It was late in the evening and night was being to settle. People still walked about the lantern decorated streets in celebration of the festival and stands still advertised their food and products to passersby. Among their fellow night dwellers, was the Sannin and his student themselves. Jiraiya was looking around while Naruto looked rather annoyed. He had been disturbed from his training later that afternoon on the basis that Jiraiya had gotten a lead on Tsunade. So for the past 4 hours, they had been walking through Tanzaku Gai in search of the woman.
Naruto stifled a yawn. He was rather tired and all this walking around was making him irritated. His clone had spotted the woman within their second day there, yet it was taking Jiraiya nearly a half-week to find her. Maybe if he hadn't been wasting his time spending up his hard earned money on hookers and strippers, he would have been found her. Or maybe his spying skills weren't what he chalked it up to be. He groaned. This was absolutely ridiculous.
"Heck, she's nowhere to be found!" Naruto began to complain, much to Jiraiya's annoyance. "Dragging me around here and there, and after all that, we haven't found a single trace!"
Jiraiya inwardly sighed. 'This kid....good grief.' he thought before a certain bar caught his attention. 'Hm?' He stopped at the grill and bar and looked at the sign. Naruto raised an eyebrow. He could sense a large chakra signature in the bar followed by another smaller one. 'This must be where she is.' he thought as he looked at the Toad Sannin who had his brows furrowed.
"Well, let's dine here for now." Jiraiya finally said.
"Huh?" Naruto said lamely with his arms behind his head. "Eh?! Isn't this a pub?!" he exclaimed.
Jiraiya turned to look down at the kid. "So what?" he said nonchalantly with his arms crossed.
"I'd told you so many times! I'm still underage!" Naruto replied, pointing a thumb at himself.
"Baka. Nobody is asking you to drink. Kids should only be eating snacks." Jiraiya responded as he pushed past the blue noren and entered the establishment.
"Welcome." the hostess greeted him as he entered.
"Well then, there's no need to dine here!" Naruto said loudly as he followed in behind him. "We can go to a ramen noodle shop or something!"
"How stupid! You can gather information in this type of place." he said to his student before his eyes landed on two women in the back.
"Huh?" he said with a sweat-drop as he looked at his clearly drunken teammate.
"Huh?!" Tsunade exclaimed with a light slur as her honey brown eyes met familiar dark ones.
"Tsunade!" Jiraiya exclaimed, pointing a finger at her.
"Jiraiya?!" Tsunade exclaimed loudly as she stood at the stable. "Why...are you here?" she asked in surprise.
Naruto sweat-dropped. 'How in the hell did she sober up that quickly?' he thought to himself as he stared at her. Heat started to rise to his cheeks as he stared at her. He had heard from Jiraiya that she was a beautiful woman, but words did this woman no justice. She was slim and curvy and had the biggest bust he'd ever seen. She had a heart shaped face and kissable pink lips that he knew were soft. And the purple diamond on her forehead only served to enhance her attractiveness.
Kurama whistled in his head as he looked through the eyes of his container. 'She has a nice rack for a human. They remind me of Matatabi's.' he commented.
'Please, I do not want to hear about any of your sexual exploits.' Naruto responded.
Kurama scoffed at this. 'Yeah right.' he said. 'You would totally be into hearing me talk about all the hot babes I've screwed in my life time. It's more than anything you pitiful mortals could do or come up with.' he replied smugly.
'I though you didn't mess with humans.' Naruto said, ignoring the other part he said.
Kurama smirked. 'You didn't deny it.' he replied. 'And I don't. There are more demons, you know. Most of us would just rather not entertain you humans.'
'Hn.' Naruto said as his eyes traveled from Tsunade to the dark haired woman sitting beside her. 'I can see why Jiraiya's so obsessed with her. And her apprentice is hot, too.'
'Total milf material.' Naruto thought with a bit of drool coming from his mouth. Kurama grinned at his container's thought. 'Milf material, eh?' he thought as he began to push a rather naughty visual of the blonde to the forefront of his mind.
Tsunade was dressed in a hot piece of lingerie on her hands and knees before the boy. She purred his name as she crawled to him. She began to unbuckle his pants before pulling his member out and stroking it. He growled at her before he tore off her lingerie, revealing her naked body for his eyes to drink in. She purred his name again, catching his attention. He groaned as she licked down her his abdomen, towards the area he desired for her mouth to be. She then grabbed her breasts and slid them down his......
Naruto had to quickly grab his nose before turning away with blood threatening to gush out in streams. His entire face was red and he pants began to feel uncomfortable. Hopefully Jiraiya wasn't paying too much attention. He really didn't need his perverted commentary right now.
'ERO BAKA-KITSUNE!' he yelled, red with anger and embarrassment.
Kurama laughed at his jailor's predicament. 'What? I thought you were enjoying it.' he teased. 'We both know you're going to fantasize about it later. Do I need remind you of all those wet dreams you had about Hinata and a certain Yamanaka? Or even....' was as far as he got before Naruto cut the link.
Kurama laughed at this. He always got a kick out of embarrassing him and riling him up. It was always a good source of entertainment. Once his laughter died down, rested his head on his paws. His expressions then became thoughtful with a hint of worry. That wasn't his only reason for doing it.
Although he would never admit it, he was concerned for his jinchuriki. Being stuck inside him for all these years, he had seen almost everything the child had gone through and experienced. And there were moments, even now, that the kid's thoughts could be so dark that it made him unease at times. He sighed as he closed his eyes. He hoped the kit would find his peace soon. He cared for him more than he would like to admit.
Meanwhile, Naruto was working on fighting his nosebleed and bright blush. When he finally got his nosebleed down, his blush began to simmer and he turned back toward his sensei who was still looking at Tsunade. His cheeks was still tinged pink and he had a rather annoyed look on his face. 'Stupid fox....' he thought as he tuned back into the conversation being had.
"I've finally found you!" Jiraiya exclaimed in relief as he began walking toward their table. "I'm exhausted....."
Naruto stood there for moment until he gathered his composure. 'It's still hard to believe she's 50.' he thought as he headed toward the table as well. 'At least under that henge.' When he got there, Jiraiya let him through the booth first before sliding in himself. Shizune gave Naruto a curious glance before she turned to look at Jiraiya. Tsunade didn't spare the genin a glance, keeping her eyes trained on her former teammate as he sat down.
'So that's how it is, huh?' he lightly sulked. 'Hn.' His eyes traveled back to the ravenette who was still curious glances at him every now then. 'Well at least she noticed me.' he said, causing Kurama to snicker in amusement.
The table was silent for a while with no one saying a thing as the two Sannin looked at each. Shizune looked between her master and the white haired man in slight awe. 'I can't believe I met two Sannin in one day.' she thought as a waiter eventually came to their table. Everyone ordered their food before returning to their silence. During their wait, Naruto felt one of his clones pop and inwardly smirked once he received their memory. He was going to have to come to Tanzaku Gai more often. Who knew of opportunity that lied within its bustling streets.
Minutes later, the food eventually came and Naruto licked his lips at the grilled shishamo he ordered. He hadn't eaten in a while and his stomach growled in anticipation. He grabbed his chopsticks and dug in. He made a mental note to grab some okonomiyaki before the stand closed. He decided that he'll grab some ramen and dumplings tomorrow.
Jiraiya sipped on his sake as he looked at Tsunade who had downed hers in one go with pink dusting her cheeks in a drunk flush. He noted that the woman hadn't changed since he last seen her. She was still as beautiful and striking as he remembered. He felt his own cheeks heat a little as he briefly looked away. Naruto raised a subtle eyebrow at this. He was well aware of Jiraiya affections for the Senju. He could here it in his voice when he talked to her.
However, from what he gathered from her file, the woman was clearly in love with someone else. It may not have directly said it, but to have a mental break down at the lost of a captain Katō. It didn't take long to piece together other things. He felt a pinch of sympathy for the man. While he didn't really like him, he could see that he was a good man, despite of his flaws.
"In any case...." Tsunade started, catching their attention. "Today is the day I see many old friends."
Jiraiya didn't say anything as he refilled her dish with sake. There was obviously something wrong with her. He could see it on her face. After downing his own dish of sake, he turned to the woman who was looking down at table with a jumble of emotions.
"You mean Orochimaru..." Jiraiya said before he paused. "What happened?"
Tsunade tensed a little and she gave her assistant a sideways glance. Shizune pursed her lips and subtly looking away, knowing what that meant. Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at that reaction while Naruto continued to eat as if he weren't paying attention. He cold feel their heart beat quicken and a subtle change in breathing.
The raven haired woman suddenly tensed and there was a hitch in her breath. Tsunade did a better job at hiding her anxiety, but her eyes said it all. Something was obviously troubling the woman and whatever it was, it hit a soft spot in her mental defense. He could also tell by the look in her eye that she was about to lie. There was also a change in both of their chakras. It wasn't hard to predict was going to happen next. With those observations in mind, Naruto continued to eat as he glanced at the little pig that was munching away as well. He wondered about that.
"Nothing, really. We exchanged a greeting." Tsunade replided before she dug into her bosom and pulled out a deck of blue cards and began to shuffle them.
Jiraiya didn't say anything as he watched her shuffle the cards. He knew she was lying to him. He known her long enough to tell. He grabbed his plate and handed it to Naruto, who gladly accepted the left-over yakitori skewer, while holding Tsunade's gaze. Naruto looked at Tsunade as well with a piece of fish at his mouth. He watched as she finally placed the deck of cards onto the table.
"What about you?" Tsunade finally spoke. "What do you want from me?"
The Toad Sage said nothing at first as he split the deck and grabbed cut stack. "I'll be straight with you." he said as he performed a riffle shuffle before placing the deck back on the table. "Tsunade, the village has demanded that you become the Fifth Hokage."
Tsunade paused in her reach for the deck. Shizune gasped in surprise while Naruto's eyes slightly widened in the midst of him stuffing another piece of fish into his mouth. Even the pig paused in the consumption of her meal and looked up from her bowl. Tsunade stared at the table in shock before she closed her eyes, furrowing her eyebrows. When she opened them again, she silently began to deal the cards, not meeting anyone's gaze.
"Hey, ol' man, gimme the simmered meat with potatoes!" they heard someone call out.
"All right, in one moment." they heard he host reply.
"Do you know about the Third Hokage?" Jiraiya replied as he held the cards in his hand with his eyes still trained on her.
Tsunade said nothing as she picked up her dealt cards and brought it to her face before spreading them like a fan. Her eyes were narrowed as she looked at her hands, giving nothing away.
"Orochimaru did it, right?" she responded. "I heard about it...directly from him."
Deciding to make himself known, Naruto spoke up. "Orochimaru?!" he said as he gripped the ends of the table and sat up a little. "Did he really try to kill the old man, the Third Hokage?!"
He then turned to Jiraiya. "Who is this Orochimaru?!" he demanded from the Sannin.
Jiraiya only looked down as he answered. "Just like us, he's one of the Sannin." he answered.
"Why?! The Sannin are all from the Leaf Village, ne?" Naruto said. "Then why-"
"Who's this brat?" Tsunade said as she glanced up at her cards to look at him.
Naruto turned to look at her, trying not let his eye twitch at the nickname. 'Hn.'
Jiraiya chuckled a little at the question. "He's Naruto Uzumaki." he answered.
Tsunade looked at Jiraiya with shock on her features, recognizing the last name. Naruto saw this and was inwardly raising an eyebrow. So she does have a connection to my mother he thought as he saw the gears began to turn in her head.
'He has to be Kushina's boy.' Tsunade thought to herself. However, looking at him, she could vaguely tell. Unlike Kushina, he had spiky, bright yellow hair and blue eyes. The only feature's he shared with her was the shape of his eyes and her heart shaped face. As a matter of fact, he looked a lot like that kid Jiraiya used to always brag about. When the pieces fell together, her shock became more apparent. 'But that's impossible....' she thought with a furrowed brow. 'I was told he was dead...'
"Hey, you just hold there!" Naruto exclaimed as he stood from his seat and slamming his fist into the table, snapping her out of her musings. "I am not done talking yet!"
"This Orochimaru?! This bastard almost killed Old Man Hokage." he said before turning to Jiraiya. "Who the heck is he?! He's a legendary Sannin, ne? Then knowing that, why would you, Pervy Sage, leave such a guy alone?!"
"Besides...." Naruto continued to rant as he pointed at Tsunade. "What do you mean this person is the Fifth Hokage?!"
"Naruto...." Jiraiya called out. "be quiet for a moment."
"But..!" he said.
Jiraiya looked up at him with a slight glare. "Just shut up!" he barked.
Naruto just stared at him for a moment before he silently sat down. Seeing that the boy had finally shut up, Jiraiya scanned over his hand, looking to see what he had. He hummed as he picked up the trio of sixes he had in his hand and placed them face down before drawing another three cards from the deck. This time he had a hand of three kings and two aces. He lightly chuckled at this as Tsunade squinted her eyes at him. Her hand was bad as usual....much to her relief.
"I'll say this again." Jiraiya started. "They are demanding that you become the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade."
Tsunade looked down at her losing hand before looking back up at Jiraiya.
"So what's your answer?" Jiraiya asked.
Tsunade didn't say anything for a while as she looked down at cards again. The atmosphere at the table became tense as everyone waited at the edge of their seats for her answer.
"Will you accept it?" Jiraiya pressed again.
Tsunade closed her eyes for a moment. In the blank space of her mind, all she could see was Orchimaru's face telling her that he could bring back the two people she cared for the most in her life, and telling her that he was going completely destroy the Leaf and finished what he started with their sensei.
She sat there in oppressive silence. She could feel her resentment toward the Leaf bubbling within her. She had always sacrificed herself for her village. Dan had and so had Nawaki. So, why were they asking more of her? Where Nawaki's and Dan's sacrifices not enough? Why couldn't they just leave her in peace? Why not choose someone else? They ask for their ninja to be self-less yet their leaders were so selfish. Why couldn't they just leave her in peace?
"What do you say....Tsunade?" Jiraiya asked again.
"I really don't get it!" Naruto said in frustration, refusing to allow silence to befall them once more.
Jiraiya ignored him and continued to patiently wait for the woman's response. Tsunade eventually opened her eyes with an unreadable expression on her face. She silently threw her cards on the table, allowing them to land face first. It was quiet for a while before Tsunade eventually spoke.
"Impossible..." she finally said before looking at Jiraiya directly in the eye. "I refuse!"
Jiraiya just lightly smiled at this, unmoved by her words, while the others just made disappointed sounds.
"I remember those words." Jiraiya said with a hint of nostalgia. "You said those same words when I asked you to go out with me."
"What the heck are you talking about?! You said it yourself!" Naruto exclaimed before pointing at Tsunade again. "Didn't you say that you will bring her back to the village and have her treat Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei, and the Old Man?! But what's this demand for her to be the Hokage?! And, on top of that, she refuses!" he fired off.
When his questions were met with silence, Naruto did the childish thing and began to exaggerate his annoyance.
"Calm down." Jiraiya spoke, knowing the boy was just going to work himself up. "There can't be no other Fifth Hokage, but this Tsunade."
"During the dreadful Great War Era, she contributed tremedulously to the Leaf's victory." Jiraiya began to share. "To this date, there's no one who can rival her combat and medical skills. Still more, this Tsunade is the granddaughter of the First Hokage. So together with her talents, there's no one else more suited to becoming the Fifth Hokage."
"If she becomes Hokage, that means that she'll come back to the village." Jiraiy explained. "And then, as I'd told you, she can treat the two and Lord Third. Besides, this is what the Leaf's top decision-making advisers settled upon. Genin like you have no say in the matter."
Naruto bit back his scoff and turned away from Jiraiya it what appeared to be a pout. 'Hn.' he inwardly bristled.
"Jiraiya...." Tsunade called out, getting the man's attention. "Unlike your previous apprentice, this kid not only has a bad mouth and wit, he's ugly to match."
A tick mark formed on Naruto's head at this. 'Me, ugly?!' he thought with a scoff. 'Let's see you take off the henge you're hiding under, woman. Then we compare looks.' he inwardly growled.
"What?!" Naruto fumed as he stood from the table.
"It's tough on anyone to be compared to the Fourth Hokage." Jiraiya commented as he looked down at the boy with a slight smile.
Naruto wanted to glare at him. 'Sell-out.' he thought as he stared at Tsunade. 'Fine, I'll play you guys' little game. Although if it were me, I would have tied her up and drug her ass back to Konoha regardless.' Playing his part, Naruto gave the impression of him getting angry and worked up. He turned to look at Jiraiya who continued to speak.
"He had all the qualities to be the greatest ninja in all history. Brimming with talent in jutsu, and he had a brilliant mind! Popular with the people and well, he was handsome as me." he said a little cheekily.
"But even that Fourth Hokage died quickly." Tsunade said. "Risking his own life for the village." she commented as she looked at her knew hand, revealing a red ace and jack.
Naruto visibly narrowed his eyes at her. 'Who in the hell does she think she is?' he wanted to scowl. She had no right to speak on things she knew nothing about. Hell, she wasn't even there when everything had happened. Had she been there, if not his father, then his mother could have survived. But she wasn't. So how dare she speak on his father's sacrifice with such low regard when she ran away from duty like a coward?! They were all the same. Her, Jiraiya, Hiruzen, Kakashi..... They all ran away with their tails tucked in between their legs. The village always preached about courage and the will of fire, yet they all abandon that will when confronted with something they were too weak face.
Naruto forced himself to calm down. It would not help his position if he exploded at the table. And he could not blame for what happened to him and his situation. Despite of himself, he needed to give her the benefit of the doubt. It was obvious that she recognized who he was. So he would continue to play their game until he sought her out for answers.
"Life is different from money." Tsunade continued. "To easily risk it and lose it, is a fool's doing!"
The chopsticks in Naruto's hands snapped as he gritted his teeth. While he didn't not necessarily disagree with what she said, her words were not of wisdom. They were of cowardice. True, it is foolish to risk life and lose it.
However, when there is a purpose for it. When there is a cause. It is not a bet of foolishness, but rather one of pride and valor. Her words were spoken out of fear that she hides behind rationale. It was disgusting and misguided, and she was simply fleeing from her issues. Wisdom would have told her that our issues always comes back to us in the ass when we don't deal with them when they appear. How humans managed to convince themselves of foolery will always be a wonder to the blond.
"Both my grandfather and the Second Hokage seemed to want to subdue the disturbances of war above all else." Tsunade said as she looked back down at her cards. "But after all, they died in vain, in the midst of their dreams for the village."
"You've changed, Tsunade." Jiraiya said in disappointment. "I don't know what you thought in your heart before, but to say such thing out loud...."
Tsunade simply chuckled at this. "Although I look young, I'm already in my 50s." she said. "Years change people."
She looked at her hand and saw what was nearly a flush of hearts. "Same goes for Sarutobi Sensei." she said. "No wonder he nearly died showing off that old age!"
Jiraiya frowned at the words of this drunken woman. Despite of her intoxicated state, he knew that she was completely sober. And that she truly meant the bullshit that she was spewing from her mouth. Naruto shook in hidden rage with his fists clenched tightly. Her words were deplorable and she was pathetic. This is not the kunoichi he had read about in her files and seen in history books. This was not the woman Jiraiya had described. This was not the woman that Hiruzen would have been proud of.
This woman was a wretched, bitter old woman who lacked a sense of responsibility or dignity. This was a gambling drunkard who wasted the rest of her life away in booze and poker, wallowing in fear, regret, and self-pity. She was everything Naruto forced himself not to be and always despised. It was against Chief taught him to be. And to think others looked up to someone who sully themselves with the manipulation of filth. He didn't expect her to be perfect, but he damn sure didn't think she would be this weak.
Tsunade looked from her cards at the shaking boy, knowing what she had said had gotten to him. She hummed as she looked at her hand. When she saw her fifth card, she saw it was a black spade, ruining her flush. She sighed, taking a large exhale as she threw her losing hand on the table. She looked up at the ceiling, staring at nothing in particular.
"Hokage is a bother." she said. "No one but a fool would take it on."
At this, Naruto snapped as he slammed his hands on the table before moving to jump across it, toward her. Jiraiya quickly grabbed the back of his jacket, holding him back. Naruto squirmed in his grip as he tried lunge toward the Slug.
"Why you-" Naruto said. "Let go of me!"
"Don't! We're in a pub." Jiraiya said as he tried to calm his student down.
Tsunade just simply leaned back to avoid the boy's kicking legs, a little surprised that he would dare to even try to attack her. Shizune was just as stunned, though there was a spark of amusement there. She could already see that Master Jiraiya had his hands full with this kid. Ton-Ton just watched every thing happen. The little pig sweat-dropped. If Tsunade wasn't being so stubborn, she would see that her the kid had similar personalities.
"I said, let go of me!" Naruto said as he was pulled away by Jiraiya.
"Hmph!" Tsunade said as she turned her head to the side haughtily.
"Lady Tsunade...!" Shizune said, knowing that she knew she was riling the boy up.
When Jiraiya finally managed put him back in his seat, Naruto stood again, slamming his hand on the table. "Anyone who makes fun of the old man and the Fourth Hokage...." he started. "It doesn't matter if you're a woman!" he said, slamming his fist into the palm of his hand. "I'll clobber you with all of my might!"
Tsunade looked up at this midget that stood upon the table. The table went silent at his proclamation and the air grew tense. Tsunade suddenly stood as well, putting her leg onto table with land resting on her knee as she leaned in.
"You're pretty gutsy, confronting me like this." Tsunade said before she paused. "Let's take this outside, brat!"
"Lady Tsunade!" Shizune said worriedly.
Tsunade looked at Naruto with a smug smirk. Naruto's eye twitched a little, knowing she was calling his bluff. While it looked like he was riled up on the outside, on the inside, he was dreading it. While held no issue fighting, he knew that it wouldn't be a real fight. It would be a silent forfeit by default. He was going to have to let her hit. He barely winced at that. 'The things I do for my village....' he thought as Jiraiya sighed. 'Damn kid....' he thought as they began to move.
Less than a minute later, they were outside the bar on a surprisingly empty street. 'Guess I'm not getting any okonomiyaki tonight....' he thought dejectedly before Tsunade's voice caught his attention.
"Though I may not look it, I am one of the Sannin." Tsunade stated before her expression became a haughty one. "Why should I even take a Genin seriously."
"What did you say?!" Naruto said.
Tsunade looked across the street at her opponent. She raised her hadn't and held up her pointer finger. Seeing her signal, Jiraiya spoke to explain what it meant to Naruto.
"An advance notice for a K.O.?" he said discouragingly, earning a light glare from Naruto.
"I don't mean one minute." Tsunade said. "With one finger. This is enough to take you down." she stated to Naruto.
"Lady Tsunade!" Shizune admonished.
"Well...." Tsunade goaded, ignoring her student. She motioned her finger in a 'come hither' gesture. "Come on, kiddo."
"D-Don't make fun of me!" Naruto yelled as he ran at her, throwing a few shuriken.
Tsunade simply dodged the projectiles and waited for him to come. When he finally came at her with a kunai, simply curled her finger through the loop pommel, pulling it out his hand while moving under him. As quick as she did so, the twirled the kunai before sending it upward, striking the metal part of his hitai-ate with enough force to push his head back. Naruto cursed as he tried to regain his footing. Right when he was about to stand up, she flicked him in the bare forehead, sending him flying down the street.
Naruto gritted his teeth as he managed to stop his tumble. He held his forehead in pain, feeling it throb at her mere flick of her finger. 'That hurt like shit....' he thought as he looked at her. She retained that same smug smirk she had before. He inwardly growled as he rubbed the center of his forehead. 'Forehead poking....' he ranted as he prepared to attack again. 'How childish.'
'I think it's befitting.' Kurama commented as he yawned.
Naruto rolled his eyes. 'Not now Kurama.' he said.
'It hurts that you find getting your ass beat by your milf more entertaining than talking to me.' Kurama mocked.
Pink dusted Naruto's cheeks. 'SHUT UP, KURAMA!' he said. 'I'm trying to focus.'
'On what, getting your ass beat?' Kurama mused. 'Or do you prefer a collar and whip? You know, you're kinky like that.'
Naruto cut the link. He struggled to fight down his blush as he tried to focus on the battle. 'Kurama you jerk....' he thought before his attention was caught at a kunai embedding the ground in front of him. His eyes widened in recognition. Before he could look up at the Sannin, his hitai-ate fell from the sky not far from the kunai. 'Whoa...' he thought as he blinked a few times.
"Hey, brat!" Tsunade called out, catching Naruto's attention. "I'll ask you one thing before you faint."
Naruto said nothing as he allowed her to ask her question.
"Why....get so passionate at the mention of the Hokage's name?" she asked, catching the spectators off guard.
Everyone turned to Naruto, waiting for his answer. It was silent for a moment, the chirping of crickets cutting through the air. Naruto looked down for a moment with clenched fists. Although he didn't know how to answer that, he went with the answer that matched his claims so far.
"Unlike you...." he started. "I will be the heir to the Hokage name, no matter what!"
Tsunade's eyes widened a little before he looked up at her with a familiar fire in his eyes that made her do a double-take. Jiraiya only smirked while Shizune continued to stand by and watch the scene unfold with Ton-Ton by her side.
"Because Hokage is my dream!" Naruto proclaimed.
Tsunade's pupils dilated as she no longer saw Naruto but the determined eyes of Dan and Nawaki. Shizune's mouth parted open at his words. Jiraiya continued to watch seeing an old spark in Tsunade's eyes.
"This kid...." Shizune whispered to herself.
When he saw Tsunade look down, he saw that she was unguarded. He looked down at his hands before he clenched them. He knew he could perform a full rasengan now because of who was here, but he can at least perform an uncompleted version. He cuffed his hands and brought them together to form a rasengan the way he used to before he got better at it. Blue chakra began to swirl around him and gather at a single point in spiraling wisp. The sound of energy gathering got Tsunade's attention and she lightly gasped at what she was seeing. Jiraiya smirked, nodding his head in approval.
Naruto began running toward Tsunade with the uncompleted Rasengan in his hand. Tsunade's eyes widened in recognition of the jutsu. 'Wait....that's the.....' she thought as he got closer to her.
"Take this." he said as he aimed the jutsu at her.
Acting quickly, Tsunade pressed her finger into the ground, causing the earth beneath Naruto to crack and open. Naruto lost his balance and the incomplete jutsu fell victim to the ground. Naruto was sent flying back as he lost control of the rasengan, falling in a wedge between the parted ground. Tsunade stood straight as she looked down at the boy stuck between the ground.
'I never thought he'd attempt to use the Fourth Hokage's jutsu.' she thought with a flip of her hair and looked at the place where his jutsu crashed. 'But it's still just this level... It's completely different from the original one.' She watched the boy struggle to get up from into between the cold rock. Shizune finally stepped in to help him up. Bless the woman's heart. She was always such a softy along with worrying herself to death all the time. She was well suited to be a medic nin. She had the patience.
"Are you okay?" Shizune asked with concern.
Naruto coughed a little before groaning. He had been used to taking beating. Hell, he had been taking them since he was old enough to read and write. What he didn't understand was why did this beating seem more humiliating than any other's he had?
He had gotten shit beat out him from Kuzai for crying out loud. A cruel, sadistic man that knew what to say to get under your skin and could make feel less than the dirt on the ground with just a few words. Hell, he could make you feel that way with just a look. And he had been training under him for nearly three years. So why in the hell did this woman with super freaking strength make him feel so embarrassed and pathetic?
'Fuck my life.' he sighed to himself in resignation. His attraction to strong and beautiful women was going to kill him.
"Jiraiya, was it you who taught him that Rasengan, the Spiraling Chakra Sphere?" Tsunade asked.
"Well, I'm his teacher, after all." Jiraiya responded.
"Humph." Tsunade remarked. "You and the Fourth Hokage are the only ones who can use that jutsu. Are you in your right mind, showing him a jutsu that he can't master?"
"Don't give him false hope." she stated. "That's why the moony kid starts joking about becoming a Hokage!"
"It's no joke! Stupid! Stupid!" Naruto said defiantly as he stood. "If I have three days, I'll master this jutsu!"
"Hm." Tsunade said with a vague smile. "You said it, kid. Men don't go back on their word!"
"Hah! I stand by my words." Naruto said with an inward wince. "That's my nindō. My ninja way."
"Then how about a wager?" Tsunade said after a small silence passed by.
"A wager?" Naruto question.
Tsunade nodded. "I'll give you a week. If you can master that jutsu, I'll acknowledge that you have what it takes to become the Hokage and I'll give you this necklace." she said, pointing at the expensive piece of jewelry on her neck.
"Lady Tsunade! That's the precious-" Shizune started.
"I don't need such a sorry necklace!" Naruto said as he put his arms behind his head.
"Don't agree, Naruto." Jiraiya spoke up. "That's the only one of its kind in this world. And you could buy three mountains if you were to sell it. It belonged to the First Hokage."
"Well, that'll be fine!" Naruto quickly said after hearing that.
Jiraiya just stared at the kid with a light sweat-drop. 'He'll do anything for money.' he stated. 'Why did I even say anything.'
"Good." Tsunade said. "However, you lose if you can't master the jutsu in one week! And you'll give me all the money you have on you." she said with a smile as she held up a overly stuffed frog wallet.
Naruto inwardly narrowed his eyes at this. 'Well played...' he thought as he realized she pick-pocketed him. 'And I thought I was good.' Regardless, he knew he wasn't going to lose this wager. He had to stop himself grinning as he eyed that necklace around her neck. He was never one to turn down good money.
"Oh! Gama-chan!" he exclaimed as he frantically began to dig in his pockets. "When did she....?!"
Shizune hurriedly walked to her sensei. "Lady Tsunade! Why?" she asked. "That necklace is..."
"Hmph." Tsunade cut the woman off. "He won't be able to do it, anyway." she said before turning to walk away. "Let's go, Shizune."
Shizune looked at her master with worry, all of the recent events of the day playing in her head. She glanced back at Naruto and Jiraiya before she followed her master with Ton-Ton, leaving them alone. Neither person said anything for a moment. Naruto suddenly yawned, catching Jiraiya's attention. He could see the light bags of tiredness under the boy's eyes and light fatigue. He took that as a sign of retirement tonight. Today had been an eventful day and he had to admit he was bushed himself.
"Come on, kid. Let's get you to bed." He said as he began walking in the direction toward their hotel room that was conveniently not far from Tsunade's hotel.
Naruto didn't say a word and followed his sensei. He lightly frowned as he reflected on what had not long ago transpired. He had said he never went back on his word, yet he knew had no desire to become the Hokage. To become a Kage, yes. He wanted to rebuild his ancestral lands and protect it. But Konoha? His heart was not there.
Was the village his birthplace? Yes. Was it the place he learned how to be a ninja? Yes. But was it a place he called home? No. He hadn't seen it as a home for a long time and probably never will. He only used the place a foundation and training ground. He saw it as nothing more and nothing less. So the question remains, was he being a hyprocrite for asking Tsunade to come back to the village? Was it hypocritical to encourage someone to take a position you disliked yourself? The answer was yes. He wouldn't lie to himself or try to justify it.
He sighed as he entered the hotel lobby with his master. He only hoped the woman would forgive him when the time came. Despite of their rough encounter, he could see that deep down, she was a good woman. She just carried a lot of hurt and pain. He had decided that he would give her a chance. Jiraiya no longer had the chance to redeem himself. His time as already passed. However, from what he could tell, Tsunade didn't exactly know about him and he was to guess, probably thought he was dead. However, had she known, would she have come back to the village for his sake or abandon him like Jiraiya had done. He laid his case to rest feeling the exhaustion of the day weigh on him.
'Only time will tell.'