Chapter 44: The Legendary Sucker 1/2

LeafRanger: *Slowly peeks into the Naruto area of the Ranger Lair* Is anybody there?

Diehard NaruHina LeafRanger: What's got you so spook.

LR: The fact that I just dealt with krogans and aggressive robots and I'm totally expecting the same shenanigans here as well. Plus I'm not totally over you all trying to kill me.

Elroth: Let it go man, we've already moved on. Well besides when you make us do back breaking labor.

LR: I suppose so. *enters the area* So, glad to see everything seems to be normal here.

Arashen: Yeah, no crazy hi-jinks here. *fingers crossed behind his back*

LR: …uh-huh. Anyways, just one announcement here, to brutusjr the guest reviewer. Thanks for your review, glad you enjoyed the fight between Hinata and Neji! And I'm also glad a lot of people seemed to like where I went last chapter, with Naruto's confrontation with Itachi and Kisame. I wanted to sort of help show where Naruto's power level was at in regards to later enemies in the story, but also to show that these powerful enemies potentially could be defeated due to overconfidence. And that seemed to come across to a fair amount of you, so I consider it a success.

RagingStar19: *walks in with a crate* I got those explosives you guys wanted, where should I…oh *Sees LR*

LR: …no crazy hijinks, huh? *Looks at DNHLR, Elroth, and Arashen*

Arashen: Uuhhhh…LOOK, ANKO POSING SEDUCITVELY! *points and tries to flee*

Raphael: *clothesline Arashen* I'll thank you to speak of her with greater respect next time, senor.

LR: Good work. Now…what's this about explosives? *raises eyebrow*

RS19: Meep.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Assassin's Creed. They are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and Ubisoft respectively. This is a non-profit work of fan made fiction. Please support the official releases.

Chapter 44

The Legendary Sucker

To say Orochimaru was in a foul mood would be an understatement. He was in a towering fury as he looked over the reports concerning the failed invasion of Konoha. He had lost quite a few shinobi in the battle, including Kabuto, his most reliable lieutenant and spy within Konoha. And he had failed in his objectives. Konoha stood, bloodied but unbroken, and Sarutobi still lived.

That was the worst of it all. If he had managed to kill Sarutobi he might have been able to feel some satisfaction, but even that had been denied him thanks to the interference of the Raikage.

He snarled angrily as he threw the reports aside, standing up and pacing. He could not let this stand. Konoha could not be allowed to gain more fame and reputation from this. His sensei could not be allowed to gloat over this victory. He needed to strike back somehow at the village, to turn this defeat into a personal victory. But how to do it?

He paced quietly, thinking over the problem. He did not have the manpower for a strike against Konoha, even a quick raid. The village would be on heightened alert, and his shinobi were already bloodied and demoralized after the failed invasion. Even if Orochimaru cared nothing for their lives, he knew pointlessly throwing them away would earn him nothing and make recruitment in the future harder. So how else could he strike at Konoha?

He already was setting plans into motion to recruit the Uchiha he had marked, and he knew such an act would earn him a victory, but that could take months before he was ready. He needed something more immediate. Turning, he stopped as he saw one of the reports lying on the ground. An intelligence report recently arrived from one of the very few spies left in Konoha. He picked it up, frowning as he noticed it mentioning Jiraiya. Starting to read it, his eyes widened considerably. Jiraiya had been seen leaving the village in the company of Naruto Uzumaki, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. Orochimaru looked up at the ceiling, turning this information over in his head.

He knew Jiraiya wouldn't leave the village at a time like this unless it was important to the welfare of the village. And it obviously was not a spy or combat mission, or he wouldn't be taken a genin along, even one that had proven quite resourceful and skilled. So what reason could he have to leave Konoha? Unless…of course. Orochimaru smirked in sudden realization as he turned and left his office, moving through his underground lair. He soon reached a training room where a figure was seen standing near several targets. With a sudden flourish, they launched several small pink colored crystal shuriken into the targets, striking most of them. "Guren…I have a mission for you," he said, causing the figure to turn to him.

Hi no Kuni

Naruto frowned as he followed Jiraiya, the duo on the road again. The reason for his frown being him thinking over what Jiraiya had revealed to him the day before, after the fight with Itachi and Kisame. It had not been easy, learning the truth about why they were after him.

Flashback

"They're part of a group called Akatsuki," Jiraiya explained as he and Naruto sat in the room, the latter drinking some tea to help calm his nerves. "It's a group of missing nin I've been tracking for a few years now."

Naruto set his cup down, frowning. "Okay, so why do they want me? Is this about Kyuubi or my parents?" He asked Jiraiya, who shifted a bit uncomfortably.

"It's the former, gaki. They're after the jinchuuriki. I don't know why yet, just that they're hunting down jinchuuriki. Its part of the reason I came back to Konoha when I did. I wanted to get you prepared for dealing with them, since they're starting to move out. My contacts have heard they're putting feelers out for the identity and locations of the various jinchuuriki across the land," he said.

Naruto took a deep breath, trying to digest that information. "…have you told Yugito nee-san yet?" he asked, only for Jiraiya to shake his head.

"I was more worried about getting you ready since you're a much easier target for them. This is a group of S-ranked criminals. Itachi and Kisame are some of the higher ranked members of the group but all of them are deadly," Jiraiya said, only for Naruto to growl as he stood up.

"If they're that dangerous then she needs just as much warning as I do! She's strong but there's no way she can handle two of those guys! That blue fish asshole pretty much blew through everything I had, and Itachi is probably worse than that!" Naruto said, slamming a fist down on the table.

Jiraiya raised his hands peacefully. "You're right, you're right, but like I said, you're an easier target. She's a lot more experienced then you, and could probably escape more easily. I'm just trying to look out for you. But I swear, once we get back to Konoha, we'll tell her together. I promise."

Naruto glared at him, before sitting back down. "Is that it though? Anything else I need to know? Like maybe having a bounty on my head or there being a secret cult that wants to kill me to release Kyuubi?" He snapped sarcastically.

"No, nothing at all," Jiraiya said, shaking his head. Naruto looked at him suspiciously, before shaking his head, getting back up.

"I'm taking a shower. Unless you want to go off chasing more tail?" He said, turning and walking off while Jiraiya let out a sigh of frustration.

Flashback Ends

After taking a shower and cooling down a bit, Naruto had thrown himself into what training he could do. He had a clone reading the book on fuinjutsu for the rest of the evening, while another one was reading over the wind jutsu Jiraiya had supplied him with. He himself, meanwhile, stuck to what physical training he could do without stressing his arm, needing to blow off steam even more. By the time he went to bed, he had felt exhausted but slightly better than he had earlier.

Now on the road again, Jiraiya had quizzed him on what he had read, both concerning the fuinjutsu book and the wind ninjutsu scrolls. When that had finished, the two settled into a somewhat tense silence, not really having anything else to speak about and Naruto still being annoyed and frustrated over the previous day. After a while though, Naruto decided to speak up. "You know, you still haven't told me what she looks like," he said.

Jiraiya blinked, looking over his shoulder at Naruto. "Huh?"

"Tsunade-san. You haven't told me what she looks like. It'll be kind of tough to find her if I can't identity her," he said.

Jiraiya had a slightly sheepish grin before reaching into his vest, pulling out a bounty poster. "Here you go gaki," he said, as Naruto raised an eyebrow at the sight of the poster.

"…she's got a bounty on her head?" He asked, taking the poster from Jiraiya, who was still sheepishly grinning as he rubbed the back of his head through the long mane of white hair.

"Not for anything really serious…just maybe crashing a casino and putting five of the guards in the hospital," the toad sage replied, as Naruto looked at the picture. He blinked in surprise at the sight of a very attractive blonde woman with brown eyes, her hair in two long low ponytails with shoulder length bangs framing her face, wearing a green haori over a grey sleeveless kimono top that was closed rather low, revealing the cleavage of her rather ample chest. Her outfit was completed by a pair of dark grayish-blue pants and strap on high heeled sandals, as well as a diamond marking in the middle of her forehead and a necklace with a crystal dangling from her neck.

Naruto frowned as he looked the poster over. "…wait a minute…she's your teammate?" He asked, looking up at Jiraiya then back down at the poster. "There's no way that's possible, she looks like she's barely in her thirties! You're pushing fifty if not past it already!" Naruto exclaimed.

Jiraiya grabbed the poster, eyebrow twitching. "Thanks a lot kid," he said, stuffing it back into his vest. "She uses a jutsu to hide her age, making her look younger then she actually is. She likes to fluctuate it from time to time, going from her early twenties up to her late thirties, but her appearance otherwise doesn't change."

Naruto shook his head slightly at that. "Talk about vain," he said, only to find another poster pushed into his hands. This time he found a woman with short black hair and black eyes, dressed in a long charcoal black kimono and carrying a pig wearing a red vest and a pearl necklace of all things. "And who is this?" He asked, looking up at Jiraiya.

"Shizune, Tsunade's apprentice. She's been traveling with Tsunade ever since my teammate left the village. If we see her, then Tsunade is definitely in the area. Those two are almost never apart," Jiraiya explained, causing Naruto to nod as he took in the details of Shizune's appearance. "We'll most likely find them in any town that has casinos or gambling of some type. Tsunade never could say no to a game of chance," Jiraiya said a bit wistfully.

Naruto blinked and looked up at him. "Huh?"

Jiraiya let out a soft chuckle, lost in nostalgia. "Tsunade loves to gamble. Even when she was a kid, younger then you, she was always ready to take a bet. Her grandfather, the Shodai Hokage? He couldn't say no to her, kept giving her money to gamble with. And she was so bad at it too. She lost so many times that people started calling her The Legendary Sucker. Her luck is that horrible when it comes to gambling," Jiraiya said, the smile on his face dropping.

Naruto watched Jiraiya, seeing the look of sadness on the old man's face. He sensed this probably had to do with why Tsunade left the village, but he was almost certain if he pried, Jiraiya would close off that line of discussion. He waited for Jiraiya to shake himself from his thoughts, before the young Assassin returned the poster to him.

Jiraiya took it, trying to get upbeat again. "So, we keep an eye out for either of those two, and we'll find them," he said, as Naruto nodded. Jiraiya's next words caught Naruto off guard. "The trick will be getting to the right village or town in time."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Naruto asked, surprised. "You don't know where they are?"

"I have a general area but otherwise, no," Jiraiya said, looking sheepish again. "Because Tsunade loses so often, she can incur large gambling debts. She tends to move on from town to town quickly, to avoid the debt collectors. She could be in a town for a couple days or a week, and then a week later she'll have already moved through three more towns. The trick will be either finding her trail and following her, or finding a place that is most likely going to draw her in."

Naruto let out a groan at that, rubbing his forehead. "Well…guess this won't be a short trip," he muttered quietly.

"Think of it this way gaki! More time to train uninterrupted," Jiraiya said with a grin, as Naruto just grimaced.

"Yippee," he said, as the duo trudged along, heading off to the next town.

Konoha, Kurama compound

Rock Lee nervously knelt in the main meeting room of the Kurama clan, doing his best not to look nervous as he currently found himself in the presence of not just Yakumo but her parents as well. He wasn't sure exactly why but he had received an invitation to meet with them at the Kurama clan compound, which was situated a bit further away from the village interior then other clan compounds.

He did his best not to shift, feeling conspicuous due to the more formal attire of kimono and hakama rather than his normal ninja gear. Nevertheless, he did his best to appear calm as the head of the Kurama clan studied him quietly.

"I thank you for accepting our invitation, Lee-san," Murakumo Kurama, head of the Kurama clan and father to Yakumo, said. He was a man of average height and build, with long black hair and a neatly trimmed moustache, and light brown eyes. Next to him was his wife Uroko, an attractive woman with silver shoulder length hair and darker brown eyes then her husband. She gave Lee a gentle smile, while on the other side of Murakumo, Yakumo also did her best to hide her nervousness. The heiress was not sure exactly why her parents wanted to meet with Lee, beyond that they had only shown an interest after she had told them about what had happened during the invasion.

"I am honored to be invited into your home, Murakumo-sama," Lee said, bowing his head, before raising it.

Murakumo simply bowed his head in return. "I'm sure you are curious as to why we wished to speak with you. The answer is simple: my wife and I wish to thank you for what you've done for not just our daughter, but for our clan. You have aided my daughter greatly in her training, and she speaks highly of your continual efforts to motivate her. This alone would be enough for us to give thanks, but we find ourselves indebted to you even more."

"W-what do you mean, Murakumo-sama?" Lee asked curiously, as Uroko smiled, speaking up this time.

"You saved our daughter's life during the recent invasion. She told us of how you came to her aid and saved her during the battle. We cannot ever repay you for the life of our daughter."

Lee's eyes widened, before he bowed his head with the barest hint of a blush. "Yakumo-san has been an excellent friend and comrade. I would never allow harm to come to her or anyone else I consider a friend, if it was in my power to help them," he said with a hint of embarrassment.

"Even still, we wished to thank you and to let you know that the Kurama clan is indebted to you. You will always find friends here," Murakumo told him with a smile, before looking to Yakumo with his smile growing a bit more knowing. "Is there anything you'd like to add?"

Yakumo blushed, before bowing low to Lee. "Thank you Lee-san, for saving my life," she said, only for Uroko to giggle.

"Dear, let's leave these two so she can more properly thank him. I'm sure our presence is making this so awkward for them," she told Murokuma, who chuckled in response.

"I'm sure they'll appreciate some privacy," he said, before standing, causing everyone else to rise as well. He bowed to Lee, who bowed back to him. "Thank you again, Lee-san."

Lee raised his head in acknowledgement as the two adults left the room, sending knowing smiles back to Yakumo who simply blushed in response. When they were gone, Yakumo let out a breath of relief, relaxing as she looked to Lee. "I'm so sorry Lee-kun, I would have said something ahead of time if I had known what they wanted," she said, having been able to tell he was nervous.

Lee merely smiled, giving her a thumbs up. "Fear not Yakumo-chan, I am glad to know that they simply wished to thank me. Though it was not necessary," he added with his trademark grin, his usual energy returning.

Yakumo smiled at that as she indicated another door on the side of the meeting room, which opened into a garden. "How have you been?" She asked, happy to see him again. Due to the invasion they had not been able to train together, due to Lee and his team being busy helping rebuild.

"We've been quite busy," Lee told her. "My team has been helping out around the village, clearing rubble. We only finished yesterday. We've also been training and taking rotations on guard duty as well. But I am doing quite well. I view it all as a way to express my youth, and help build bonds with my fellow shinobi," he said with a smile.

She giggled a bit at that, smiling at him. "I'd imagine so. How are your teammates? I imagine that Neji-san is perhaps…a bit unsettled," she said.

Lee nodded, frowning slightly. "He has been rather quiet since his match with Hinata-san. I do not know how the battle has affected him," he said, looking pensive. "I hope he might open up to either Tenten-san or I, so that we can help him."

Yakumo gave Lee a warm smile at that. "Even though he has mocked and ridiculed you in the past?" She asked him.

"He is my teammate, and he has fought beside me. I will do what I can to help him," Lee said, causing Yakumo to smile more.

'And that, Lee-kun, is one of the reasons I admire you,' she thought to herself, before taking a deep breath. Stopping him, she turned to face him as he looked at her with slight surprise. "Lee-kun…I was hoping perhaps that you and I might…perhaps..i-if you want I mean," she started to say, suddenly feeling very shy as she saw the look on his face and stumbling over her words.

"Yes Yakumo-chan?" He asked her, trying not to smile at the cute look of embarrassment on her face.

Yakumo took another deep breath, looking back up at him. "Would you like to go and get dinner sometime? With me?" She asked, watching as his eyes widened in surprise.

He blinked at her, before he grinned, a softer, warmer smile then his normal one. "I would not only be honored…but I would enjoy that, Yakumo-chan," he told her, causing her to smile back.

From a doorway, both Murakumo and Uroko could only smile as they quietly watched the two interact. "It was a good day, when the two of them met," Uroko said softly.

"I might need to have the 'father talk' with him soon," Murakumo added, causing Uroko to lightly smack his arm, before the two left Yakumo with Lee.

Elsewhere, Neji stood in a training field, panting slightly as he continued to launch combo's of Jyuuken strikes against a training post. He let out the softest of grunts each time he struck, his fingertips and palms feeling numb from the repeated strikes. He would have welcomed the feelings though as a distraction from his thoughts, except they weren't distracting him. Instead, he found his mind dwelling on a simple, inescapable fact: he had lost to Hinata.

Before the Finals it had seemed impossible to him. He should have won. He had a year of experience over her, he was far better in the Hyuuga taijutsu then any other Hyuuga near his age, and he had even figured out and learned two of the techniques the Main Family had tried to keep for themselves. Fate had all but verbally decreed he would win the fight.

And yet that wasn't what happened. Instead of the victory he was so certain of, she had fought him on almost equal terms. And what's more…she had beaten him. Despite his proclamations otherwise, fate had not given him victory. He couldn't understand why. It seemed inconceivable that he could lose. He couldn't even use fate as an excuse for his loss because the only way he could see her being fated to win was if she were part of the Main Family of the Hyuuga clan, and thus destined for a life of always being above him. But she had been cast out by the clan, proclaimed a weak nothing by the Elders and her own father. Fate would not have sided with her, at least not according to his view of what fate was.

He finally stopped hitting the training post, standing there with hands trembling, trying to understand. He had spent his whole life since his father's death, so certain in the idea of fate controlling everything, so certain that everything was predestined. And now that entire belief had been shaken by this one single fight. That and by her words afterwards. About how she fought for her friends, her teammates, to prove their faith in her was not misplaced.

Neji shook his head at the thought. She couldn't have beaten him that way, could she? How did that make her any stronger, any better than him? Growling in frustration, he slammed a fist into the training post, wincing as he felt the hard wood slam into his hand.

"I wouldn't do that. You don't have the toughness and calluses for it," spoke a female voice, causing Neji to look up and see Tenten standing there. He slowly withdrew his hand from the training post, shaking it out as she approached. "What's got you so worked up?"

"Surely you are not serious, Tenten-san," he said, turning back to the training post and preparing to strike at it again.

Tenten just rolled her eyes, sighing as she moved to stand on the other side of the training post so he would be forced to see her as he struck at it. "You really are obsessing over this, aren't you? You lost, get over it already," she said, crossing her arms.

"How can I simply get over it? She should not have been able to even compete against me. She was weak, worthless, a disgrace that the clan banished. She had no way to develop her Jyuuken or Byakugan," Neji stated, only for Tenten to shake her head.

"Neji, your clan's techniques are strong. The Hyuuga are a strong clan. But you're not the end-all-be-all of the shinobi world. Just because she couldn't learn Jyuuken doesn't mean she couldn't grow stronger in different ways. And she clearly did. But have you considered that maybe it wasn't just her techniques that beat you, but something else? Something inside?" Tenten asked, tapping her chest.

Neji stopped and looked at her, reminded of Hinata's words. "Elaborate," he told her, causing Tenten to roll her eyes.

"I mean that maybe Hinata found something that was worth pushing herself to her limits, and even beyond them. Look at Lee. When we first teamed up, he was an abysmal mess. Now he's so strong and fast I'd be hard pressed not to be knocked out within the first couple minutes of a spar between us. And that would be with him holding back so as not to seriously hurt me. And he's grown that strong because he has a desire to grow stronger and prove that he can be a strong shinobi even with just taijutsu. Maybe Hinata found the same drive to grow stronger," she said as Neji turned away, looking to the sky.

"…she told me as much…I didn't want to believe her, but she said that was part of what helped her to beat me. After our match, when I asked her," he said quietly. "…surely such a thing isn't possible though, is it? That she could deny fate because of emotions?"

Tenten sighed quietly, shaking her head. "Maybe the reason you can't figure this out is because you keep trying to fit fate into everything. For once Neji…forget about fate. You'll probably get your answer a lot simpler that way," she said, heading off and leaving her confused and frustrated Hyuuga teammate behind.

Tanzaku Quarters, one week later

Tanzaku Quarters, a popular tourist stop within Hi no Kuni, was a bustling town. Surrounded by a wall to protect it from dangers, the city had been built up around the castle of a famous samurai warlord from the warring period before the advent of chakra, when armies of samurai retainers and drafted peasants dominated the battlefield. One of the few remaining structures to survive the turbulent transition to the Shinobi period, it had become a landmark tourist attraction, around which a town had sprung up to cash in on the tourists visiting said castle. Gambling, souvenirs, and various plazas and theaters for festivals could be found, creating quite a lively atmosphere.

All this was lost on the blond haired woman currently sitting in one of the gambling halls, staring at the pachinko machine in front of her. Given the fact that she had witnessed a very large portion of the balls being 'captured', one would think she would be quite happy, as a big payout was waiting for her. Yet instead her beautiful face was marred by a frown, her brown eyes staring at the machine with a mixture of growing horror and astonishment.

"Oh wow, that's amazing Tsunade-sama! Looks like your luck has finally changed!" Said the woman standing next to her. Tsunade turned her head to look at Shizune, her apprentice and traveling companion, who was grinning happily at the flashing lights on the machine, declaring Tsunade a winner.

Tsunade looked back at the machine, not sharing Shizune's enthusiasm. Instead she grabbed the ticket exiting the machine, standing up to go cash it in while Shizune blinked and followed her quickly, making sure the pig she carried in her arms was secure and stable.

Tsunade quietly took the money given to her by the establishment owner and left the building, while Shizune followed her, sensing something was amiss. "Tsunade-sama, is something wrong?" She asked worriedly.

"We're leaving," Tsunade said quietly, moving forward with a purpose while Shizune blinked in surprise.

"B-But…you're on a hot streak. Tsunade-sama, if you win a few more times w-we can finally pay off some of the more immediate gambling debts, and-," Shizune started to say, only to be silenced by a look from Tsunade.