Chapter 69 Tsunade

"Are you sure this time that she's here?" Naruto asked nearly groaning out the question. This had been the third possible lead so far and at this rate he was wondering if they would get home by his birthday. Although it was cool learning the rasengan and all but he was missing home, and Hinata too, plus he wasn't sure when Jiraiya was being serious or not. Sometimes he would just disappear and when he got back he sometimes smelled of alcohol and perfume.

"I'm pretty sure this time," Jiraiya told the young blonde. "Last village said she ran out of credit and told me she was seen coming this way. Plus this town has a lot of gambling buildings as well." Although it did take him paying off her dept, honestly how the hell was it possible for someone to rank up that much in gambling? It was a good thing his books sold well in all known countries or else he would never have been able to pay that kind of money off with just his ninja pay. Again, how the hell she racked up such dept for years and people still let her in to gamble knowing she might skip out on them he had no idea.

At any rate he had a good feelings about this place, it was far from the village and yet just close to the boarder of the country. It also had lots of gambling houses of various types one that she hadn't been to in years. Most likely she hadn't come back to this place this long to let any previous debts she had to be long forgotten about. After all given all the years she had been traveling she was bound to run into the same town at least twice

"So what does she look like again?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya sighed. "Didn't I already say what she looked like?"

"Well all you said was that she looked young, with blonde hair and something about a chest you couldn't miss."

Jiraiya grinned at that last line he had to admit there were many features that he remembered about her but everyone came back to that point. Sakura scowled at the pervert in the time she had been with him she had learned quickly that there was a reason why Naruto referred to him only as 'Ero-sennin' all this time. She could see that Sasuke wasn't enjoying this either.

"Why don't you kids get a hotel ready over there" He pointed to a random one. "I'm going to take a quick look around and scout the place out a bit." The man said before leaving them to it.

The three genins sighed in unison as they were left with the task.

"We might as well get this over with," Sasuke said putting his hands in his pockets, mainly to try and take it easy on his hands. They were still bandaged up from the last training he had but he was close to getting it down. Just a little more and he felt he might finally get the control he needed after that, he would work on different ways to use this new lightning techniques.

He already planned to use it with his sword but he was also thinking of smaller things like shurikens and kunai, he was wondering if he could learn to put it into paper bombs making giant electrical explosions instead of the normal ones. It opened up a whole new world of tactics and he would need them. Sasuke cast a look to his teammates, in the month they had been gone they all had been improving.

Naruto was quickly on his way to perfecting that rasengan move even Sasuke had to admit that what he had seen that jutsu would be one hell of an attack when landed. But after learning about Naruto's past he couldn't begrudge him learning it. This was something that was being passed on that his biological father created. It was still odd to think that Kakashi wasn't Naruto's father but that didn't matter. Naruto had lost a family he had never known so for Sasuke who still had memories of his family, this was one of the few things Naruto had of them.

Looking at Sakura he couldn't help how much she had grown, in the academy she had been about average maybe slightly above but after joining Team 7 she had grown. After that training month she had grown even more. She seemed more mature lately, no longer bugging him for dates (although they did have an agreement about that) but now she seemed to really be taking the ninja life more seriously.

Plus she had gotten stronger too he couldn't help but start to think of her in a new light lately. Maybe he should rethink a few other things about her as well. She was a good friend, one of the few that he could say was a friend, a comrade but...well he wasn't sure. Maybe she was more he wasn't sure. He pushed those thoughts aside for now as they entered the hotel.

Little did anyone know that just outside of the village two figures in robes walked into view of the village, they had been traveling for awhile now and were nearing their target.

"The information was correct about this place?" The taller of the two asked.

The companion nodded, "Yes, we should find them here."

"Ah good, it will be nice to see if we can finish all the objectives in one go."

-Not much Later-

A woman in a dark kimono walked the streets of the city, she had an earthly beauty about her, she wouldn't turn heads but she was attractive woman in her late twenties. She had dark eyes with short hair but long bangs as well, with her was a small female pig that wore of all things a small red vest and a pearl necklace.

This was Shizune, the apprentice of Tsunade and currently the woman was looking a little worn out. They had been kicked out of their old hotel because Tsunade took the money for the next two days to gamble. Now Shizune was looking for a slightly cheaper place, it wasn't the first time that her master had that feeling of a 'sure thing' and gambled away on it. But it was hard on Shizune who had to deal with her master's fall out. Although she wouldn't trade her life with Tsunade away for anything, at times she secretly wished her master would return home.

She missed the Leaf village, she missed the forests, the mountain, the villagers everything at times. Sometimes she wondered if Tsunade felt the same but the woman was anything but stubborn. Shizune sighed as she picked a hotel that looked like it was in their new price range. Although she knew that Tsunade had been only running away from her problems, Shizune had to be there for her. If she wasn't then Tsunade would be all alone and she did love the woman as though she were family.

If her uncle Dan hadn't died, Tsunade might have married and become her aunt after all. So despite all the hardships she would be there for her, besides it wasn't all bad and she had learned so much under Tsunade's tutelage. Walking into the hotel she noticed three young children looking like they were making reservations.

At first she thought it strange that kids were alone, then she quickly noticed the ninja gear they had on.

'Genin?Butwhereistheirsensei?Pleasedon'ttellmethattheirsenseileftthemalone,' Shizune looked around but didn't see anyone that could be their team leader. They were an odd sort, a pink haired girl (which was a rare hair color thinking back she could remember seeing a village woman with that hair before in the Leaf but she couldn't place where) in red clothing and ninja mesh. A blonde (also a bit rare hair color) in a mix of black and orange of all things, the last person was dressed all in black with short dark hair.

"I can't believe Ero-sennin took off like that," The blonde spoke up.

"Not the first time he's done this," the dark haired one crossed his arms.

"Should we go and find them?" The only female of the group asked them. Both boys blushed bright red suddenly at that.

"Hell no!" Both said at the same time.

The girl narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "Where did you guy's find him last time? Every time it's brought up you blush like this. Was it one ofthose places again?"

Shizune had no idea who they were talking about but by the sounds of it, she was getting a sinking feeling that whoever it was, he was doing things that she and Tsunade wouldn't approve of.

"I can't believe you dragged me into such a place," The dark boy glared at the other.

"It's not my fault!" The blonde said in defence. "I didn't know what kind of place that was! Besides I got a girlfriend why the hell would I want to go to a place like that? And you better not say anything to Hinata-chan, I don't want her to get the wrong idea about me."

The pink one sighed muttering something about it had been one of those places after all.

Shizune did notice something else, they had on Leaf symbols on them, it was nice to see fellow Leaf ninja even if they were genins that she didn't know. But she couldn't just go over and say hello, after all Tsunade didn't like to attract attention from anyone from the village. So she watched the three argue about whose fault had been what when she felt a presence behind her. She was about to react when a familiar voice caused her to freeze up.

"Long time no see Shizune," Jiraiya spoke up.

Her head whipped around so fast she nearly caused an injury in her neck. Looking up she saw the Toad Sannin himself. "J-Jiraiya-sama?"

"Hey Ero-Sennin!" The blonde yelled out and now a few things were clicking into Shizune's head about the earlier conversation. "I thought we were looking for a blonde woman, so you better not be trying to pick her up."

"Blonde woman..." Shizune looked back to Jiraiya and saw the serious expression on his face. They were here looking for Tsunade there was no other explanation.

Jiraiya nodded as though reading her mind, "She's being called home Shizune, this is an official order that even she can't ignore. Please take us to her."

Shizune was a bit torn, she was loyal to Tsunade but on the other hand she was a Leaf village. If this was an official order she had to help if she could.

Jiraiya placed a calming hand on her shoulder and gave her an assuring smile, "Don't worry I just want to talk and hope she sees reason." He noticed the pained look she was giving him and he knew that it was a long shot about that. Still, he had to try at least and just maybe his little 'ace' up the sleeve might work if all else failed.

"So who is this person anyway?" Sasuke asked him. "You act like she knows exactly where Tsunade is."

"She does," he explained to the genins. "You see this is Shizune, apprentice to Tsunade and pretty much goes wherever she goes. She's also a great medical ninja from what I heard too."

Shizune looked at the three young faces and she had to figure that Jiraiya wouldn't leave her alone until she led them all to Tsunade. Still if there was hope to help bring her master home maybe she should bring them to her. Shizune just hoped that Tsunade wouldn't be too angry with her because of it. She bowed to the three of them as introductions were made.

Now a few things started to click in her head, Sakura's last name of Haruno reminded her of an older woman that was a merchant in the village. Shizune remembered that woman because pink hair was hard to forget, plus the shop always had nice things in it. The dark haired boy was the famed last Uchiha. But the blond when he said he was Naruto Hatake that was odd.

"Wait...Hatake, I knew a Kakashi Hatake in the academy," Shizune remembered the masked boy genius. He had been pretty cold and distant with others. He had also been the star of the class and had been someone that most girls had had crushes on.

"Yeah that's my dad."

"Eh! Since when did Kakashi get married?" Shizune remembered that a girl named Rin had been interested but last she heard before she left the village that girl had gone on a mission and didn't come back.

"He didn't, hey did you know my dad or something?" Naruto asked her honestly interested to hear this.

"Uh well...only in passing," Shizune told him a little nervously. "I was in his class in the academy and I remember seeing him around. We also met up a few times in the last war, wait what do you mean he didn't marry?"

"It's kind of a long story," Naruto scratched the back of his head, "Although he is dating Aunt Anko."

Shizune blinked, as far as she knew Kakashi had no other family, was this aunt from the mother's side of the family? Just how much had she missed out on in all these years away from the village at this point?

"As much as this is interesting," Jiraiya interrupted before this took all day. "We really should get going before it gets too late in the day."

Sakura looked up at the older man, "Why? Will she leave town?"

"No I'm afraid that she might get to start drinking and then she'll be a handful," The man sighed as he saw Shizune wince slightly. The woman knew all too well how bad Tsunade could get at times when she had too much to drink.

Shizune wondered if Tsunade drank to forget or just drank so she had an excuse to act out. Maybe it was a bit of both or maybe this was just her way of trying to bury the pain of her past.

The group soon left the hotel as Shizune still had to make a room and even if this didn't work out she didn't want to walk all over the village some more to find yet another hotel in their range. So after leaving everything in the room and leaving Tonton to the room as the little pig made it known she wanted to rest up. They all made their way to the bar that Tsunade said to meet her at. As they walked in both Shizune and Jiraiya took notice of Tsunade right away.

It was hard to miss the woman who was alone in a booth having starting to drink already. It was also easy for her to stand out. There weren't many beautiful looking young twenty year olds with blonde hair in a grey shirt that showed off some of the most impressive cleavage in the known lands.

"Oh...now I get it," Naruto commented seeing her. "Wait she's supposed to be the same age as you?" He looked at Jiraiya.

"Like I said she's got a henge on herself all the time," He explained to them as they walked over. He could tell that Shizune was nervous after all he knew that Tsunade would not be pleased with the news. Well he might as well make himself a target for Tsunade's anger as repayment for leading them to her. Not like he most likely wouldn't have made her angry eventually anyway.

"Hey there long time no see," Jiraiya smiled broadly as he quickly sat down and placed an arm around her shoulder. She had been so absorbed in her own thoughts she hadn't even noticed him. Then again he usually knew how to surprise her.

"Jiraiya," the single word out of her mouth was full of ice and malice that it would make most men immediately pull away. Well Jiraiya was used to it so he was mostly immune by this point, mostly.

"Now now, don't get like that, I'm here to visit you and I got mail from sensei for you as well." He joked.

Tsunade glared at him for a moment, "Remove the arm or I will, surgically."

Jiraiya did it although he knew she couldn't do that to him, not after the trauma of the war she couldn't stand the sight of blood anymore. However she could and would, break his arm in so many places that only she could put it back together again. So he complied with her as everyone else gathered around.

Tsunade noticed the kids and for a moment paused as she looked at them and quickly back to him. "The hell is this? I thought that you said you would never teach a genin team again, plus weren't you always away from the village to teach?"

"They're just on loan."

"Hey!" Naruto shouted out.

"But they got some hidden talents," the man grinned at them. "A little rough but I've worked with worse."

Tsunade shook her head, "I never thought you wanted to teach again, in fact I remember you saying as much." That had been when they had last met up a few years ago.

She remembered how they ran into each other randomly, they did the usual, they argued, he was a pervert and they ended up drinking and talking about old times again. That night had been a little hazy but she did remember him saying how he would never teach again. That he was tired of his students all dying on him. That was one of the few times she felt for the man, he had lost ever single student he had.

She knew that a couple of them had been really special for Jiraiya she could see their deaths hit him hard. So that fact he had another genin team with him was slightly confusing for her.

His response was just to shrug, "What can I say, there is just something about them. Plus I was wrong, just because you say something doesn't mean that you were right at the time. Besides this might be my last chance to see something interesting grow in the process. Apparently their sensei said that these kids would replace our old team on day."

Tsunade took one look and burst out laughing, leaving three very glaring genins at her.

"These three to replace the Sannin? I know that Orochimaru is no longer around but still, this is ridiculous." She told him after finally stopping her laughter. "So why are you here then, I know it's not just coincidence that you're here."

Jiraiya got a much more serious look on his face as he pulled out a scroll that he carried with him. He placed it on the table so she could see the seal of the Hokage. Tsunade paused in her drink as she saw the seal and quickly drank it down. She glared at the offending piece of paper like it had personally insulted her.

"You're to come home now," Jiraiya explained just in case. He wasn't sure how much she had to drink but he wanted to be sure she got the full meaning while she was still lucid. "This is an official order Tsunade, you can't ignore this."

"Like hell," she muttered. "I said I never wanted to go back."

"Yeah and the old man gave you permission because of his position," Jiraiya knew that if it had been anyone else the Hokage wouldn't have been as lenient on someone else. "Sensei wants you to come home now, in fact he could use your help as he got banged up pretty bad. A few people could use your skills."

"You know I don't do that work anymore," A shadow fell over her face. Ever since that rainy day she couldn't stand the sight of blood anymore. The image of Dan's body, his blood covering the grass as well as her hands, the blood of the man she loved. She just couldn't do it anymore surgery for people became impossible for her. She hated it, she hated that she had spent so much of her life to save lives and now she can't even do that anymore.

The fact that she had lost her brother and lover as well as her skills as a medic had just been too much. After the war had ended she had left and never looked back. Now here was her idiot teammate with orders calling her back. She looked at the scroll as she tried to figure out her options. This was an official order so if the Hokage was calling her back then he wouldn't stand for it if she just ignored it. That was most likely why Jiraiya was here.

Not only was he the only one that could track her down quickly but was one of the few that could take her in a fight. Anyone else and she would just flatten them and send them back for medical healing. So if she said no she would have to fight him. The genins weren't an issue, Shizune could handle them after all it was Jiraiya that was the problem. So, if she got past him then what?

She had stayed in this country because it offered protection she still had entries in the bingo books of the major ninja countries. If she got caught in one of those she might end up being hunted. If the Leaf thought it best to send in teams to a neutral or worse, a hostile country it could trigger a major incident. If she went to one of the smaller or lesser known countries she might be able to disappear a lot easier but not much room to run.

Maybe he was only calling her back for a short time? She could take that at least if they just needed her expertise.

"So what exactly am I being called back for?" She asked him hoping it was just medical that she could instruct Shizune to do anything requiring surgery.

Jiraiya paused knowing full well she was going to hate this part.

"You're going to be the next Hokage."

Tsunade's eyes widened as she stared at him like he said that the dead were rising. For a moment she thought that she had heard him wrong, her as Hokage? He had to be kidding her, there was no way in hell she was going to take that position and he had to know that and to know why she would never want to be Hokage.

"That better be a joke," She growled out at him.

"It's no joke."

"Why the hell would I want that fool's job? That job does nothing but get people killed, there is no way in hell that I would take that job. Get some other sucker to do it."

Jiraiya knew this wasn't going to be easy in fact this was going as well as he thought it was. He was just about to try another tactic when he noticed Naruto. The boy looked extremely pissed at the moment and from the looks of it, the boy was going to blow. Before he could calm the boy down or stop him before he said or did something stupid, he was too late.

"What the hell is your problems granny!" Naruto shouted out as everyone at the table froze.

There was a long pause at the table before Tsunade glared angrily at Naruto as a tic showed slowly grew on her temple. "What did you just call me?"

The cold in her voice gave Jiraiya chills, he hadn't heard her use that tone in her voice in a long time. In fact the last time had been when she had caught him peeking at her in the hot springs. He had nearly been killed by her that day.

"You heard me!" Naruto stood up glaring at her. "You only look young because of a henge, I know you're really old. What kind of woman hides her age like that anyway?"

"You little brat."

"And what's wrong with being Hokage!"

"That job is only for people who want to get killed," Tsunade told him. "With the exception of everyone's whose face in on that mountain, they've all died and do you know how many people have died trying to even get that position?" She calmed down a bit taking the last drink in her cup. "Only fools and idiots want that job and it will eventually kill everyone that takes it."

"Well you can count me as both then!" Naruto shot back not noticing the sweat drop of his three companions at his choice of words. "Because one day, I'm going to be Hokage!"

For a split second the image of Naruto was overlapped with the image of another young boy. The image was of her young brother Nawaki, he had made that same claim in that same way. She was shocked to her core as this boy reminded her too much of him. The look in the boy's eyes said he truly believed that dream of his. She snapped out of her shock as she smirked at him.

"Oh? You think some loud mouthed little brat like you has what it takes to be Hokage? You have no idea what it takes."

"I know that it takes more than being an old has been, running away from everything and nothing but a drunk."

A sudden smash was heard as Tsunade had crushed the sake jug she had been holding. Everyone could feel the anger coming off the woman. "How dare you! You have no idea what I've put myself through and lost all in the service of my village. You haven't had to put people back together, seen more people die than you can remember, you haven't seen your loved ones die or dead in front of you. I did my service and more. I have nothing left to give and you expect me to go back and lead the village that I gave so much of my life too?"

"My grandfather and great uncle were the First and Second Hokages and you know what? They both died violent deaths, I barely remember them anymore since they died so young. The only thing left of them is this." She pulled out a necklace with a small green stone of some kind on it. "This is worth enough to buy a mountain and something they gave me. It's something they both wore at one time and now it's a constant reminder that all Hokages come to a bad end."

"I may not be as old as you and did as much," Naruto came back at this point. "But you're not the only person that's lost something. But you know what, I don't care. I'm not going to let anything stop me from being Hokage because the Hokage protects the village and keeps it save. You may not love the village but I do and I will do anything to protect it, if I die to protect it then fine!"

"You stupid brat don't you dare say something like that in front of me!" Tsunade yelled at him. "You want to waste your life for a dream you'll never see happen?"

"At least I'm going for something instead of hiding like you!"

"Shouldn't we stop this?" Shizune asked Jiraiya getting a little scared of how this was going.

"Let it play out," The man hadn't seen anyone get under Tsunade's skin like this before. It was actually kind of funny although he hoped she didn't pound him into the ground. Bringing back Kakashi's kid all broken up would not be a good thing to happen.

"That's it, you really think you can be Hokage then fine, let's see how strong you think you are then." Tsunade got up and headed for the door. "That is if you're not scared."

"Like hell I would be cared of you Grandma!"

Cracking knuckles could be heard from Tsunade making a fist at that remark. Soon the entire group was outside in the street as Naruto and Tsunade faced off against each other.

Naruto took out a kunai getting ready but was a little confused by how she seemed very relaxed. "Well aren't you going to do something?"

"Like I have to worry about you, I won't need more than a finger to deal with you." She replied confidently.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, he hated it when people looked down at him. He rushed forward with his kunai but every time she slashed at her she dodged it easily. She only moved when she had to and every time it just barely missed. But she was smiling the entire time, Naruto soon saw that she was doing it on purpose to prove a point. He tried to go faster but the next thing he knew, her finger had gone through the hole in the hilt of the kunai and it was literally taken out of his hand.

He had never even heard of someone doing that before. He quickly pulled out his short sword belonging to his grandfather and tried attacking with that as the other looked on.

"Should we stop this before it gets dangerous?" Sakura asked.

Jiraiya shook his head watching the action. "Don't worry, she'll make sure that she won't go overboard, actually I'm surprised he's lasting this long. But then again I think she's playing with him."

Sasuke had never seen anyone take on Naruto this easily before. In all the spars with him they had always been somewhat even. Sometimes Naruto would win and other times it was Sasuke, so seeing the boy he considered his friend and rival having such a hard time only made him see just how far someone could go as a ninja. The woman was strong, maybe even stronger than his brother.

Naruto couldn't believe that this woman was holding him off so easily, just when he thought he got a good attack in she moved more quickly than he thought was possible. Next thing he knew she was in front of him, her finger suddenly flicked his forehead. It felt like a hammer had hit his skull as he flew out ten feet. He cursed as he picked himself up, that had really hurt and it had just been a finger.

He needed something to beat her, something she couldn't block and a power move to get through her freakish strength. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea, he hadn't even perfected it yet but it was the only hope he had. He put away his sword as she started to gather the chakra and ran at her. Jiraiya and the genins were surprised he was going to try and use the rasengan on her.

Tsunade was a little confused what the boy was doing but suddenly as the chakra started to form into a ball she knew full well what jutsu he was using.

'That old fool,teaching a kid that!' She knew the rasengan having seen it done herself by Jiraiya after he learned it from his student. The chakra was forming tighter now she had to stop the kid before it was finished as there was no way in hell she was going to try and block that jutsu. Tsunade suddenly slammer her fist into the ground as it broke open slightly.

Naruto hadn't expected that as his foot was tripped up and he feel, the jutsu fell apart without his concentration to keep it stable.

"Jiraiya!" She yelled at her idiot teammate. "What the hell do you think you were doing trying to teach a genin that jutsu!"

"Ha! I did it," Naruto slowly picked himself up.

"Did what?" Tsunade asked annoyed.

He grinned under his mask at her, "I got you to use your hold hand."

She paused as she thought about it, admitting defeat that the kid had gotten her to use her hand and not just a finger like she said. "Okay so you got me there but you're the one that was face down in the dirt."

"If I got that jutsu finished then you would have been the one in the dirt."

"I am surprised you got the jutsu that far but there is no way in hell a boy like you could learn something like that."

"One week! Give me one week and I'll show you that I can do it!"

Tsunade raised her eyebrow as something started to click in her mind. "Oh? Then how about this, you and I make a bet."

"Sure!"

Tsunade smirked thinking she found a way out or at least maybe get some time to think of a way to plan out her escape from being called back to be Hokage. "If I win this bet and you can't master that jutsu in one week then you all leave me alone."

"Now wait a minute-" Jiraiya started up but Naruto already jumped in.

"Fine but if I win, you come back and become Hokage!"

Tsunade couldn't have planned this out better than she thought. There was no way in hell that boy could finish it in just a week. It took the Fourth years to create it and it took Jiraiya months to learn it as well. This was just too perfect. "You're on kid."

"Wait a damn minute!" Jiraiya jumped in.

"No take backs Jiraiya," she smirked at him. "Either we do this or I start running. Don't worry I won't leave this town until after a week but if you try anything I'm gone and you know I won't be easy to find or take back."

Jiraiya knew she had a point and although it was a slim hope it was hope, but still. Why the hell did the brat have to go and say something like that? He palmed his face thinking maybe taking the kid was a bad idea after all. "Fine then." He then looked at the kid picking him up. "You better learn this because there is no way in hell I'm telling the Third about any of this if this blows up in our faces."

"Don't worry I can do it," Naruto assured him.

But Jiraiya wasn't as certain, true he had come a long way but it still he wasn't sure the kid could pull it off. This was going to be one very long week for all of them.

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Next up Chapter 7: Hard Times