Naruto:A New Path

Tsunade's Dilema

Search For Tsunade Arc

Tsunade's Dilema

Naruto walked through the busy streets with a smile on his face. He had been persuaded to buy a lottery ticket by an old sweet lady and he had won. Now Gama was full and happy. All he had to do now was hide this fact from Jiraiya since the perv had a knack for stealing his money. He didn't understand why he just took the money from him, if he was as big of a success as he claimed then why did he need to steal from a thirteen-year-old. Thankfully ever since they had arrived to the village where Tsunade was said to be, Jiraiya had left him alone to focus on his search for Tsunade. Naruto didn't mind Jiraiya's absence but he had a feeling that Jiraiya wasn't just looking for Tsunade, knowing his sensei he was probably out on bars stalking woman.
It had been five days since the Akatsuki attacked Naruto. Naruto and Jiraiya had arrived on the village only two days prior meaning that Jiraiya had been looking for Tsunade for the past three days. The first thing Naruto noticed about the village was that it was old. It was filled with old buildings but they were still in good state, unlike his apartment complex. The second thing he noticed was that the village was way too crowded. There were houses almost everywhere and the streets were filled with shops and stands making it look like there was a kind of festival going on. Regardless, Naruto thought that it was a nice village.
"What now?" Naruto asked himself with a sigh. He took out a balloon and filled it with air before putting it on his right hand. He held it as he walked with a slight look of concentration. Inside of the balloon was a perfect ball of chakra meaning that the third step had been mastered.
It had only taken Naruto two days since the Akatsuki's attack to learn the last step. Jiraiya was impressed and told Naruto to practice more with the Rasengan so that it would come naturally to him. The sage still had spars with Naruto but had now allowed the use of ninjutsu. Jiraiya had also told Naruto to use his jutsu in creative ways, meaning that he had to find more uses for it rather than just attacking. The Chunin thought that he was improving and couldn't wait to get home and show Ino all of his progress.
Naruto smiled at the thought of Ino. She had accepted him for who he was and didn't fear him because of the fox. He hadn't known until then just how much Ino meant to him. The thought of losing her terrified him for reasons he didn't know. The blond wondered what Ino was doing at the moment. She could be in the middle of a mission at the moment or maybe helping her parents with the shop.
' It's so boring without Ino here,' Naruto thought as he continued to walk through the busy streets.
Back in Konoha a blonde was having similar thoughts. Ino was sitting behind the counter of her parent's flower shop. She didn't understand why they didn't hire workers since they were out almost every day but she was still glad to help them out. There weren't many people going into the shop which led to Ino getting bored, which led to her mind to wonder, which led to her thinking about Naruto.
It had been a week since he was gone and she was getting a little worried. She knew it was stupid to worry for her friend, he was with a legendary ninja after all, but she couldn't help but feel worried. Naruto had become a very dear friend and she would be crushed if she found out something happened to him. He was being targeted by Itachi of all people, a traitor who was even stronger than a Jonin.
' Bad thoughts, bad thoughts! Naruto's okay and he'll come back in no time,' Ino reassured herself, 'He has to see how much I've improved.'
True to her word, Ino along Choji and Shikamaru had kicked up their training. They now met for training whenever they had time off and train for a few hours. Shikamaru would be the first one to leave after two hours saying that it was too troublesome. Choji would leave next since his he was needed at home, he never said why exactly but he still left. Ino would train after the others left and was starting to show improvement.
Ino's water control had improved and she had been given two scrolls by Asuma. They contained water jutsu that she was still learning to master. Kurenai would visit the team often and had taught Ino how to use more genjutsu and how to get out of them more easily. The Jonin saw much talent on Ino's genjutsu and planned on teaching her more as time went by.
All was going great for Ino but she still missed Naruto. Things had been quiet since he left and she found herself missing the days when the two of them would just walk around the village. She really hoped that he would be back soon so they could go out again. She didn't think that it was odd to think of a friend like this since that's probably how everyone acted when they missed a friend.
Orochimaru sat on his throne. He had a smirk on his face, everything was going great. He had been able to find Tsunade without a problem and had outsmarted her by angering her. It had been slightly difficult to convince her to heal Kimimaro, however, but she would be doing so in the end. For now he would wait, he had given Tsunade a week to meet him and he had no doubt that she would do so.
"Kabuto," Orochimaru called.
Kabuto appeared in a puff of smoke in a kneeling position, "What is it Lord Orochimaru?"
Orochimaru smirked. "Tell me how she's doing," he began, "Is she being defiant?"
"Not at all," Kabuto answered as a smirk made its way to his face, "Due to my medications she has been rather quiet."
Orochimaru chuckled with an amused smile. "My, my. To think all of this could have been avoided if Tsunade had just agreed to come with me."
Kimimaro would soon be healed, giving his forces a boost. If he played his cards right then he would have Sasuke by the end of the month. The sharingan would at last be his and the destruction of Konoha would be a sure thing. Yes, everything was going great indeed.
Jiraiya frowned as he walked back to the hotel. It was now dark outside and there was still no sign of Tsunade. He knew that she was around since his contacts had told him that she had only arrived about a week ago. He had been careful on being spotted by taking some precautions, like walking to the village instead of using chakra to increase his pace, all of this was necessary since Tsunade was good at spotting other shinobi. The toad sage was sure that something had happened and he would find out what.
"There you are!" came Naruto's voice. Jiraiya looked to his right side to see the blond running towards him.
"What do you want? Did something happen?" Jiraiya asked with a raised brow.
"No, nothing happened. Except you left me alone all day!" Naruto exclaimed with a frown, "Do you have any idea how boring it was. We even missed our sparring session."
Jiraiya chuckled. The kid was really something. He would act like his father one second and then act like his mother the next. "Fine kid I'll take you along next time," he said with a sigh, "Let's go eat something."
Naruto smiled almost instantly. "You should've said so in the beginning Jiraiya-sensei," he said with a smile, "Are we going to a ramen stand?"
"Are you kidding me? I've taken you there ever since we came to this village," Jiraiya said with a frown, "We're going to get something else today."
"Fine," Naruto said with a pout.
The two began to walk around the village looking for a place to eat. Naruto's eyes glimmered with hope when he saw the approaching ramen stand but that hope was lost when they walked right past it. The village was filled with all kinds of restaurants and the streets were still crowded. Naruto couldn't believe just how many people lived in the village but dismissed it when Jiraiya stopped walking.
They were in front of a bar and Naruto gave Jiraiya an odd look. "Why'd you stop Jiraiya-sensei?" he asked, "Is this the place where we're eating?"
Jiraiya smiled with his gaze on the restaurant. "Yeah," a blonde could be seen on one of the bar's booths, "This is the place."
The two entered the bar and Naruto was greeted by the smell of alcohol and smoke. The blond instantly gagged and glared at his master. Why had he brought him here? This place smelled so bad that not even ramen would be enjoyable if eaten here. The blond's eyes narrowed when he noticed that they were walking towards a blonde sitting on a booth, Jiraiya had taken him here to meet girls?
Naruto was about to complain but was interrupted by Jiraiya. "It's been a while Tsunade," Jiraiya said with a smile. Naruto's eyes widened and he looked at the kunoichi in wonder, she had been Jiraiya's teammate meaning that she was strong.
Tsunade turned an eye to Jiraiya and frowned. "What are you doing here?" she asked with anger on her voice, "Just my luck. My past decides to come back to me on the same day."
"You're saying that Orochimaru was here?" Jiraiya asked with narrowed eyes as he and Naruto sat opposite of Tsunade.
"That's what I'm saying," she growled, "That no good traitor. When I get my hands on him I'll make sure to give him a painful death."
"What happened?" Jiraiya asked with a frown.
"Why should I tell you?" Tsunade asked with narrowed eyes, "If I do, then you'll just butt in like a fool. I can handle my own business and I don't need the help of someone like you."
Naruto had had enough. Jiraiya was more than a mentor to Naruto, he was like a grandfather to him and he wouldn't allow some old lady to talk to him like that. "Listen here lady," the blond said with a frown, "I don't care if you were Jiraiya-sensei's teammate. If you ever bad mouth him in front of me again I'll kick your ass, even if you're old!"
An ominous air surrounded Tsunade and the whole bar went quiet. Jiraiya had a shocked look on his face and hoped that Naruto would come out alive. He had warned him not to mention her age at all and he just went and said it. The toad sage was glad to have Naruto defend his name but calling Tsunade 'old' was just stupid.
"What did you say?" Tsunade growled out.
"I called you an old lady, an old hag, a grandma!" Naruto exclaimed with an angry look on his face.
"Do you want to step outside?" Tsunade asked with a tick mark on her forehead.
Naruto smirked. "Do you want me to walk you there?" he asked, "Or can you still do it on your own?"
"That's it!" Tsunade exclaimed as she put a hand to Naruto's forehead and flicked her finger. Naruto went crashing out of the bar with a fuming Tsunade on his heel.
Naruto crashed against the ground with his whole head in pain. He had no idea what had happened but knew that Tsunade was indeed strong. He heard footsteps and turned around to see Tsunade walking towards him.
Tsunade scoffed and crossed her arms. "To be called out by a brat… I really must be losing my head," she said with a sigh before turning to walk towards the bar.
Not one to be ignored Naruto stood up and smirked at Tsunade. "I guess that happens to woman your age, they start to lose sense of things," Tsunade stopped on her tracks and turned to glare at Naruto, "We're not done yet you just had a cheap shot!"
Tsunade growled under her breath, she really didn't want to beat a kid senseless but if he didn't stop she would be forced to. "Just quit already kid," she said with a frown, "I'm too strong for you. You'll just end up getting hurt."
"I'll never give up!" Naruto exclaimed with a determined look on his face, "That's my ninja way!"
Tsunade's eyes widened. Memories of her dead brother hit her like a slap to the face. Seeing Naruto's determined expression she couldn't help but remember Nawaki. The two were so alike, now that she thought about it.
"That's enough Naruto," Jiraiya called out. The sage stepped out of the bar and had a serious look on his face, "We didn't come here to cause problems."
"B-but!" Naruto begin but stopped when he saw the look Jiraiya gave him, "Fine but don't expect me to apologize."
Jiraiya grinned and shook his head. "Alright kid, let's just go back inside," he turned to Tsunade and frowned, "You come too. I want to know what Orochimaru wanted. By the way you're acting I assume that it wasn't pleasant seeing him again."
"Fine," Tsunade said with a sigh as she made her way inside with Naruto and Jiraiya following behind her.
People gave the trio odd looks as they quietly sat down on the same booth. The owner of the store thought of kicking them out for their disturbance but knew better after watching Tsunade's display of strength. It was no wonder that Konoha ninja were considered the best.
"Now, tell us what happened," Jiraiya said with a tone of finality.
Tsunade nodded with a frown. "I arrived on this village about a week ago. I came with my assistant Shizune. It wasn't until today that we ran into Orochimaru and that bastard managed to fool me."
-Flashback-
Tsunade and Shizune hurried out of the village. Shizune didn't know why but if Tsunade seemed agitated then things didn't look good. The legendary medic didn't want to stay another second on the village. She had won five games in a row on the local casino and she knew that it was a bad sign. Nothing good ever came when she won so it would be best to leave while she still could. The two medics turned a corner and stopped dead on their tracks. In front of them stood none other than Orochimaru. The snake summoner had a smirk on his face and crossed his arms.
"Orochimaru," Tsunade said the name with a growl.
"Hello Tsunade," Orochimaru said with a chuckle, "You don't look to happy to see your old teammate."
"What are you doing here?" The medic asked with a snarl.
Orochimaru smirked. "I just came here to ask for a favor," he began, "One of my ninja is suffering from a strange illness and I was wondering if you would like to heal him."
Tsunade glared at the snake summoner. "Do you take me for a fool?" she snapped, "I would never help you after what you did to Konoha."
"So you heard of my little attack," Orochimaru said in amusement, "Don't let it bother you Tsunade is not like you were there. In fact, you haven't been there since that fool died haven't you?"
Tsunade's eyes narrowed and her fists began to shake. "You damned traitor," she muttered before snapping her gaze to Orochimaru, "I'll kill you and save sensei the trouble!"
Orochimaru chuckled. "Are you that naïve Tsunade? Did you really think I would come here without a way to make you obey me?" the snake summoner ran through hand signs and slammed his hands on the ground.
Tsunade's eyes widened as countless of snakes came out of the ground and sprung at them. Tsunade knocked the approaching snakes aside before blocking the ones that came after them, she knocked one more snake aside and threw a glance at her assistant. Shizune was using medical jutsu to knock the snakes away before they got too close. The two continued to defend themselves against the snakes and failed to noticed another ninja making his way behind them.
Tsunade had enough of the damned snakes and threw a punch on the ground. The ground gave out in front of her and created a small earthquake that destroyed the rest of the approaching snakes. The legendary medic glared at Orochimaru but frowned when she saw him smirk.
"You lose Tsunade," Orochimaru said in amusement.
Tsunade threw another gaze at Shizune but gasped when she saw that her assistant wasn't there anymore. "Where is she?" Tsunade asked in anger.
Orochimaru chuckled with a sick smile. "While you were busy I had my assistant take her away," he explained, "Now, what will you do Tsunade?"
"What do you want?" Tsunade asked in defeat.
"You're going to heal my ninja," Orochimaru said before throwing a scroll to Tsunade, "That contains the location of one of my bases. Now to show you I'm a good person I'll give you a choice. You can either come to my base or just forget I was ever here. If choose not to show then you'll friend will suffer the consequences." With that the snake summoner melted into the ground, leaving an angry Tsunade behind.
-Flashback-
"That was all," Tsunade said in anger, "If I don't show up that bastard will kill Shizune."
Jiraiya nodded. Orochimaru was never one to play by the rules and taking hostages was expected of him. He didn't know why Orochimaru wanted one of his ninja healed since he is not one to care for anyone, if he cared for the well-being of someone then that meant that he planned on using that body later on.
Naruto gritted his teeth. That bastard Orochimaru was a sick man, he wouldn't get away with kidnapping an innocent person. "Let's help her Jiraiya-sensei!" the blond said with a serious expression, "Let's put a stop to Orochimaru once and for all."
"Hold on kid. Don't talk like you stand a chance against Orochimaru. He would beat you before you even get a hit on him," Jiraiya said with a frown, "We will help get Shizune back but you are not to face Orochimaru. You will leave him to me."
"Sounds like a plan!" Naruto cheered, "As long as we help I don't care if I fight or not."
Tsunade frowned. Those two idiots were one in the same. "You two can't come," she said, "If Orochimaru sees you then he'll kill Shizune before we even get there."
Jiraiya grinned. "You know you're talking to the leader of a spy network right?" he asked in amusement, "I'm more than capable of getting into Orochimaru's base undetected."
"What about the kid?" Tsunade asked with an irritated frown.
"Don't worry about him," Jiraiya said with a smile, "Naruto's my new apprentice. I'll teach him how to slip past Orochimaru. He'll be with me the whole time so I'll make sure he's undetected."
"You don't get it do you?" Tsunade snapped, "I won't put Shizune in danger! Even if the odds are with me I'll never risk Shizune's life!" With that the legendary medic left the bar with a scowl on her face.
"What are we supposed to do sensei?" Naruto asked with a worried look.
Jiraiya smiled. "Naruto you really are a hopeless case," he looked at the ceiling and let out a chuckle, "What was the thing I taught you about the ladies."
Naruto frowned, "Well I'm not sure that it appl-"
"What did I teach you?" Jiraiya interrupted.
Naruto sighed at his sensei's antics. "When a woman says 'no' it means 'yes'," the blond sighed. Jiraiya nodded at his student with a proud look on his face, making the blond scowl, "But that doesn't apply to this situation."
"Of course it does," Jiraiya argued, "Besides, isn't it our mission to bring Tsunade back to the village? How will we bring her back if we don't get Shizune back?"
"Fine," Naruto said with a sigh, "I still wanted to help this 'Shizune' person anyway."
"That's the spirit," Jiraiya said with a smile, "Now let's order some food."
Naruto got a look of disgust on his face as he looked around the bar. "Here?" he asked in alarm, "This place smells gross, let's go somewhere else."
"Not a chance," Jiraiya deadpanned.
Naruto face faulted. "Why not?" The blond argued, "There were a bunch of restaurants outside."
"I have my reasons," Jiraiya said. The sage got a perverted grin on his face when he saw a couple of ladies enter the bar, "Trust me on this kid."
The blond sighed. When Jiraiya got like this there was no stopping him. The sage really acted like a kid sometimes but at least he had been right about helping Tsunade. He wondered what kind of things Jiraiya would teach him though.
Soon four days had come and gone. During this time Jiraiya worked on teaching Naruto stealth skills while keeping a watchful eye on Tsunade. The sage knew that she would try to pull a fast one on him if he was not careful. He was glad with the progress Naruto was making and had taught him how to use his 'Invisibility Jutsu.' It was an easy jutsu since he had made it when he was only a Genin and with Naruto's reserves he was able to keep it up for a few hours.
Tsunade hurried out of the village. She knew that Jiraiya would be keeping an eye on her which is why she had left in the middle of the night. The idiot was way too stubborn and would follow her to Orochimaru's base regardless of what she said. She didn't doubt that with Jiraiya's help she would stand a better chance against Orochimaru but she couldn't risk Shizune's life, she was one of her remaining close people.
"Dammit Pervy Sage!" Naruto screamed in anger, nursing his left cheek, "Quit hitting me already!"
"I told you to be quiet!" Jiraiya exclaimed as he slapped Naruto on the back of the head.
Naruto glared at Jiraiya. "Why are we out here anyway?" The two were currently on the outskirts of the village. They were hiding among the trees of the area.
Jiraiya smiled and pointed forward. "That's why we're here." Naruto looked forward and saw Tsunade moving away from the village, it was the middle of the night so it was a little hard to spot her, "I knew she would leave without telling us. We're going to follow her until she arrives at Orochimaru's base."
"And that's when we punch her right!" Naruto asked excitingly.
Jiraiya face-palmed. "Why do you act like an idiot one second and a genius the next?" Naruto smiled and gave him a shrug, "We're just going to go to the base and stop Orochimaru before anything bad happens. I have no doubt that he'll try to do something to Tsunade."
Naruto nodded in agreement. "That bastard is the lowest of the low," he growled before looking at Jiraiya with a questioning look, "Will there be more ninja there?"
Jiraiya looked taken back. "Of course there will be," he said with a sigh, "All of those ninja are loyal to Orochimaru only so there's no reasoning with them. They will attack when we reveal ourselves to Orochimaru, I want you to kill them when they do."
Naruto froze, "K-kill them?"
"Yes," Jiraiya said with a serious expression, "With ninja like the one's we're about to face we're forced to kill."
"B-but," Naruto begin with panic on his eyes, "Isn't that a little harsh?"
Jiraiya sighed, he forgot how hard the concept of killing came to the innocent ones. "Yes Naruto you will kill them," seeing Naruto's panicked look Jiraiya continued, "You have to do it Naruto because if you don't then they'll kill you without a second thought. The ninja we'll face want nothing more than to comply to Orochimaru's wishes, meaning that they want Konoha destroyed."
"I guess," Naruto muttered with his gaze to the ground.
"Naruto," Jiraiya said in a serious voice, "We ninja fight for our village at all costs. We protect our village with our lives and are willing to kill for the well-being of the village as a whole. Look at the Fourth Hokage, he killed thousands of ninja in order to protect the Leaf Village and put an end to a war that could have killed thousands of people. In order to kill you have to harden your heart towards enemies and kill not for killing but for the village."
"I understand," Naruto said with a shaky sigh.
Jiraiya nodded. "Let's get moving or we'll lose Tsunade," the two began to leap through trees while blocking their chakra signatures, "Remember what I taught you and you'll be fine."
"Got it," Naruto said with a determined expression. This was not the time to take it easy, they were in the middle of an important mission where they couldn't afford to make any mistakes. The concept of killing was still hard for him but he would do it for the village.
' Hang on Shizune,' where the thoughts of the three ninja as they made their way to Orochimaru's base.