NaruHina: Duty

Chapter 2: The Sharingans

Jiraiya left a few days later after Minato's funeral to pursue the few clues he had of Orochimaru. He left Hiruzen and the Uchihas the responsibility of dealing with Danzo's duplicity. He knew Fugaku would do his job, utilizing the Konoha police force to find out the men responsible for aiding Danzo.

But before he dealt with Orochimaru, he needed to find Tsunade first. Somebody had to help Hiruzen in the defense of Konoha in his absence. Jiraiya easily found her, taking her pleasure in a bottle of sake as she hazarded a bet against her fellow gamblers.

Shizune noticed him first and sat up with alacrity. Her long-suffering air disappeared as soon as she saw him approach with purposeful steps.

"Jiraiya-sama!" she yelled aloud in surprise, startling everyone around the room, except for Tsunade who just glared at her.

"Shizune! Shut your trap. I'm winning here!"

"Shizune! Tsunade!" Jiraiya yelled without preamble. "Get your things and go back to Konoha. As of now, you're the Fifth Hokage of The Village of the Leaf."

Startled, Tsunade dropped the money in her hands and glared at him.

"Jiraiya, what the hell?!"

"Minato and Kushina are dead. Sarutobi-sensei needs you."

"Dead!" Shizune gasped in disbelief.

"As a doornail," Jiraiya said harshly.

Tsunade looked at Jiraiya's serious face and knew he wasn't lying. She felt a brief spurt of grief for the two shinobi who'd fallen. She knew there was something more important that Jiraiya wanted to discuss with her, but they wouldn't be able to do it here in such a public place.

"You heard him, men," she said as she gathered up her winnings. There was a lot of grumbling. "But hey, at least you guys lost to the new Hokage, so that's something."

Tsunade stood up. "Shizune! Let's go!"

They followed Jiraiya outside and they all went to the hotel where the women were staying.

"Spill it, Jiraiya. There's more to all this."

Jiraiya told her, and Tsunade finally understood the seriousness of the situation. Shizune was already packing even as the tears flowed down her cheeks. Minato and Kushina had been one of her favorite people. And now their newborn son was orphaned, too.

"You know I'm the only one who can find Orochimaru."

Tsunade nodded, a hard look in her eyes. "Go get him, Jiraiya," she said. "If he's any way involved in all of this, make him pay."

She harbored no pleasant feelings towards her former teammate. She knew the evil he was capable of. She was glad Danzo was dead, too, because if he wasn't, she would have been the one who would break him—starting with his legs and arms.

Jiraiya's next words snapped her out of her fantasy. "Tsunade, I know you'll be busy, but can you check in on Naruto when you can? I'm not sure I'll be able to get back to Konoha as often as I want."

She nodded. "Of course."

He hesitated for a second then said, "And I'm going to be honest. I think Sarutobi-sensei is getting a little too soft. He's starting to show his age. Make sure you beef up security around Konoha. He left too much of the responsibility on people he shouldn't have trusted."

"Don't blame him too much, Jiraiya, but I'll be on top of it. I didn't want to be Hokage this way, but I have to do what I can."

Jiraiya smiled at her. "If anything happens to me, make sure you tell Fugaku and Mikoto about Naruto's legacy. And don't forget about the toads at Mount Myoboku. And make sure to ge—"