly, man if you were from Kiri I would have loved to have you as an apprentice." The swordsman commented.
"Zabuza said the same thing." Naruko stated
"Of course he would have, you're a gem in Kenjutsu." Kisame said as he pushed forward and Naruko spun around the push and went to cut his legs, but Kisame jumped over it and slammed his sword at his grounded target, but Naruko rolled out of the way just in time, as Kisame made a decent size crater from his attack.
Before she could recover, Kisame was already over her and went for another powerful strike, but she blocked with the cleaver and felt the pressure from the strike causing a crater under her.
She did a quick Prana Burst to get some distance and saw Kisame just grinning at her, waiting for her to move like a shark watching its prey.
'Let me out! Let me kill that monkey eyed bastard!' Kyuubi shouted in her head.
'I can't! Samehada is a sentient sword that eats chakra. A perfect weapon to fight a Jinchuuriki with...almost too perfect...wait!' "Are you after Kyuubi?" she asked aloud.
Kisame chuckled, "How'd ya know?"
"The Sharingan can repress a Biju's chakra and your sword can eat chakra. Perfect tools to capture or beat a Jinchuuriki and their Biju." Naruko concluded
"Definitely a smarty." Kisame said with a snicker.
"Yes, she is very astute to come to that conclusion just based off the Sharingan and Samehada."Itachi commented with a bit of praise in his tone, "Kushina-san would no doubt be proud." He added
That got Naruko to stop her charge at Kisame and she looked at Itachi in shock, "How did you-" she asked, but Itachi cut her off.
"Our mother's were in fact friends. I had met her a few times as a child, very tomboyish, but she was a kind woman and a powerful Kunoichi in her own right." The Uchiha commented.
"If they were friends, then why didn't she look after me?" Naruko asked with a glare.
Itachi merely shrugged, "Who knows." He said aloofly.
Naruko just glared at him for not answering her.
"Oi, we are done here!" Kisame shouted as he was being ignored.
Honestly, Itachi just had to ruin his fun by messing with the gaki's head...the killjoy.
"Itachi!" a shouted called out.
They turned to see Sasuke breathing hard and glaring murder at the older Uchiha.
"Hey Itachi-san, he looks kinda like you...who is he?" Kisame asked with mild interest.
Itachi sighed in an uncaring manner, "My little brother." He answered
"Oh, I remember hearing you kept one alive. So that's him huh? Doesn't look that impressive." The fish man said, "Wonder how he found us?"
"He isn't and he probably followed the sound of the shockwaves we were making during our fight." Naruko said in annoyance.
"Hm, I guess we were kinda loud." He said nodding in understanding, "You don't like the duckbutt gaki?" Kisame asked with an amusing grin.
Naruko huffed, "He always thought he was the best, but I beat him every time in the academy. 50 Ryo says he charges at Itachi like an idiot." She stated
Kisame snorted, "No genin is that stupid."
"He is, trust me." Naruko said reassuring him.
"Deal." Kisame said knowing that the kid would have to be brain damaged to attack an S-rank nuke-nin with a frontal charge.
"For all my life, I've loathed you, hated you, and swore to kill you! Feel my hatred Itachi!" Sasuke shouted in fury as he charged at Itachi with a kunai in hand.
Kisame's mouth opened in shock at the kids' stupidity. He muttered angrily and searched his pockets and handed the blonde 50 Ryo.
The blonde just smiled, "Don't bet against an Uzumaki." She quipped as she counted the bills.
"Yeah, yeah." Kisame muttered in sadness at losing his snack money.
"Ah!" Sasuke yelled as he ran at Itachi.
The older brother caught Sasuke's wrist without effort and snapped.
Sasuke bellowed in pain.
"Go away Sasuke, you do not interest me." The older Uchiha said in annoyance.
Itachi then threw Sasuke right into a tree, which caused the younger Uchiha to cough up blood. Before he could even land on the ground, Itachi grabbed him by his throat and pushed him deeper into the tree.
"You are weak little brother. Do you know why? You lack hatred." He whispered to Sasuke, who was on the border of being unconsciousness.
"Tsukuyomi." Itachi muttered as his Sharingan took a pinwheel shape and looked right into Sasuke's eyes and showing him the horrors of what he did that very night he killed their clan.
Sasuke screamed in horror as he passed out.
Kisame gave a low whistle, "Geez Itachi-san, using that Jutsu on family and twice in one day, damn." He said as he turned to Naruko, "Why didn't you help your fellow Shinobi girly? Thought you Konoha Shinobi were all about that?" he asked in amusement.
Naruko shrugged, "The little fool decided to attack him, not my problem. Besides, you would have stopped me anyway, true?" she asked the fish man.
Kisame chuckled, "True, very true."
"Kiddy gloves are off now though." Naruko said with a smirk.
"Oh, you were holding out on me? That's not very nice." Kisame said in a mock hurt tone.
Naruko shined gold and was in her armor and sealed her zanbatou while summoning her Noble Phantasm coated in Invisible Air.
Kisame raised an eyebrow at this. What did she think she was, a knight? He thought.
"I am Konoha's Saber, prepare yourself!" Naruko declared as she charged at him.
Kisame grinned, "Saber huh? Let's see what you can really do!" he shouted in return as he raised his sword in to the air.
"AHHH!" Naruko shouted as she went for a horizontal slash.
Their swords clashed, but then a screech occurred.
"GIIIIIIGIGIGIGI!" Shouted Samehada, as its bandages ripped off, showing its scaly surface all jetted out with the a mouth at the top of it, and started moving away from the invisible weapon.
"The crap!" Kisame said in shock as he jumped back and Samehada wiggled about as it tried to get as far away from Naruko as possible.
'What in the world? Why is his sword having a panic attack? It came in contact with Invisible Air which is a boundary field...made of Prana! That's it; it can't stand Prana. I have a chance.' She concluded in her mind as she charged at the fish man again.
'What's wrong with Samehada? What the hell is that thing that's making it bug out like this?' Kisame thought as he saw the blonde charging at him and he slipped the shark skin back on his back as he drew a kunai and tried to block the invisible sword.
He tried and failed as she managed to get a cut on his arm. Oh now he was pissed! A Genin, no, Chunin, got a hit on him, he had a reputation dammit!
He jumped back and went through a string of handsigns, "Suiton: Suikōdan no Jutsu-(Water Release: Water Shark Bullet Technique)!" Kisame said as he sent the water shark from his hand to Naruko who was racing at him again.
Naruko smirked as she ran right into the shark and as soon as she made contact with it, it burst back to water and she just kept running at Kisame.
The fish man threw a handful of kunai at her at high speed and she paused mid-run to deflect them all and Kisame used her pause to get behind her and went to punch her.
Before the swordsman could get his hit in, he jumped out of the way as a red and white blur drop kicked where he once was, creating a small crater.
"Karin, now!" the Sannin shouted and a blue and red blur flew through the air and headed for Itachi. The Uchiha jumped out of the way, but he wasn't the target. Sasuke was picked up and the blue thing flew over the trees.
There on a blue eagle, with artistic patterns making it up, was Karin with on its back with five wires coming from one of her gloved hands, as she held Sasuke by the collar of his jumpsuit.
The redhead glared at them with her ruby red eyes and flew back next to Jiraiya as she dropped Sasuke on the ground.
She flexed her hand and the wire construction dissolved back to the wires and she flicked her fingers and they changed to five small eagles and her other hand already had wires stretching out of them too, ready to use.
"Bout time." Naruko muttered to them as she stood behind the Sannin, but stayed on her guard.
"Sorry." Karin muttered back sarcastically.
"Guess what I heard was right. Your group Akatsuki is after Naruko, big mistake." Jiraiya said in a grave tone.
Naruko narrowed her eyes at this information.
"It seems you were the one who told Kakashi about us, I should have guessed." Itachi said as he turned to Kisame, "The odds aren't in our favor, we're leaving." The Uchiha said.
"Not a chance! Kuchiyose: Gamaguchi Shibari-(Summoning: Toad Mouth Bind)!"The sage said out loud.
Before they knew it, everyone was inside a strange pink flesh-like substance.
"Welcome to the esophagus of the fire breathing toad of Mount Myouboku, you're trapped." Jiraiya said to the nuke-nin.
"Ew." Karin said as she gave a light shiver in disgust at the jutsu. Effective or not, being inside a toad was gross to her!
The enemy ran to the far wall of the jutsu and Itachi muttered something as his Sharingan changed back into a pinwheel pattern, "Amaterasu."
Just then, black flames erupted upon the fleshy wall and destroying it, letting them escape.
"What in Akasha's name." Naruko muttered as he walked up to the flames as her armor dissolved into gold particles.
Jiraiya was about to warn her to stay away from it till he saw what she was doing.
In one fluid motion, Naruko pulled out a blank scroll from her hip pouch and had it opening as brought it in front of her and was already writing a seal array in mid-air. Finishing, she dropped it on the ground and slammed her hand on it, "Fuin (Seal)!" she shouted as she preformed the Fūka Hōin-(Fire Sealing Method) and the black flames were absorbed into the scroll, leaving the kanji for Black Fire on it.
She closed the scroll and stored it into her pouch as she turned to Jiraiya, "When was I going to be told that there is a group of nuke-nin after Kyuubi aka me?" She asked in a no nonsense attitude with her hands on her hips.
Jiraiya was so enticed by her fluidity in sealing that he shook his head and decided to answer, "I was doing my usual spy work when I heard about a group of S-Rank nuke-nin forming a group and were after the Biju. I dug around a bit and found out that they have been around for a few years."
"Do we know how many they have?" Naruko answered in a whisper, one could hear the slight fear in her tone. After all, she was being hunted like an animal by people who wanted the Biju for who knows what. Not just her, but others like her and that made her angry beyond anything.
Jiraiya shook his head.
'Of course we Jinchuuriki have to be hurt even further. It's just how this violent world we live in works I guess.' She thought in sadness.
Karin walked up to her and gave her a light hug which the blonde returned.
"Jiraiya-sama!" shouted the voice of Gai as he raced to the group.
"Thank goodness you are all alright. We had a run-in with Uchiha Itachi and his most un-youthful partner back in Konoha. They said they were after Naruko-chan." He said as he looked at the blonde who was still being held by her relative, "Thankfully it looks like she's fine. Tenten would have been most upset if something happened to her." The Taijutsu master said as he turned back to Jiraiya, "Young Sasuke went after you when he heard that Itachi was looking for her, do you know where he is?" he asked the sage.
Jiraiya thumbed at the young Uchiha on the ground, "Take him back to Konoha and straight to the hospital, it looks like Itachi hit him with something bad." The Sannin said.
Gai nodded as he lifted Sasuke onto his back, "I shall, may your youth burn brightly!" the bowl cut Shinobi shouted as he dashed back to Konoha with Sasuke.
"Let's head out." Jiraiya said as the girls nodded and followed.
0
They walked to the next town and were given the sight of a festival going on.
Naruko's face lit up in child-like wonder seeing all the lights and stalls with games and food.
Jiraiya gave a laugh at seeing such an innocent expression on her face for the first time since he met her, "Why don't you girls go around and have some fun." He suggested
Naruko froze realizing that she let her mask drop and quickly huffed and turned her head to the side, "I-I guess so." She said it with a small blush on her cheeks.
Both Jiraiya and Karin sweat dropped to this since they could see that she was trying to not act interested when she really was.
'Wonderful...I have a tsundere for a student.' Jiraiya thought with a face palm.
"Well anyway, let's see that wallet of yours." Jiraiya said
Naruko raised an eyebrow, "Why?" she asked
"Because as your sensei it's my job to make sure you don't succumb to the three taboos of Shinobi which money can lead to."
"Like what?" she challenged, she rarely spent her money unless she needed supplies or wanted to get something she thought was cute...but like hell she would tell anyone that.
"Alcohol, gambling, and women." Jiraiya answered automatically like he rehearsed it.
"One, I don't like alcohol, two, if I gamble, I win and I rarely gamble, and three...I'm a girl." Naruko said plainly.
"Just let me see it." Jiraiya said with a twitchy eye as Naruko debunked him on the taboos.
Naruko pulled out her lion plushie wallet that had a little crown on its head that she called Shishi-chan (Lion).
"Cute wallet." The sage commented in humor.
Naruko blushed and glared at him, "Shut up." She muttered, she liked her wallet; it was her favorite animal and the little crown she added to it just made it cuter in her opinion.
Jiraiya went to grab it, but was shocked by electricity instead.
He pulled his hand away with a yelp, "What the hell? Who booby traps their wallet?" He asked as he shook his hand to get the feeling back into it.
"If you're me, you do." Naruko answered simply.
"How'd you even do that?" he asked with interest, but careful not to touch it again in fear of another voltage going through him.
Naruko smirked at him, "I redesigned a shock seal and synced it to my chakra signature so I wouldn't get shocked too. I later added Ten-chan, Haku-chan, and Karin-chan's signatures as well." She said to him.
'Damn, now I got to spend my own money.' The Sannin thought glumly, "Alright, have fun." He said as he walked into the crowd.
"Let's go!" Naruko said as she grabbed Karin's arm and ran around the festival.
The girls went to the many stalls as they ate and played. Naruko managed to win a big Lion plush that she was determined to get and Karin just kept laughing at her as she carried it on her back with the plushies' head on top of hers.
They walked through the town and they heard an egotistical laugh echo from a building.
They saw Jiraiya with two women in a tavern laughing in drinking with the women.
'Hypocrite.' Both Naruko and Karin thought with a sweat drop.
"Jiraiya-sensei?" Naruko asked in slight disgust that she once again had a pervert as a teacher.
"Oh, Naruko Karin, how's it going?" he asked merrily seeing the prize Naruko was carrying.
"Who are they Jiraiya-sama?" one of the girls asked.
"The blonde one is actually my student while the redhead is her relative and they're helping me on a mission."
"Oh, what kind of mission." The other girl asked seductively.
"Now now, I can't tell you that." He said
The girls just pouted at him.
"We're going to the hotel, see you in the morning." Karin said as she grabbed Naruko and got out of there.
0 Next morning 0
They group got up and started to head out, but Jiraiya stop at the outskirts of the town.
He placed the backpack he had with him and turned to Naruko.
"Alright, I'm going to teach you a new jutsu." Jiraiya said in a serious tone.
"What jutsu?" Naruko asked excitedly.
Jiraiya held up his hand and a blue spinning orb appeared in his palm, "This is the Rasengan." He simply said.
Right on cue, Naruko glared at him.
"You want me to learn his technique! His signature move!" she shouted at him, "Never, I'm willing to learn from his sensei, but I will NOT learn his technique!" she said in defiance.
Jiraiya just smiled at her. He expected this alright and now he had to play her pride and urge to surpass Minato against her.
"Well he only finished half this jutsu. He never was able to figure out the other half of it." He said slyly.
Hey, if it took Minato's name taking a hit or two to get the girl to learn and use her birthright, then he would reluctantly do it.
He saw her wavering a bit and decided to go for the finishing blow, "I mean, if he couldn't finish it, then you probably won't be able to either." He said with a shrug.
Naruko's growl at underestimating her was music to his ears.
"Fine, I will learn it and I will finish what he couldn't. What do I have to do first?" she asked with determination.
Jiraiya grinned at her, "First step," he said as he took out a water balloon from his pack, "You have to pop this with just your chakra, like so." He said as the balloon became all bumpy and popped.
He tossed her one, which she caught, "Your turn." He said as he watched her.
Naruko held the balloon in her hand as she added chakra into the ball and had the chakra move in different directions. A few seconds later it popped.
Jiraiya was once again cursing Minato's genius gene that his daughter had gained, "Alright...second step, power. This is far more difficult than the first step; you have to pop this rubber ball with just your chakra." He said as he tossed it at her.
Naruko caught it and pumped her chakra into the rubber ball and did the same thing as before and a small hole opened in the ball as the air leaked out. Naruko was frowning at this and grabbed another ball from his pack and got into a thinking position.
'Thank Kami-sama! If she got the second step on the first try I'd probably have a seizure.' He thought in relief.
"I feel kind of left out." Karin said to him as he sat down for minute to watch Naruko work on the second step.
Jiraiya turned to the redhead, "Well that thing you did with those wires was damn impressive." He commented as he had never seen someone use wires like that! He was sure if he asked he would get the same reaction as he did from Naruko when he asked about her sword.
"Thanks, I learned from an Uzumaki scroll I found. It seemed interesting and it seems to fit with my sensory ability." Karin said with a small smile as she watched Naruko make a bigger hole in the rubber ball.
"Like an eye in the sky." Jiraiya joked with a hardy laugh.
"Yea." The glasses wearing girl said, "But I want to be more like Naruko." She muttered
"Why?" the sage asked.
"I mean, Naruko is meant to do great things, I can tell, but then there's me. Karin, just Karin. I'm not a prodigy like her or skilled like Haku or good with weapons like them and Naruko's friend Tenten. All I have is a powerful sensory ability, can literally erase my chakra signature while sacrificing the ability to use my chakra, and a unique wire skill that while combat oriented it's still far from mastered. I also have a weird healing ability that if I let people bite me, they can drain my chakra to heal themselves, but it leaves permanent marks so I stopped using it since I met Naruko." She described, "That's it." She said with some sadness as she hugged her legs.
She was happy that Nimue was able to heal her of her bite marks though.
She was still learning magic, but that could take years before she mastered some of the many fields of Magecraft and use it in combat.
When she got back she would have to study a lot more into it since Naruko mainly focused on the Shinobi arts and enhancement Magecraft, but she wanted to learn more about her roots and become a master of it.
Jiraiya hummed at this. This girl was his apprentices' family, so maybe a tip or two couldn't hurt, "How's your chakra control?" he asked
"Not medic worthy like Haku's if that's what you're going for, but decently high." She answered
"Why not try Genjutsu then? With those wire constructions of yours you can hide them in one and have it sneak up on an opponent or hell make them look real and it would seem you could summon multiple animals." The toad Sannin suggested.
Karin listened to the sage and nodded, "I always did have a like for it." She said with a smile.
"Then there you go. I hear Kurenai is great with it and I'm sure she would love to teach you her trade too." Jiraiya said with a smile.
A boom drew their attention to Naruko who just popped her rubber ball.
"I did it!" the blonde cheered.
Jiraiya shook his head, that girl was definitely great, "How'd you do it?" he asked his student.
"Remember my Chakra Chains? Well they are made from dense chakra, and so I stopped before the physical manifestation of the chains and focused just on the dense chakra that built up and bam! Got it to pop." The blonde answered.
"Good job gaki." He said as he picked up his backpack and threw a regular balloon at her, "Take a guess at what the third step is?" he questioned
"Put it all together in the balloon." She stated
"Right, but you'll be doing that on the road as we have to head out." Jiraiya said as he started walking to Tanzaku Gai.
The girls started walking and Naruko tried to do the third step, but it blew up in her face.
"Hahaha!" Jiraiya laughed at her and Naruko charged at him, but he was already running from her.
"Come back here!" Naruko shouted
"Hey! Wait up!" Karin shouted as she raced after them.
0 Tanzaku Gai 0
They finally arrived and saw the castle crushed.
"Damn." Jiraiya muttered in awe of the destruction, "Who pissed who off I wonder...maybe Hime is here." He said to himself and turned to Karin who yelped, "What?" he asked in a serious tone.
The redhead looked scared, "T-There's some residual chakra of snake face by the castle and a Kage level signature with a Jonin-level one a little bit away from the castle." Karin said
"Orochimaru huh?" Jiraiya said as he cupped his chin in a thinking position.
"That thing is here. Why can't anything be simple?" Naruko stated out loud.
"That's life of a Shinobi gaki, it's never simple. Now let's go see Hime." Jiraiya said as he instructed Karin to lead as the toad summoner's followed her.
As their walking reached an end, they arrived at a bar.
Entering it they spotted a blonde haired woman with a violet diamond on her forehead and a rather large chest was drinking in the bar. Next to her was a woman with black hair holding a pig.
"Jiraiya, what are you doing here?" the blonde asked with a bit of a slur.
"Just seeing the sights, you know all that kind of stuff." Jiraiya said with a shrug as he sat down in the booth as both Naruko and Karin sat down on his side.
"Well I'm seeing a lot of old faces today aren't I." Tsunade quipped as she took another sip of her drink.
Naruko snorted, "What would that filthy creature want?" Naruko asked in disgust.
"Just telling me the latest of what happened in Konoha." Tsunade said
"So...you heard about sensei." Jiraiya said solemnly.
"Yep, the snake said he did it himself." The healer said without an ounce of care.
"Bet it wasn't feeling that hot if it was coming to see you." Naruko commented
Tsunade turned to her fellow blonde as she squinted her eyes at the girl to get a better look at her.
She looked straight at the blondes' violet eyes, 'They seem so familiar, where have I seem them before?' she thought to herself, "Who are your little companions Jiraiya...don't tell me you've turned to cradle robbing now?" Tsunade asked with amusement knowing it would get a raise out of her old perverted teammate.
Jiraiya blanched at the accusation, "Hime! You know me better than that, I would never touch a girl under the age of eighteen." he said in indignation.
Naruko and Karin giggled at the man's antics.
Once she got her giggles in check, Naruko introduced herself, "I'm Uzumaki Naruko and it is a pleasure to meet my distant family." She said with a soft smile.
"Uzumaki!" Tsunade said in surprise, "Wait...are you-"
She was cut off, "Yes, I am Uzumaki Kushina's daughter and Mito-Obaa-sama's great great grandniece. Meaning we are closely related." Naruko said in a pleased tone.
Tsunade swallowed hard at hearing the term family, since the girl was basically related to her by blood.
"And this is Uzumaki Karin." Naruko said introducing the redhead.
"Hi Tsunade-sama." Karin said meekly as she gave small wave.
Two Uzumaki's, well three if she counted herself, but she was a Senju first and foremost. Tsunade thought.
Jiraiya smirked, he saw Tsunade trying to rack her brain around this and if he wasn't trying to get her back to Konoha, he would have laughed, "The gaki here's my apprentice." He said as he ruffled Naruko's hair and she swatted his hand away fixing her hair as she sent him a glare.
The sage seemed to love messing with her hair.
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Tsunade turned to Jiraiya, "I thought you swore off of having another apprentice since the last idiot you taught killed himself?" she asked in morbid humor.
Jiraiya just scowled at her.
Naruko snorted, "Finally, someone else sees him as an idiot too." She commented
Tsunade quirked her lips a bit, "Oh, no love for the great Yondaime?" she said with a bit of sarcasm.
Naruko just scowled at her, "He is the reason my entire life is a living hell."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow, "In what way?" she asked
"Jinchuuriki." Naruko said without care.
Tsunade's eyes widened at that, 'Damn, no wonder she hates Minato's guts.' She thought, "Well this has been a nice chat, but what are you really here for Jiraiya?" she asked
"Straight to the point huh? You remind me of another blonde." The sage said as he glanced at Naruko, "Must be a family trait." He joked, "Anyway, you can probably guess that Konoha is now without a Hokage. So the council has picked you as the next Hokage."
Tsunade snorted, "I may like gambling Jiraiya, but I'm no fool. You're just wasting your time if you came all the way here to tell me that. I refuse, since it's nothing more than a fools bet." She said as she took another sip of her drink.
"I mean, look at all the Hokage's thus far. Each had died at such a young age except for sensei and he got killed by his own mistake. So, no thanks." She finished
"Really?" Naruko asked her.
"Yep."
"So Nawaki and Dan were nothing more than fools?" Naruko asked innocently.
Tsunade's mood turned sour in a second at that, "What?" she asked in a grave tone.
"I remember reading a few of your journals back in the Senju compound. Nawaki, your younger brother wished to be Hokage to protect Hashirama-Ojii-sama's legacy while Dan, your lover wanted to become Hokage so he could protect Konoha. Since they wanted to be Hokage they must have been fools just like you said, right?" Naruko asked with a confused expression.
"Outside." Tsunade whispered harshly.
"Hm?"
"I said outside!" Tsunade roared as she filled the table over.
Naruko snorted, "Why? I beat you with a few words and now you want to fight me? Are you really that childish or is that the alcohol talking?" the younger blonde asked.
Faster than Naruko could react, Tsunade grabbed her and threw her out the bar, breaking the door.
-Play from Fate/Zero- The Stars Fall Down-
Naruko stood up and dusked herself off and sealessly made a pair of Kage Bunshin to cover her as she saw an enraged and drunk Tsunade step out of the doorway of the bar.
"You look like a child having a temper tantrum." Naruko mocked trying to get a raise out of her relative and it worked as Tsunade charged at her like a drunken bull at high speed.
Naruko jumped out of the way as she released her weight seals and reinforced her body.
Jiraiya and the others stepped out.
"Hime calm down." Jiraiya said trying to calm the situation.
"Shut. Up." Tsunade said in a deadly calm voice.
"Yes ma'am." Jiraiya said with a bit of fear.
Naruko rushed at Tsunade and before the female Sannin could counter the oncoming attack, three bladed chains from both sides of her shot out from the roofs of the surrounding buildings. She dodged them, but Naruko was already in front of her and delivered and devastating punch right into the side of her ribcage.
Tsunade went skidding a few feet and was healing her ribs as she glared at the sun-kissed blonde as two Kage Bunshin's jumped down from the roofs and next to her the original.
At least she was sobering up. Tsunade thought to herself.
The three charged at her and Tsunade punched the first one in her path and it erupted in smoke blinding her for a bit as the last two went for a pincer maneuver.
The slug princess saw them coming and went for the one on the right and due to her horrible luck, it was just a clone. She moved away just in time before she was hit by the original and went for a punch with a bit of power behind it to show the little genin her place.
Just as her fist was about to hit its target, she never saw Naruko's eyes turn red.
A large crater came from the impact and as the dust settled, everyone's eye widened in surprise.
There was Naruko with a large orange tail coming out of her tailbone area and was blocking Tsunade's fist. The Uzumaki's eyes were red and her whiskers were more defined.
'Nice job of using the partial transformation kit.' Kyuubi said in an appraising tone.
Naruko just smiled at their hard work during her week off after the invasion.
"Huh, it looks like this fool got you good." Naruko said as her new tail snaked around Tsunade's arm and in the shadow of her body was a purple Rasengan all charged up and she was aiming to strike it at the older Kunoichi.
Tsunade saw this and her eyes widened. She grabbed Naruko's wrist just in time and slammed it into the ground creating a crater.
Tsunade turned to Jiraiya, "You taught her that move?"
Jiraiya shrugged, "Hey she's good and since I am her sensei, I had to teach her something." He said nonchalantly.
"It doesn't matter how good she is. Only you and the Yondaime can use that jutsu." Tsunade argued, but turned when she heard a scoff next to her and looked at the little blonde.
"Please, I'll have that jutsu mastered in no time." Naruko said in confidence.
Tsunade just stared at her, "Oh really, then how about a bet?"
Naruko raised an eyebrow as her features returned to normal and Tsunade let go of her wrist which was now sporting a bruise which was already healing, "What kind of bet?"
"You master that jutsu in three days tops and you get this." She said as she held out the necklace with a green gem from her shirt.
"And if I lose?"
"Hm, first tell me why you called yourself a fool before you were going to attack me?" Tsunade asked with interest as she was feeling sober now.
"If you already forgot our conversation before this little spat, then you would realize that just like Nawaki and Dan, I too dream to be Hokage, but to me it isn't really a dream, but a reality since I will see it through no matter what." Naruko said with determination burning in her eyes.
Tsunade's eyes widened at this and she saw the afterimage of two individuals behind Naruko.
"...Fine then, if you win you get the necklace and I become Hokage, but if you lose...you quit trying to become Hokage." Tsunade said in a serious tone.
"Fine." Naruko said as she turned around to get some rest for her training tomorrow.
She stopped for a second and turned her head to the side to look at Tsunade, "You should know that you shouldn't bet against an Uzumaki." She said as she continued walking.