Four Man Squads

[109th Star]

Naruto was still working on that **** rubber ball. It just hurt so **** much as he poured chakra into the ball. Wait a second… It hurts as I build up and release chakra. This is all about power, but I’m releasing chakra into the ball as soon as a build it up. If I use the pain I feel as a gauge of the chakra I’m building, then once I hit my tolerance level release all into the ball and spin it, the might just give me enough force to pop the ball.

Naruto decided to give his idea a shot. He assumed his normal stance and began to build up the chakra in his arms. Just a little more… come on… more… there! Naruto then lashed out at the ball, and clasped the top as he finished his rotation. The distortion and power was definitely stronger, but he was a little miffed when the ball didn’t explode. It did, however, burst. One not-so-small hole was blown out of the side of the ball. Better than nothing, I guess. At least it’s progress.

“Very good, kid.” Jiraiya called out as he came over to the area where Naruto was training.

“But it didn’t go ‘pop’ like yours did.” Naruto said.

“No it didn’t, but it did burst, and that means your close. The rest is really a simple trick.” Jiraiya said.

“Really! What’s the trick?” Naruto asked excitedly.

“Give me your hand.” Jiraiya said and Naruto complied. Jiraiya took out his ink brush for seals and made a little spiral mark in Naruto’s hand, “There ya go, brat.”

“What’s this, Ero-sennin?” Naruto asked as he stared at his hand.

“Simple, it’s a focus for your concentration.” Jiraiya said as he whipped out a blank piece of paper, “You see this paper?”

Naruto looked at the blank paper, “Yeah, so?”

Jiraiya then drew the same spiral mark on the paper, “Okay how about now?”

“What’s the point?” Naruto asked.

“Simple, I bet when you looked at the blank sheet, you’re attention wandered about the page right?” Jiraiya said as Naruto nodded his head, “Where is your attention focused when you look at it now?”

“On the dot in the center… Wait. Is that what this thing is for, to center my chakra?” Naruto inquired.

“Something like that. When you’re concentrating and building up your chakra, focus on that point, and it should be a lot easier to unleash the power you need to pop the ball.” Jiraiya explained. “Anyway, you’ve done pretty good so far today, wanna take a break and go check on Hinata?”

“Definitely, I can’t wait to tell her I finally at least put a hole in that ****ed ball.” Naruto said excitedly.

“Alright, kid, let’s go.” Jiraiya said as he led Naruto off to the section of the forest where Hinata and Kiyoshi were training.
--------------------
“Very good, Hinata.” Kiyoshi said, “You’ve gotten down to inside twenty five yards. Once you can get it down to inside fifteen, you should be ready to actually use it in combat.”

“Thank you, Kiyoshi-sensei.” Hinata accepted the praise graciously. She was currently resting with her hands on her knees. He had been right, while not as taxing as the second stage Rasengan training, she still felt drained. She had been throwing and multiplying shuriken all morning.

“We will continue after grabbing some lunch.” Kiyoshi said.

“Hai.” Hinata acknowledged.

“Hinata-hime!” Hinata heard the familiar voice as she turned around to behold a very happy Naruto dashing at her at full speed. She did the only thing she could do, brace for impact.

An impact it was too, Naruto practically tackled her as he hugged her and they both tumbled over a few times. “Hey, guess what?” Naruto said as his laughter and Hinata’s giggles died down.

“What is it, Naruto-kun?” Hinata asked.

“I finally managed to put a hole on the ball.” Naruto said happily.

“I told you.” Hinata replied, equally as happy.

“I know, watch.” Naruto said as he got up and took another rubber ball from Jiraiya.

Hinata activated her Byakugan as she watched what Naruto was doing. His stance was the same, but she noticed as he began to build up chakra, he didn’t immediately release it into the ball, as they had been, he kept it bottled up, and then after he gathered chakra for a few moments, he released it all at the same time. The result was almost like a small explosion inside the ball, and promptly ripped a hole in the side.

“I see…” Hinata said.

“Anyway, how’s your training going?” Naruto asked.

Kiyoshi answered for her, “Very well, actually. Honestly, she’s progressing faster than I thought she would be.” Hinata blushed slightly at the compliment, as she was prone to do.

“Well, of course.” Naruto said confidently, “My Hinata-hime is amazing!” Hinata’s blush deepened at that.

Kiyoshi let out a small laugh, “Well, we were getting ready to break for lunch, care to join us?”

“Sure.” Jiraiya answered, “I was starting to get hungry. I still haven’t found anyone that’s heard anything solid about Tsunade.”

“Figures.” Kiyoshi said, “That woman is good at disappearing when she wants to. Well, let’s go, I’m rather hungry myself.”

The four of them walked back into town to enjoy a nice lunch before resuming their respective training.

[NineTailNaruto]

10/10
Cool keep it up

[109th Star]

The rest of the day continued the same as the beginning. Hinata managed to make it to fifteen yards with the Shadow Shuriken Jutsu. She and Kiyoshi then went over to Naruto, so she could train with him for the remainder of the day. Naruto told her about the trick he had used, and she mimicked what he had done. While she still wasn’t able to even put a hole in the ball, she managed to make it distort a little, much to her delight.

“Way to go, Hinata.” Kiyoshi said as the ball returned to normal, “That’s a good sign that your chakra power is starting to improve. Originally, I thought it could take you years to fully master the Rasengan. However, at the rate you seem to be going, it’ll probably be somewhere between six to nine months. What do you say, Jiraiya?”

Naruto and Hinata looked around, they didn’t sense Jiraiya’s presence. They eventually spotted him standing in a tree. “Yeah, I’d say probably eight or nine, depending on how much she’s able to train at it. I know it’s going on the backburner while she trains in other things, so it could be possible for it to take up to a year.”

“Yeah! What about me?” Naruto yelled. The area was strewn with rubber balls with large holes popped in the sides.

“I’d say a few more weeks, since it’s all you’re focused on right now. But…” Jiraiya looked around at the rubber balls, “I was really expecting you do have gotten past this part by now.”

Naruto looked down at his hand with the mark, “You told me the trick, but I just can’t seem to do it.”

“You’ll get it, Naruto-kun. You always do.” Hinata reassured him. Naruto just turned to her and gave one of his trademark grins and nodded.

Kiyoshi sighed, those two kids were always doing that. One getting down, and the other picking the first one back up. “Anyway, any more luck on finding anything about Tsunade?”

“None.” Jiraiya answered. “I’ve checked almost all the gambling dens, and most of the hotels and bars, and all anyone knows is only that she was here for a few days and left about a week ago.”

Kiyoshi sighed again, he had always thought Tsunade was a… difficult one. “Well then, what do you think we should do?”

“I say we stay here one more day and try to get a solid lead, if we don’t get one. I’d say our best bet is to head to Tanzaku Town the following morning. It’s well known for its casinos and gambling dens, it the most likely destination for Tsunade.” Jiraiya answered.

The conversation was cut short by a loud rumble from the middle of the clearing. Hinata almost jumped out of her sandals at the sound. Naruto grinned and rubbed the back of his head in his usual way.

“Heh, I’m really hungry. We going to get dinner?” Naruto asked.

“Yeah, I could use a bite too.” Jiraiya said. “Training’s over for today, let’s go.”
---------------
After another night watching fireworks, and then eating breakfast together, Naruto and Hinata parted ways for the day. Kiyoshi was planning on teaching Hinata a jutsu he had picked up on his travels. Fuuton: Hito***i was a mid-strength wind jutsu that expelled a large amount of air from around the user. It was good as a defensive maneuver, and in an area with a lot of debris, or things to run into, like a forest, it could be a surprising offensive maneuver.

Naruto was off on his own in the small clearing he had been training in since they had arrived in this town. His arms felt like someone dipped them in acid then decided to rub salt all over the wounds, and then set his arms on fire. He’d only been training for a couple of hours, it usually didn’t start hurting so much until after lunch. Naruto guessed that it was due to him doing this a lot over the last days.

Naruto collapsed and laid on his back, staring into the sky trying to figure out what he was doing wrong. Suddenly, he felt a wind blow from across the chasm which held the town, from where Hinata was training. He watched as some leaves swirled around his head, until one landed right on his forehead. That brought back memories. He, Shikamaru, Kiba, and Chouji had all skipped out on classes that day, and Iruka-sensei had caught them. In detention, Iruka had tried to make them each try to hold a leaf on their forehead using nothing but chakra, he said it was to help with concentration. However, the four boys ran out of the school as soon as Iruka’s attention wavered.

“Man, that exercise would have really helped me here. I’m so dumb.” Naruto said to himself, “But it’s too late for regrets.”

Naruto licked his thumb and used it to smear the marking on his hand into a crude version of the leaf symbol on his headband, “I can do this!” Naruto said as he got back to his feet.

Concentrate, focus on the leaf and nothing but the leaf. Naruto chanted in his head as he closed his eyes. Soon, his mind’s eye could see nothing but the symbol for the leaf. He could see his chakra swirling around it. NOW!

Naruto launched into his usual pattern for popping the ball. He could feel the difference this time, he held the ball low as he finished his rotation. Not even a moment later, the ball exploded, and took out a little of the ground with it. The force of the explosion was so much that it blew Naruto backwards. Naruto was sailing through the air, when he felt someone catch him.

“Looks like stage two is complete, kid.” Jiraiya said as he smiled down at his student.

“Good, now I can start the third stage.” Naruto said weakly. The fact of the matter was, Naruto was drained.

“Not yet, take it easy for the moment. I figured out where Tsunade is going. Turns out my hunch is right, and she went to Tanzaku Town. I begin teaching you the third step on the way there. For now, let’s go tell Hinata and Kiyoshi the good news.”

[109th Star]

Kiyoshi was more than pleased. While Hinata had some self-confidence issues, if you could convince her she wasn’t going to immediately fail at everything, she was a sponge for learning. She responded well to positive feedback, and as long as you hinted at something a little more, or that there was something else to learn, she would go at it until she dropped. She seemed to take naturally to the Fuuton: Hito***i. They’d only been training for the morning with the technique, and she was already making pretty solid bursts of air. Nothing that could truly be used as an attack, or for defense, but she was easily ripping a few leaves off trees.

Kiyoshi felt Naruto and Jiraiya’s presence coming closer. Kiyoshi was just waiting for it now…

“Hinata-hime!” Naruto said as he took off at a dash.

…there we go. The scene played out like it did yesterday, with Naruto practically tackling Hinata into the ground. Kiyoshi sighed, the first few times they did stuff like this, it was cute. Now, it was starting to get annoying.

“What are you two doing here?” Kiyoshi asked as Jiraiya caught up to his hyperactive student.

“Well, he finished stage two, and I finally got a lead.” Jiraiya said, as they watched Naruto tell Hinata all about blowing up the rubber ball.

“So where did she go?” Kiyoshi asked.

“Tanzaku Town, like I figured she would. We’re lucky, it’s only a day away, and with all its casinos and gambling dens, she should be there for quite a while. We should be able to catch her.” Jiraiya answered.

“So when do you want to leave?”

“As soon as possible.” Jiraiya said.

Both Hinata and Naruto stopped as they heard the last part, and both started at their respective sensei.

“Right now?” Hinata asked.

“Yes.” Jiraiya answered, “We should make it there by sundown.”

“But, Ero-sennin, the final night of the festival is tonight, and the fireworks display is supposed to be spectacular, Hinata and me were really wanting to stay and watch.” Naruto complained.

“Naruto, we have a mission to complete.” Jiraiya said.

“I know, but you said that Tsunade would be there for a while, right. Is one day going to make that much of a difference?” Naruto pleaded.

“Please, Jiraiya-sama, Kiyoshi-sensei. It would mean a lot to us.” Hinata pleaded as well.

Kiyoshi looked at Jiraiya. Jiraiya shrugged at him. Kiyoshi just sighed.

“You two are getting to be very… troublesome, as a Nara would say.” Kiyoshi stated. “I guess we can leave out tomorrow morning. But that means I got you both for the rest of the day, got it. Now, Hinata, back to work. Naruto, come over here.” Hinata nodded with a smile as she went back to working her jutsu.

“Yo.” Naruto said happily as he trotted over.

“Naruto, what taijutsu style do you use?” Kiyoshi asked as he looked over to Jiraiya, just to make sure this is what he wanted. Jiraiya nodded.

“Ummm… I really don’t have a style. I just improvise.” Naruto said.

“I see, so you’re little more than a street brawler.” Kiyoshi said. “Jiraiya told me as much. As you may know, each taijutsu style has it’s own strengths and weaknesses, and knowing multiple kinds can be very beneficial. Jiraiya has asked me to introduce you to my style of taijutsu, the Talon Style. It’s about quick strikes and focuses on attacking the vulnerable spots of a person’s body, such as the eyes. An opponent that cannot see, most times, is an opponent that cannot kill you.”

Naruto nodded, “I’ll try it out. I’ve never had anyone interested in me enough to teach me anything but the academy basics.”

Kiyoshi nodded, then dropped into his form. His legs slightly bent and a shoulder length apart, and his arms out in front of him, one stretched out and one kept close. His fingers were curled to mimic the look of a talons of a bird. “Come, I’ll show you what this style is all about.”

Naruto charged at Kiyoshi, who immediately snapped out and aimed a gouge at Naruto’s eyes. Naruto quickly stopped his advance and leapt backwards to avoid the blow. Naruto tried again to advance, and was met with another eye gouge. Naruto kept trying and was met with eye gouges and throat attacks.

“You’re opponent’s head and neck are usually two of the weaker parts of their body. It’s hard to train the muscles and tissues in those areas against attack.” Kiyoshi explained, “If you add just a little chakra to your attacks, similar to the Hyuuga Jyuuken, you can cause almost irreparable damage to things such as the eyes, ears, and windpipe. What do you think?”

“I’ll learn it.” Naruto said confidently, “It’s better than being a ‘street brawler.’”

Kiyoshi grinned, “Yes, I suppose it is.”

“But, why didn’t ero-sennin teach me his own style?” Naruto asked.

“Because his style is like yours, Naruto. Jiraiya never bothered learning an actual style, just taking bits and pieces, and improvising like you do. While that kind of fighting can be beneficial in how unpredictable it can be. It takes a long time to assimilate enough different moves to make an effective style of your own. Learning a set taijutsu style will give you something to lean on in case your ‘brawling’ skills fail you.” Kiyoshi explained.

“I understand.” Naruto said.

“Good, now I will instruct you in the basic forms and strikes of the Talon Style.” Kiyoshi said, “Try to follow my movements and I’ll correct you.”

Naruto did as he was told and followed Kiyoshi’s every move. Hinata continued to make progress with her new wind jutsu. Both genin were looking forward to that night, they had enjoyed the fireworks displays for the last couple of nights, and they were hoping this one would blow them away.

[109th Star]

pretty epic fail on this forum.

Okay, the name of the jutsu is Fuuton: Hitof u ki. I can't believe that got censored.

[109th Star]

Four Man Squads
Chapter 11 - Yonnin No More

Hinata and Naruto were beside themselves with excitement. From all the talk they had heard around the village, the last night of the Apple Festival was supposed to have the largest and most spectacular fireworks display outside of the capitol. They took up the same spot they had over the last couple of nights, the roof of the small inn where they were staying.

“Are you ready, hime?” Naruto asked.

“Yes, Naruto-kun.” She said as she settled in closer to her love and rested her head on his shoulder. The inn’s roof was slanted just enough for them to lay down easily and watch the sky.

The couple didn’t have to wait long before the show started. The display began just as others had. Some smaller explosions, and some nice multicolored flowers. Soon, the display moved into some more exotic combinations. There were fireworks that exploded into what looked like strobe lights and some others exploded into animals. After that, the display moved into full formations of apple shaped explosions, as well as some of the most entrancing colors either of them had ever seen. While up until now fireworks that produced two colors had been used on occasion, they saw a few that exploded into as many as five or six colors, and some that seemed to change colors while in the sky.

This display had easily lasted half again as long as any before it, and Hinata and Naruto were both enthralled by the display. That was until they felt someone using a large amount of chakra.

“What is that?” Hinata asked, immediately on guard.

“I don’t know. Can you see where it’s coming from?” Naruto replied as he readied himself as well.

Hinata quickly activated her Byakugan. She saw the source of the chakra, it was a man standing beside the fireworks launchers. He was channeling his chakra into a very, very large firecracker.

“Someone is pumping chakra into one of the fireworks.” Hinata said as she watched intently.

“Maybe it’s part of the finale.” Naruto suggested.

“Maybe…” Hinata said as the firecracker launched into the air. Naruto looked up at it and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

“Nothing we can do about it now.” Naruto said as they both watched the explosive rise higher and higher into the sky. Any moment now…

The resulting display of colors, formations, and sheer magnitude put everything else they had seen to shame. The explosion lit up the town and surrounding forest, like having day in the middle of the night. Any color anyone could ever imagine were present. Apples that were redder than red, and flowers that had colors so vivid that it should have been impossible for them to exist at all. Naruto and Hinata just gawked, it was amazing. The scene played out over the entire sky. They actually had to look around them to see all of it, and it lasted so long, much longer than a normal firework.

“Amazing…” Naruto managed to mutter.

Hinata couldn’t even find words to say. She had never seen anything like, and sincerely doubted she would ever see anything comparable again.

The scene stayed in the air for an impossible couple of minutes before finally beginning to fade away. Naruto and Hinata just watched, still hypnotized by the sheer beauty of the display.

“That is the second most beautiful thing I have ever seen.” Naruto said as the last remnants of the chakra-enhanced firecracker dissipated.

Second most? Hinata let her curiosity get the better of her, “What’s the first, Naruto-kun?”

“You.” Naruto said simply as he turned his gaze to his lavender-eyed beauty.

Hinata blushed at the comment, but pulled herself and him into a deeper embrace. Naruto wrapped his other arm around her. Hinata locked eyes with Naruto, and both of them were thinking the same thing as their faces moved closer and they shared a kiss. They stayed that way for what seemed like both and eternity and a fleeting moment. When they finally broke apart, they saw that all the other spectators were returning home.

“I guess we should head in. We’ve got an early start tomorrow.” Naruto said as he looked around, arms still wrapped around Hinata.

“Yes, we should.” Hinata replied. With that, Naruto dropped one of his arms, as Hinata did the same, and both of their other arms fell to find each other’s hand as they descended from the roof and into the hotel.
----------------------------------
“Well wasn’t that cute?” Jiraiya said as they watched the young couple retreat back into the hotel. During the exhibition, Jiraiya had pulled out a notebook and had been taking notes furiously.

Kiyoshi watched as Jiraiya finished his note-taking, “Yes it was. However, if I ever see anything like this in one of your books, I will castrate you.”

“But, I thought you didn’t like violence, Kiyoshi.” Jiraiya answered.

“I don’t, but I will not have you spinning what they have for your or your readers’ perverse pleasure. I’m sure Tsunade would agree with me when we meet with her.” Kiyoshi stated.

“You wouldn’t tell her, would you? She’d kill me.” Jiraiya pleaded.

“Yes, I would, and, yes, she will.” Kiyoshi stated as he turned from the perverted sage. “Goodnight, Jiraiya.” With that, Kiyoshi disappeared in a swirl of leaves and feathers.

[109th Star]

All four of them woke early the next morning. The plan was to arrive in Tanzaku by late afternoon, and hopefully find Tsunade that night or early the next morning. Naruto and Hinata both were sad to leave the town, they both had extremely enjoyed their time there. Naruto made a silent vow to come back again some time, hopefully next year.

“Alright, kiddos.” Jiraiya said. “Let’s get rollin’, we got a Hokage to find.”

“Don’t go jumping around and acting like a kid.” Naruto said grumpily.

“What’s wrong with you, brat?” Jiraiya asked, usually the kid was bouncing off the walls.

“We’re in the middle of training. You said there’s three steps, and I’ve done two. What’s the third step?” Naruto said.

“I see, don’t worry. The third step can be done while walking.” Jiraiya said as he whipped out an empty balloon, blew it up, and tied it. “Here.”

Naruto caught the balloon after Jiraiya tossed it to him.

“This looks like a normal balloon.” Naruto said as he inspected the balloon.

“It is.” Jiraiya affirmed, “The first step was spin, the second was power. The final step is all about this…” Jiraiya took another balloon and held it in his hand.

“What’s ‘this’. I don’t see anything.” Naruto said impatiently.

“It looks like I’m just holding the balloon, but let’s see what’s going on inside of the balloon.” Jiraiya answered as he held out his left hand. The chakra Jiraiya used was visible, it began to swirl around in his hand and seemed to pick up in rotation and power, but maintained a perfect spherical form.

“The same thing as that is in the balloon?” Naruto asked, disbelievingly.

“Yeah. Listen up, this third step is about taking what you learned from the previous two and putting them together with more strength. Basically, you max out the spin and the power while creating a wall on the inside of the balloon and concentrate your power in that small area.” Jiraiya explained.

“So I do everything from the last two steps, and try not to pop the balloon.” Naruto condensed the explanation.

“You got it, you’re getting quicker, aren’t you?” Jiraiya half teased half complimented.

“But, why do I have to do this?” Naruto asked.

“This is why…” Jiraiya said as he approached a tree, “This is the Rasengan after the second step…” Jiraiya hit the trunk with a half-made Rasengan. The jutsu cut some nice slices into the bark in a spiral pattern.

“That’s pretty cool!” Naruto exclaimed.

“This is the Rasengan when you complete it…” Jiraiya continued as he formed a complete Rasengan and crashed it into the tree, carving clean through the trunk and almost felling the tree. “If you can keep the maelstrom that is the Rasengan in this tight form, it will spin faster, and the power will not be disbursed so easily when you hit the enemy with it.”

Naruto stared at his balloon, I can do this. Naruto closed his eyes and focused on the leaf mark on his palm. Soon he lashed out at the balloon, and tried to contain the spin and power of the jutsu. He managed alright for a few moments before he lost containment and the balloon burst in a small explosion of wind.

Jiraiya noticed that Naruto hadn’t put all of his power into the jutsu, “No slacking off! You have to use one-hundred percent of your spin and power. I told you this is a high-level jutsu, A-rank. Now that you know what to do, let’s get a move on.”

“But, I need to practice.” Naruto complained.

“We took some extra time so you and Hinata could see your fireworks. There’s no guarantee Tsunade we’ll stay in Tanzaku for long. It’s not like an old friend is going to pop up and start chatting. You’ll have to practice while walking.” Kiyoshi said, “That means you too, Hinata. While I can’t really teach you jutsu like this, you still have the second step to pass.”

Naruto grunted his acceptance. Hinata nodded at her sensei as she took up the rubber ball.

“Remember to pace yourself though, Hinata. It’s going to be a lot harder trying to do it while you’re walking.” Kiyoshi warned. Hinata nodded again and turned her focus back onto the rubber ball.

Afterwards, the four of them took off on the path to Tanzaku. Naruto went through a countless number of balloons trying to master the Rasengan, but he was making progress. Hinata was making progress as well, if ever so slightly, in the second stage. After traveling for about nine hours, they arrived in Tanzaku.

Jiraiya and Kiyoshi both began checking all of the gambling dens and casinos in the large town. While they got affirmation that Tsunade was in the town, neither could find out her current location or where she was staying.

“Where did she go? We know she hasn’t left yet.” Jiraiya said as they walked down the street.

“There’s a castle in this town. It’s possible she went to check it out, also it might I might be able to find her from the someplace higher up.” Kiyoshi said, “I do have really good eyes.”

“Works for me, let’s go.” Jiraiya said.

Jiraiya, Kiyoshi, Hinata, and Naruto were all traveling up the path to the castle, when they noticed something was wrong.

“Um… Where’s the castle?” Hinata asked.

“It looks to be demolished.” Kiyoshi stated as a man ran by them.

“Hey, you!” Jiraiya yelled at the man, “What the hell happened to the castle?”

The man stopped and yelled his reply as he looked around nervously, “You guys should run away! There’s a demon beast up there!”

“Demon beast?” Naruto asked.

“What exactly is this demon you speak of?” Kiyoshi inquired.

“A huge snake! It destroyed the castle!” the man said before he took off at a run again, not wanting to stick around anymore.

“Hey, wait! How big was it? I saw one in my village.” Naruto yelled at the retreating man.

“Naruto, it’s the same snake you saw back in Konoha.” Jiraiya said as he started to trudge off towards the demolished castle.

“T-t-then, t-that means i-it’s…” Hinata stammered.

“Orochimaru.” Kiyoshi and Jiraiya said in unison as they picked up the pace, their students following quickly.

The two Yonnin landed on another part of the street, looking at a destroyed wall. Kiyoshi inspected the rubble.

“Definitely Tsunade’s handiwork.” Kiyoshi said.

“So we just missed her.” Jiraiya said. Naruto and Hinata landed beside them.

“I don’t see a giant snake.” Naruto said as he looked around.

“It’s over. It doesn’t seem Tsunade or Orochimaru are here anymore. We should head back into town. Tsunade will be there. If there had been a battle between them, we would have seen it and felt it.” Kiyoshi said.

“Yes, let’s head back.” Jiraiya replied. Hinata and Naruto quickly complied and followed their sensei back into town. Neither one of them had any desire to face Orochimaru again. Night was beginning to fall as the group finally made it back into town.

[109th Star]

Jiraiya walked up to the door of a tavern, “Let’s stop and eat dinner here.”

“But, that’s a pub.” Naruto complained.

“Dumbass, information is always found in places like this.” Jiraiya said as he entered the pub. He was pleasantly surprised to see the big breasted blond sitting in a booth with the telltale purple diamond in her forehead. “Hey Tsunade!” Jiraiya called out to the woman, much to her surprise.

“Jiraiya?” Tsunade said as she took in the next few people to walk through the door. A blond-haired ninja in a dark orange and black jumpsuit, a main family Hyuga, and… “Kiyoshi? What are you two doing here? Also, why are you traveling with a main family Hyuga, Kiyoshi? I thought you hated them.”

“It’s a long story.” Kiyoshi said, “But, I see something in Hinata here that gives me hope for the future of the Hyuga. She’s my apprentice.”

“Well, that’s a hell of a thing.” Tsunade said, “I wouldn’t have bet a penny on you ever taking another Hyuga on as apprentice after Hizashi.”

“I would have agreed with you about a week ago.” Kiyoshi stated, “But that’s not the point of our visit.”

“Well, then. Sit and order something and you can explain it all to me.” Tsunade said as the two Yonnin and their apprentices sat down and ordered some food.

After enjoying a meal, and a lot of sake, Tsunade started the conversation back up. “I met with someone who brings back lots of bad memories.”

“Orochimaru.” Kiyoshi stated more as fact than question.

“Did anything happen?” Jiraiya asked.

Tsunade’s assistant shot her a look, which Tsunade quashed with a stare of her own. A small altercation that did not get past Kiyoshi or Jiraiya. “Nothing much, just a little greeting. Anyway, why did you guys come to see me?”

“To tell you the truth. Konoha has issued a request for you to be the Godaime Hokage.” Jiraiya said to looks of shock from Tsunade and her assistant. “The Sandaime has…”

“It was Orochimaru’s work.” Tsunade finished for Jiraiya, “He told me himself.”

Naruto clutched his chopsticks hard until they snapped in his hands. He was seething. While he wasn’t particularly close to the Sandaime, he had respected the old man, and the old man had been one of the few who respected him in return. “**** that snake *******.”

“Who’s the boy?” Tsunade asked.

“My new apprentice, Naruto Uzumaki.” Jiraiya answered, “So, what’s your answer? Do you accept the position?”

“No, I decline.” Tsunade said simply, to the shock of everyone in the room. “Jiraiya, your new apprentice seems worse than your previous one.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!” Naruto shouted.

“Well, it’s hard for anyone to be compared to the Yondaime.” Jiraiya said, “He really had the talent to become a top notch ninja. He was smart and reliable, and handsome like me too.”

“But, even the Yondaime died quickly…” Tsunade said, “He gave up his life for the village. Life is different from money. It can’t be gambled that easily, and whoever puts it at risk so easily is a fool. My grandfather, the Shodaime, and the Nidaime both focused too much on bringing peace to our home. As a result, they died in the middle of their dreams, just like losers.”

“You’ve changed, Tsunade. I don’t know what your thinking, but that was harsh.” Kiyoshi said, “Peace is a dream worth chasing, no matter how long you have to chase it.”

“Age changes people, Kiyoshi. I am in my fifties.” Tsunade replied, “It’s the same for Sarutobi-san. He was too old to live in his dreams, no wonder he died. Being Hokage is a ****ty job, no one but a fool would do it.”

Naruto had heard enough. He jumped up onto the table, fists clinched, ready to beat some sense into this ****ed woman. He was about to launch himself at her when he felt hands grab him from behind.

“Let me go!” Naruto roared.

“Don’t you realize we’re in a bar?” Jiraiya asked. He knew the answer to his question, Naruto didn’t give a ****.

“Tsunade-sama…” the assistant whispered.

“I can’t forgive anyone who says bad things about out Hokage or the Yondaime.” Naruto stated as he settled down, but he began to crack his knuckles, “I don’t care if she is a woman. I’m going to knock some sense into her sorry ***.”

Tsunade stood and leaned onto the table, “You’ve got some guts to talk to me like that, boy. Let’s take this outside.”

“Tsunade-sama…” the assistant tried to plea with her master, but Tsunade was having none of it.

[NineTailNaruto]

10/10 Awesome

[109th Star]

Tsunade and Naruto stood off in the middle of the street. Tsunade’s assistant on one side of the street and Hinata, Jiraiya, and Kiyoshi on the other.

“Tsunade, please stop this. This is not the wisest course of action.” Kiyoshi stated.

“Naruto-kun, please…” Hinata pleaded.

Jiraiya sighed as Tsunade disregarded the advice from her old teammate, “I’m one of the legendary Yonnin. I don’t even need to be serious to take on this little boy.”

“Shut up!” Naruto yelled at her. He was now oblivious to everything else. He would kick Tsunade’s *** and tie her up and drag her back to be the Hokage.

“One finger should be enough.” Tsunade said as she pointed her right index finger to the sky.

Naruto said nothing in reply to her taunt and drew a kunai. He then began to charge the lone kunoichi of the fabled Yonnin. He threw a shuriken to try and throw her off balance and then made a stab with his kunai.

Tsunade avoided both the thrown weapon and the lunge. While dropping low of the lunge she used her finger to grasp the kunai through the hole at the bottom of the handle and removed the weapon from Naruto’s grasp. She quickly spun the kunai around her finger, grabbed it, and used it to knock off Naruto’s forehead protector.

It all happened in a blink of an eye, and Naruto could barely keep up. After opening his eyes after Tsunade had knocked his forehead protector off, he was staring right at her finger, preparing to flick him in his unprotected forehead. He watched, seemingly in slow motion, as the finger made contact with his head, and he was sent flying.

**** she only hit me with one finger. Naruto thought as he regathered his senses. As he was crouched, a blur streaked down right in front of him. Naruto looked down to see his kunai from earlier. A clang rang out as his forehead protector landed a little ways away, between him and Tsunade.

“Hey, kid. I have one question before you pass out.” Tsunade said as she watched Naruto try to regain his wits, “Why do you get so excited from just hearing the word ‘Hokage’?”

Naruto slowly made his way to his feet as he replied, “Unlike you, I really want to inherit the name ‘Hokage’, and I will, because it is my dream to become the Hokage.”

Tsunade was shocked. This kid reminded her so much of the two she had lost, the ones Orochimaru had promised to bring back. Dan, her lover, and Nawaki, her younger brother, both had the same dream.

Naruto recognized that Tsunade seemed to have taken a trip down memory lane and was distracted. She’s vulnerable, I need to use the Rasengan. Naruto began to focus on his chakra and making the perfect sphere. Naruto lashed out at the air around his left palm, and began forming the Rasengan.

Tsunade was snapped out of her reverie as she noticed what Naruto was coming at her with. She took an involuntary step back, as she had seen this jutsu before and knew full well what it was capable of.

“Take this!” Naruto yelled.

It was too late. Tsunade didn’t have time to dodge, so she did the only thing she could do. She took her finger and hit the ground. The power of the attack created a fissure in the ground which Naruto promptly fell into. Naruto’s Rasengan, incomplete though it may be, impacted the ground in front of Tsunade and carved out a nice little hole in the ground.

Naruto climbed up out of the fissure that Tsunade had created, her assistant ran over to him.

“Are you okay?” the raven-haired woman asked.

“Jiraiya! Is it you who is teaching him the Rasengan?” Tsunade asked.

“I am his sensei… in principle.” Jiraiya answered.

“The only people that can use that jutsu are you and the Yondaime. Teaching him something he cannot do, and acting like his sensei… It’s better if he doesn’t think that way, so he won’t joke about foolish dreams of becoming Hokage.”

Naruto’s anger burned within him again, “It’s not a joke, you idiot! All I need is three days, and I can master the Rasengan. Just watch!”

Tsunade smirked at him, “Nice words, brat. A man’s word should never be taken back.”

Naruto showed her a fierce grin, “I don’t go back on my word. That is my nindo.”

“Is that so?” Tsunade said, “Then, if you can master the Rasengan in a week, I will acknowledge that you could become the Hokage, and I’ll give you my necklace.”

“Tsunade-sama, that is your precious…” Tsunade’s assistant said but never got to finish her statement.

“I don’t want that ugly necklace.” Naruto said.

“Don’t say that, Naruto.” Kiyoshi stated, “That necklace is an heirloom of the Shodaime Hokage, Tsunade’s grandfather. If you sold it, you could possibly buy a small country with it.”

“Alright then, but if I win. It isn’t me who receives the necklace.” Naruto said.

“Who then?” Tsunade asked.

“Her.” Naruto said as he pointed to Hinata, “It’d look a lot better around my hime’s neck than mine or yours.”

“Fine.” Tsunade answered, “But, if I win, I take all your money.” As she finished the statement she showed off Naruto’s frog wallet, which was packed full of money.

“My wallet!” Naruto shouted, When did she take it?

“What are you doing?” The assistant said, trying to make herself heard, “That necklace is…”

“It doesn’t matter, it’s not like the kid can finish that jutsu in a week. Let’s go Shizune.” Tsunade cut Shizune off as she turned to leave.

“Tsunade, can we have a drink together?” Jiraiya asked as Tsunade left, “It’s been awhile.” Jiraiya turned to Kiyoshi, who nodded in silent agreement.

“Hinata, Naruto, and Shizune, would you mind going and finding a hotel to stay in tonight while the three of us catch up on old times?” Kiyoshi asked.

“Okay.” Shizune nodded in agreement.

“Hai, Kiyoshi-sensei.” Hinata said as she ran over to Naruto, giving him a cursory inspection.

The three Yonnin watched as their apprentices took off. Soon, they found themselves sitting in a small bar.

“You’ve become even more beautiful.” Jiraiya stated as they began to drink.

“It’s only you that I don’t date, Jiraiya.” Tsunade teased with a smirk.

“It’s not like I’m interested.” Jiraiya said, and then added in a whisper, “After all, you’re a fifty-year-old old woman.”

“What was that?” Tsunade asked, slightly annoyed.

“Nothing, you must be hearing things.” Jiraiya responded quickly.

Kiyoshi sighed and enjoyed his drink. Even after decades of knowing each other, Jiraiya and Tsunade still acted like little kids around each other sometimes. He felt it was time to speak up, “Tsunade, are you worried?”

“About what?” Tsunade answered.

“Naruto and the bet.” Kiyoshi informed her.

“No.” Tsunade answered simply.

“You acted very childishly, Tsunade. Even if he spends every hour of every day training, the chances of him mastering the Rasengan in a single week are slim to none. It wasn’t a fair bet.”

“Why are you so reckless?” Jiraiya asked her.

“I’m not reckless…” Tsunade answered weakly.

“You’re meeting up with Orochimaru, aren’t you?” Jiraiya responded, “I could tell from Shizune’s facial expressions. I don’t know what sort of deal he made you, but don’t make a hasty decision.”

“There is only one thing we need to be clear on, Tsunade.” Kiyoshi took up the conversation, “The past Hokage protected all who lived in Konoha. They all ruled during troubled times, but the allowed Konoha to prosper. They bet their lives on the dreams of peace, that everything they did would come to something. Being the granddaughter, grandniece, and student to three Hokage, you should know this better than anyone. However, if you do anything to betray Konoha, I will kill you. I’m sure Jiraiya feels the same.”

Jiraiya simply nodded his head in agreement.

“It has nothing to do with me.” Tsunade replied as she sipped at her drink.

“Only a murderer would show no feelings knowing that people close to them are dead.” Jiraiya answered, “You’re not like that, right? You do care for the safety of Konoha and her residents, because…”

“Stop lecturing me already!” Tsunade shouted. “Why did you bring that brat along?”

“They look a lot alike don’t they?” Jiraiya answered.

Tsunade lost herself in thoughts of her late younger brother. Nawaki and Naruto were a lot alike. They had the same dream, and the same enthusiasm. It was almost like looking at an reincarnation of her dear brother when she looked at the blond genin.

The three old comrades enjoyed the rest of their drinks in relative silence. Everything that needed to be said had been… for now.