20

/~/

The steady, rhythmic beat of his cane hitting the floor was as familiar as the backs of his hands at this point. It, like everything else, served its purpose; he had long since grown used to his appearance. Age was nothing more than a mark of experience, injuries were smokescreens to hide skill.

Regret was unprofessional, and all things could be tools – one merely had to be a shrewd shinobi to use them properly.

The rhythm halted as Danzo reached his familiar destination. A lone ANBU with a Cat mask stood guard and let him pass without a word. The familiar small, windowless room greeted the elder as the door swung open, revealing a rectangular table in the middle, equidistant from all of the walls, and his company for what was likely the rest of the afternoon waiting for him.

"Danzo," Utatane Koharu greeted with a nod that he returned as he sat across from them without fanfare.

"Koharu, Homura," he greeted in turn. They sat next to each other on the long end of the table, their usual seats, while Danzo sat alone. He didn't allow his eyes to wander to the head of the table, to the empty chair that was to be filled by the Hokage. His nostrils flared involuntarily and he quashed the grief that momentarily threatened to overwhelm him with an iron will.

"It doesn't smell right in here," Homura commented idly, and Danzo chastised himself for being so easily read; Hiruzen had always suffocated them with his damn pipe. Regret is unprofessional, he reminded himself.

"To business then," Danzo said quietly, pushing thoughts of his greatest rival and oldest friend from his mind.

"The threat assessment?" Koharu prompted, leaning forward.

A swipe of blood and a slight application of chakra revealed two file folders, both marked as classified. "ROOT's assessment of Orochimaru's capabilities leaves little room for doubt. I won't bother reciting a full list of his transgressions; he has proven himself to be the greatest threat to Konoha's sovereignty since the Third War," Danzo proclaimed, opening the top one. "He is considered a level one threat."

"Even after Hiruzen's seal?" Koharu asked.

"Regardless of how injured he is in the aftermath of their battle." The bandaged elder shook his head in the affirmative. "Orochimaru successfully created a village of his own, turned an ally against us, orchestrated an attack on our village proper, and murdered our Kage. Left unchecked, we can assume he will continue working towards our eventual destruction. Putting aside the damage caused to the village, our reputation is in a quagmire. He must be dealt with."

"An attack that we successfully anticipated and turned to our advantage by routing the invading force," Homura countered. "The reparations we'll receive from Suna will be more than enough to mitigate the damage that was caused by the Ichibi. Truly, other than Hiruzen's death, we are not as disadvantaged as you seem to think, Danzo."

"And one of the sitting Kage has not been assassinated since the Sandaime Kazekage, and the Nidaime Raikage before him. I need not remind you what happened in the aftermath of both of those deaths."

"We've no one to declare war on," Koharu stated, referencing both the Third and Second Great Shinobi Wars. "Our enemy is known, we have routed the invasion, and our ANBU are pursuing the leftover Oto forces through River Country."

Homura interjected, "Our attention belongs in the north; Jiraiya's latest report on Kumogakure before the Exams was indeed troubling."

Danzo caught his outburst with patience developed over a lifetime, even as irritation bubbled to the surface. "The fastest way to stall Kumo's advance is to reestablish ourselves as the dominant power on the continent – eliminating Orochimaru accomplishes this while possibly avoiding a war with Kumo in the next five years; a war we can scarcely afford at this time even with Suna's reparations, and a war that is looming ever closer given what we know of Ei's movements."

The two elders opposite him shared a glance. "What exactly are you proposing?" Koharu asked.

"Do not misunderstand, Danzo," Homura said. "Eliminating Orochimaru is very much a priority. He is, unfortunately, one of the most powerful and elusive men on the continent and not to be handled lightly. The resources needed simply to find him could be better spent on preventative measures to guard against a preemptive strike from the north."

"Finding him is a difficult enough starting place. He's avoided our best scouts for years; even Jiraiya has difficulty pinning him down," Koharu concurred. "Never mind the skill needed to assassinate him."

"I agree," Danzo said quickly, noting the surprise evident on his peers' faces before it was quickly masked. Loathe as I am to admit it, he thought, allowing irritation to color his thoughts before quashing it with practiced ease. "There is no efficient way to strike at Orochimaru in our current state. That does not mean that we should not take steps to neutralize him going forward, if not eliminate him entirely."

"And what, exactly, did you have in mind?" Homura asked.

The bandaged elder pushed the first folder containing ROOT's threat assessment to the side, leaving a second, far thinner folder in its place. He blinked, an uncharacteristic moment of hesitation taking hold of him before he ruthlessly crushed it – it wasn't the first impossible task he would set upon a young shinobi's shoulders, and he doubted it would be the last.

Opening it, Uzumaki Naruto's face stared back at him.

/~/

"How much of this do you already know, kid?"

Naruto twitched as Jiraiya's words penetrated the wind in his ears as they ran through another of Fire Country's expansive forests. The discussion of what exactly had happened in Shukuba Town had been summarily tabled while the Konoha jonin, a Maito Gai, had sped off to Konoha with the still-injured Sasuke in tow. The Uchiha had left without much protest, but Naruto had received a look that he knew spelled nothing but trouble for him upon his eventual return.

"How much of what, exactly, sensei?" he asked wearily. There was no deliberate evasion in his voice; he honestly didn't quite know where to start.

"Can't fool these old eyes," the Sannin boasted from next to him, powering from branch to branch at a pace that Naruto had to push himself to match. "You were off your game back in that hotel, but not nearly as much as a kid who just learned he's got a couple of S-class criminals after his head." There was no accusation in Jiraiya's tone, a fact that put Naruto more at ease than he thought he'd be.

He tensed, expecting the same feeling of panic that had always greeted him whenever he had thought about the Akatsuki, the sound of blood pounding in his ears and the memory of Itachi's Sharingan whenever someone came close to finding out his greatest secret. Only this time there was nothing. Blinking in confusion, he turned to Jiraiya who was looking at him expectantly out of the corner of his eye.

"The…the night of the massacre. He – Itachi – showed up at my apartment." Naruto didn't need to turn his head to know Jiraiya's attention was riveted on him. No proverbial weight was lifted from his shoulders when he said it, such was the magnitude of his task.

But Jiraiya had certainly proven himself to be more than capable as both a shinobi and a sensei. If anyone could help him now, even as the clock kept ticking until Akatsuki made their next move, it would be him.

So Naruto told him. From Itachi's proclamation to his mastery of the henge, from his first fight with Sasuke to the ill-fated mission to Wave.

The Toad Sannin was silent for a few minutes after Naruto finished his tale, leaving Naruto to his thoughts. He had never told anyone of the night of the massacre; originally, he had wanted to approach the Sandaime – he contained a wince at the thought of the now-deceased old man – but had refrained. Itachi himself had said that Sarutobi wouldn't be able to protect him forever, and he had figured that he might as well get used to fending for himself if he'd have to do it anyway.

It rarely came up, after that initial reasoning. What few people did question his sudden passion for excellence were easily assuaged by the fact that a Hokage wannabe would naturally need to be skilled.

And it's not like anyone would've believed the truth of the matter regardless.

But now? He finally had a teacher that was taking him seriously. Better yet, one of the Sannin! He still had no clue why exactly Jiraiya had singled him out – though it very well could've had to do with his father – but he was far from complaining. The Toad Sage had put enough trepidation into two Akatsuki members on his own to send them packing.

Not being upfront with the man at this point would've just been stupid, on his part.

"Helluva story, kiddo," Jiraiya said, breaking his momentary reverie. "I won't bother asking why you didn't bother to tell anyone cause…well," he trailed off with a rueful chuckle.

"You believe me, then?"

"Even you would've come up with a better lie than that, gaki," the Sannin boomed, laughing heartily now. Naruto, quelling his irritation with the older nin, wondered absently at the man's ability to seemingly take everything in stride. "Even so, all that said, doesn't really change much does it?"

Jiraiya cut him off before he could question. "I've been tracking these guys for a long time; ever since I got wind of Oro-teme being a member roundabout ten years ago. Knew they'd be after you sooner or later; just had to wait 'til enough of my own problems had been sorted to work with you myself."

Naruto blinked, mystified but not entirely surprised even as a small smile cracked his lips. It was even slightly comforting knowing that something bigger had been in the works for his training.

As alone as his fight always seemed, he wasn't. Not truly, at least.

"Anyway, considering I'd always planned to whip you into something halfway decent, this whole Itachi-schtick doesn't change much at all. Though their first move means we've gotta get moving," the Sannin murmured.

"Sensei?"

Jiraiya turned to him, face set in stone. "Real training starts now, kiddo. Even if Itachi doesn't want you dead, there's no telling if he's gonna be the one after you all the time; and we can't take the chance that I'll always be around to bail your ass outta the fire when the bad guys come knocking."

The blond couldn't help the grin that split his lips at Jiraiya's proclamation. Perfect! he crowed mentally. The large man halted on a branch mid-stride, and Naruto mimicked him quickly, eager for whatever tidbit of knowledge was about to be bestowed upon him.

"We're about three hours travel away from Tanzaku-Gai," the white haired man said. "Your job, from now until we reach it, is to hide from me."

Naruto bit down on his no-doubt childish retort with effort. The Sannin hadn't yet led him astray with his unorthodox training methods, but he couldn't help wanting to learn a kickass jutsu or two in the meantime. "I assume this isn't gonna be as simple as I think…"

"Ha! It will be if you actually can hide from me for a decent amount of time, gaki."

Naruto quirked an eyebrow. "And a decent amount of time is?"

Jiraiya stroked an imaginary beard on his chin in mock thought. "Let's say three minutes to start. You manage that, we up it to five. And so on."

That's it? Naruto thought incredulously. "Tch, fine by me," he said, grinning. Without prompting, he shot off into the trees in a burst of raw speed sans chakra; leaving an easily traceable chakra signature by using Shunshin was a rookie mistake, and Naruto was no rookie when it came to hiding from experience shinobi. He'd been avoiding patrols in order to go train for years, after all.

Coming to a halt after a thirty second sprint, he formed a cross-shaped seal and three clones popped into existence. The four Narutos formed a tiger seal and the Meisaigakure took hold before all split off into different directions.

The original ducked down to ground level and behind a small grouping of shrubbery, being extra careful not to disturb the leaves as he settled in. Thirty nine seconds since I left, he counted off in his head. The decoys would hopefully be enough to shake the footprints he had undoubtedly left, despite his best intentions. And his use of the Meisaigakure no jutsu had improved since before the prelim—

"Miss me, kid?" Jiraiya whispered into his ear, causing Naruto to leap nearly a foot in the air with an undignified yelp.

"How—" Naruto nearly shrieked before the combined memories of his three clones simultaneously being dispelled smacked him in the skull, causing him to wince in pain.

"Not gonna lie to you, gaki, forty seconds is more than I expected from you at this point," Jiraiya said, clapping the newly incredulous chunin on the shoulder. "Forty seconds is still ass though. We've got some work to do on your stealth skills. That Meisaigakure technique you've got going ain't bad, but I can still see you distorting the air every time you take a breath."

Naruto, who approximately forty-five seconds ago had thought his stealth skills were at least a few cuts above "ass," couldn't refrain from sulking. "And I assume you have a plan for all this, sensei?"

"Course I do!" Jiraiya's grip suddenly became vice-like before he vaulted both of them back into the branches. Landing without a sound, he said, suddenly serious once more, "You've got no chance fighting against the kinda shinobi Akatsuki can send your way right now, and you won't for a while just yet, even with me teaching you. Which means your best bet right now is being able to at least avoid and outrun them if shit gets real."

Naruto carefully bit down on his pride. He was no stranger to the notion of Akatsuki being able to utterly obliterate him; Itachi had made that abundantly clear. "Yes, sensei," he said, his tone less than enthused regardless of the rationality behind the plan.

"Buck up, gaki!" Jiraiya crowed. "I know a thing about speed and stealth. Ever heard of the Yondaime? He was pretty quick and he didn't get that way on his own…" The Sanin paused, considering, before, "Well, not entirely on his own," he amended.

Naruto couldn't help but snort at the offhand mention of his father's legendary speed, his mood lightening. By all rights, Namikaze Minato had been the fastest man in the world when he died, and he hadn't been far from it before he invented his lethal Hiraishin no jutsu.

"But first!" Jiraiya said once more as he led Naruto off into the canopy towards their destination. "Let me tell you about a guy by the name of Muu. You probably know of him by his title, Nidaime Tsuchikage. Got to meet him one time; Sarutobi-sensei hated the bastard. Not as much as his successor of course, but I digress…"

/~/

Finding a member of the Legendary Three had promised to be a harrowing endeavor; they were the Sandaime's students, each respected as a Kage-level ninja in their own right. If they didn't want to be found, they wouldn't be. According to Jiraiya, Orochimaru had more than proven that point in the years that he had tracked him across the Elemental Nations.

It was fortuitous for their mission, then, that Tsunade wasn't trying to hide. Naruto assumed she wasn't, at least – what else could explain her contentedly playing poker in the middle of a crowded casino floor with nary a genjutsu to conceal her well-known features?

Although there was clearly an illusion of some sort; there was no other explanation for how she looked exactly the same as the Academy textbooks had shown her in photos. Those photos had been taken at the end of the Second Shinobi World War. Not even the most skilled shinobi could defeat Father Time.

Naruto had paused alongside Jiraiya when they had entered the casino in Tanzaku-gai at seeing the Toad Sannin's teammate clearly in the open. "What's your plan, sensei?" he asked. Jiraiya had told him that they were looking for Tsunade to be the next Hokage, but hadn't actually explained how they would be going about getting her to come back with them. From what little Naruto knew about Tsunade, she had been outside of the village for some time. If she hadn't come back for her sensei's funeral, how were they to convince her to return?

Although Jiraiya hadn't attended the Sandaime's funeral either. Neither did I, the blond mused with a twinge of guilt. He had damn near jumped at the opportunity to leave when the older man had kicked his door in and declared that he 9 aking him on a mission that would very conveniently have them outside the village during the massive ceremony.

"We're gonna talk to her, kiddo," Jiraiya said, as if Naruto was the dumbest person in the world for asking. "C'mon. She should be losing by now, which means she'll be on her way out sooner rather than later."

"Losing?" Naruto questioned. "She's a kunoichi. Shouldn't she be able to wipe the floor with these guys?" He knew that any overt jutsu was banned from gambling halls and casinos, a rule strictly enforced by shinobi, usually jonin, hired by casino managers to keep people in line. Even so, Tsunade was far more skilled than even the elite shinobi wealthy casinos could afford to hire. Simple sleight of hand augmented by a subtle genjutsu would be all it would take to make her a winner in most cases.

Jiraiya chuckled lowly as they moved onto the casino floor. "You'd think, wouldn't you? Tsunade's always been a by-the-book gambler, though. Unfortunately, because she refuses to cheat, she relies solely on her skill at cards. And she – how do I phrase this – well she's god-awful; legitimately terrible. And that bad luck of hers certainly doesn't help," the Toad Sannin said. "It's gotten to the point that she's earned herself a nickname: The Legendary Sucker."

Naruto blinked and looked up into Jiraiya's face, surprised to not hear even a hint of his sensei's familiar lecherous tone present. He's actually serious about that nickname. "We sure we want her in charge of the village's finacnces?" he asked dubiously as they neared the table in question. A young woman with dark hair and a loose-fitting purple dress sitting behind Tsunade had noticed their approach but said nothing, contenting herself with watching them near. A small pig in her arms squirmed.

"Tsunade only gambles with her own money, kiddo, don't you worry. Isn't that right, hime?" Jiraiya addressed the back of his old teammate's head as they stopped behind the table.

"I'm not sure why I bothered to hope you were in town on some other business," their quarry spoke in a voice that Naruto could only describe as husky. It was lower than most female voices Naruto had heard, and not simply due to the obvious annoyance that laced it. "Bet: fifty-thousand," she told the dealer, tossing a pile of chips into the pot that made Naruto's eyes bulge.

Jiraiya laughed lightly. "Not slipping in your old age, I see. And here I thought you wouldn't see us coming."

"Tch. I saw you at the inn where you checked in today, with the attendant you hit on, four blocks from here. I saw you before you even got up this morning." The river card was drawn and Tsunade flipped her two cards over casually and turned to face the interlopers fully. "What do you want, Jiraiya?" she asked before catching sight of Naruto. Her eyes narrowed and her brow wrinkled around a small diamond on her forehead, but she said nothing to the blond.

"I was going to offer to take you and Shizune-chan out to dinner, but it looks like you're the one who should be treating…" Jiraiya said in a careful tone that confused Naruto even as Tsunade whirled around to see the dealer depositing an extremely large amount of chips in front of her.

"Your winnings, Tsunade-sama," he said blandly.

The Sannin, for her part, simply looked at the chips in askance for a moment before rising abruptly. "Shizune, we're leaving," was all she said as she turned from the table and began striding out of the casino.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," the dark-haired woman said, deftly sweeping the chips into a small bag with one hand and rising to follow the older woman; the pig was still tightly clutched.

Jiraiya fell into step with the woman – named Shizune, apparently – and Naruto hurried to keep up. "You've grown up since I last saw you, Shizune-chan," he commented lightly. "How long has it been?"

"Over fifteen, years, Jiraiya-sama," Shizune said as they exited the casino into the busy streets of Tanzaku-gai. Tsunade was still leading the way, powering through the crowd gracelessly. "What is your business with Tsunade-sama? She's been very…agitated…these past two days. And winning now won't help…"

"My cute student and I have a few questions for her, is all," the older man stated, causing Naruto to bristle from behind them.

"I resent the term cute!" he piped, causing Shizune to giggle and shoot him a smile over her shoulder.

"Now, now, Naru-chan! I thought we worked on your manners," Jiraiya chided with all of the exasperation of a beleaguered parent scolding their child.

"I'll show you manners, you old perv," the blond mumbled petulantly, doing his best not to rise to the man's bait.

Any reply from the Sannin was cut off as they were led into a small restaurant off the main drag. Ignoring the host at the door, Tsunade simply walked to the back and dropped into a circular booth. The three others, plus pig, followed her lead, with Jiraiya muttering something to the stunned host that elicited a vigorous nod and the man hurrying off. A bottle of sake and three glasses were set down less than five seconds after Jiraiya took a seat.

"What the hell do you want, Jiraiya?" Tsunade asked harshly as the liquor was placed on the table. Her eyes were roiling with an emotion that Naruto couldn't truly identify but could guess at.

She looked panicked. But that makes no sense…he thought, knowing to keep silent and let his sensei do the talking here.

Jiraiya, for his part, simply poured out two cups of the steaming liquor and sat one in front of his teammate. Raising his own cup he said, "To Sarutobi-sensei." Naruto felt his eyes prick slightly at the immediate thought of the old man, and he cast his eyes downward.

Tsunade stiffened noticeably at the toast. Her eyes clouded over with another unidentifiable emotion before she picked up her own cup. "To Sarutobi-sensei," she whispered, and drank the rice wine.

"News travels fast, I see. Didn't know you were still in contact with people in the village," Jiraiya said as he poured another two cups. "Would you like some, Shizune-chan?"

The dark haired woman shook her head, opting to favor her master with a closed look.

"I have my sources," Tsunade responded, taking a second cup of sake. "You still haven't answered me," she accused, though the heat had gone out of her voice.

Jiraiya cut right to the chase. "We need a new Hokage," he said. "You were always the most organized of the three of us, and the best at dealing with all the clans. You're the last of the Senju and renowned across the continent, a face that would let the world know that Konoha is still strong."

The blond woman blinked, turned her eyes to the sake still in her cup, and brought them up to meet Jiraiya's steady gaze again. She barked a laugh that rapidly devolved into a fit. "You…must be…joking," she managed to get out around her laughter that was rapidly escalating in volume and decreasing in rationality.

Jiraiya said nothing as she laughed hysterically to herself, content to sip his sake and stare at his teammate. Naruto, confused, tried to catch his gaze only to give up after a minute and glance back and forth between a steely eyed Shizune and the hysterical Tsunade.

"You always were an idiot, Jiraiya," she began after her laughter had abated a minute later. There wasn't a trace of mirth in her gaze as she regarded her teammate. "But this is impressive, even by your lofty standards of stupidity," she bit out. "I hope those bastard elders put you up to this, because you should know better."

Naruto felt his eyes narrow as his hackles rose, even as Jiraiya looked unperturbed by the vitriol. "They told me you were the best choice for the seat and I agreed with them."

Tsunade sneered. "Then you're just an ass, coming here for this. I'm not going back to that place. There's nothing left for me there."

The Toad Sannin sighed. "I know why you left, hime, and I know it hurts, but there's so much good that you could do in Konoha," Jiraiya implored, voice quiet. "Think of the Medical Corps. You could finally do the work that you always dreamed of. You could make it so that others don't have to go through what you did with–"

"Don't you dare say their names," the Slug Sannin whispered violently. "Never thought you'd resort to base manipulation. Don't sit there and talk like you understand what I've been through."

"Don't I though?" her teammate responded softly, and Naruto suddenly got the feeling that he was intruding on a conversation that was far too personal. Shizune looked similarly uncomfortable across the table. Their respective sensei didn't seem to remember that they were there, however. "My friends are all dead, my students the same, Orochimaru killed sensei…and you left too."

Tsunade averted her gaze at Jiraiya's words. "The genius, the princess, and the dead-last. Somehow you ended up the best of us, didn't you?" She shook her head. "Who's the runt?"

Jiraiya shifted his gaze to Naruto, his lips quirking upward at the abrupt change in subject. "Who, this? Why it's my newest apprentice! Introduce yourself, gaki."

Naruto blinked at the apparent dropping of the reason they were there in the first place, but didn't bother to question. Given the intensely personal turn the conversation had taken, it was likely that the two old teammates would be continuing the discussion privately. As curious as he was to learn more about both legendary shinobi, he didn't want to pry into place where he wasn't wanted.

"Uzumaki Naruto," he said. "A pleasure to meet you, Tsunade-sama." How's that for manners?

The older woman cocked her head to the side, considering him. "Bit of a stuck up little runt isn't he?" she asked rhetorically. Naruto felt his eye twitch, all thoughts of manners fleeing from his mind. This bitch…are all of the Sannin total dicks? he wondered.

"But I wasn't expecting that name," Tsunade was continuing. "Uzumaki hmm…? Looks an awful lot like your last apprentice, Jiraiya." The lingering implication wasn't lost on him, though Naruto suspected that if he wasn't already aware of his heritage it might've gone over his head. "Doubt he's as talented, though."

The young blond let the dig pass and instead favored his sensei with a searching look; the Sannin, for his part, had a neutral look on his face. He had never gone over his knowledge of his parents with the man – there had always been issues more important than discussing dead people. But now isn't the time, he thought. Airing what was likely a classified secret during a meeting that was already tense, never mind the source of his knowledge, didn't seem to be the better part of valor.

"I doubt anyone can really measure up to the Yondaime," he finally said, plastering a bland smile on his face for the older woman.

"Tch. From what I hear he's practically a saint back in Konoha these days. What with that whole Kyubi business," she said, never taking her eyes from Naruto. The younger blond felt his earlier anger bubble up once again; Tsunade had to know that the Yondaime's death was a reasonably sore subject with Jiraiya, even after thirteen years. It also raised the question of her knowledge of his jinchuriki status. She certainly seemed focused on him rather intently.

A thought struck him, underneath the underneath. Is she deliberately testing to see how much information I know about myself? Or is she trying to create tension between me and sensei with information that I shouldn't know? He couldn't guess at her motives. For all he knew, it could be anything from overt manipulation to simple information gathering.

"Still, must be tough having to be compared to a guy like that all the time," Tsunade finished, still staring at him. Or she could just be a bitch, Naruto concluded.

Unbidden, Asuma's words from the mission to Wave Country came back to him. "Stop comparing yourself to everyone else…If there's anything my experience has taught me, Naruto, it's that the only way to get stronger is to focus on yourself, and what you need to get where you want to go."

"I'm just focused on me, Tsunade-sama," he demurred. "Comparing myself to Namikaze Minato wouldn't make much sense, our lives are too different. And maybe he was more talented than me too – can't change that either." The grin that split his lips was genuine. "But I'm gonna be just as strong as he was someday. Stronger too. Believe it."

Jiraiya laid a hand on his shoulder, and Naruto looked up to see a proud expression gracing the man's weathered face. Shizune was staring at him too, a bit wide-eyed at his casual proclamation.

Tsunade had leaned back into the booth as he spoke, her eyes calculating. "Bold words from a runt. You want to be Hokage like him too, don't you?"

Naruto couldn't help the snort that immediately burst forth. "Hokage? Nah. Too much work behind a desk for me."

A perfectly manicured eyebrow rose. "Huh. Guess you might be smarter than his last apprentice after all."

/~/

"Mind if I join you?"

Naruto opened his eyes to behold his new companion. Tsunade was stretched out on the concrete roof of the hotel languidly, barefoot and with a bottle of sake in her hand. Blinking, the blond chunin realized that it was nighttime. I've been up here for a while, he realized.

"Looks like you already have," he remarked, not perturbed by her sudden appearance in the slightest. One of his sentry clones had dispelled moments earlier, alerting him to her coming his way. Inwardly, he realized that she must not have cared to try to sneak up on him.

The rest of the meal had been somewhat uneventful, with little more about Naruto said after Tsunade's initial probing. Immediately after, the two old teammates had disappeared to parts unknown, presumably to reminisce and discuss Konoha's proposition. Naruto had been left with Shizune and her pig – Tonton – and had gone back to his and Jiraiya's hotel. After a few choice words to the desk attendant, Tsunade's apprentice had upgraded their room to a large, comfortable suite which all four were apparently going to share. The blond didn't bother to complain or even give the matter much thought; it wasn't his money being spent, and if it got Konoha a new Hokage sooner, then all the better.

Some time later, after having claimed his spot in the room, Naruto made his way to the roof to stargaze, meditate, and process what he knew about the final Sannin to make his acquaintance – not necessarily in that order.

Tsunade had proven to be an enigma. He knew a bit about her history from the academy and his personal digging on the Sannin, both after Orochimaru had revealed himself in the Chunin Exams and when Jiraiya had taken him on as a student. Little in his research could help him guess at what exactly was driving the legendary woman, however.

The Shodai's granddaughter, the Sandaime's student, a prodigious medic-nin who had left her mark on two of the three Shinobi World Wars. Not much else was said. Naruto figured it was classified above his pay-grade.

"Suppose I have," the older woman murmured. "You don't look surprised to see me, kid. Thought I was quieter than that."

Naruto just shrugged, electing to keep silent about his clones. They were all practicing the Meisaigakure while serving as his lookouts, which meant that either they had managed a breakthrough that allowed them to escape Tsunade's notice, she wasn't paying attention, or she was probing like he suspected she had been at lunch. Betting on the last one, he thought with mild irritation. Thinking underneath the underneath was both annoying as fuck and more mentally taxing than he liked to admit.

"You're also drunk," he said, taking note of a slight red hue tinging her youthful face.

Tsunade snorted inelegantly. "Tch, hardly. When I'm drunk, you'll know about it, kid."

"I'll make note of that."

The Sannin tilted her head to regard him in the early moonlight. Her eyes, Naruto realized, were as sharp as ever despite her rosy cheeks, and her stare pinned him in place. Distantly, he mused that all three Sannin had the ability to effortlessly leave him off kilter – Orochimaru's cold menace, Jiraiya's masked shrewdness, and now Tsunade's penetrating stares that made it feel like he was being dissected.

She was seemingly content to stay silent, and he couldn't help but squirm as her eyes bored into him as the seconds ticked by. Her eyes were a honeyed brown, he noted, with little flecks of gold that he was certain would gleam in the proper light. Unbidden, his eyes were drawn slowly downward to the soft curve of her neckline as her pale skin seemed to glow in the early moonlight. Further down his gaze slid, from her neckline to her exposed cleavage, and he felt himself lean forward ever so slightly –

Naruto jerked his head back with a snap, disrupting the internal flow of his chakra with a gasp. Genjutsu… Across from him, Tsunade returned her gaze to the night sky without a word. This woman…the Sannin, Naruto thought, they're unreal.

He wasn't the best when it came to genjutsu, and likely never would be, but he knew the signs of one, how to detect them, and how to dispel them quickly – Ino and Asuma had made sure of that. And yet Tsunade had waltzed up and ensnared him for nearly a minute without so much as a hand seal. She isn't even known for her genjutsu!

He shook himself, anger at himself for being easy prey clawing at his thoughts. "Another test?" he growled hoarsely – he recognized his sensei's influence when he saw it.

Tsunade shrugged. "Jiraiya asked me for a favor."

Naruto snorted and shook his head. "Course he did," he muttered under his breath. "That the only one he asked you for?" he snarked, leveling a raised brow at the Sannin.

"Ha! The old perv wouldn't dare if he knew what was good for him." The blonde woman chuckled to herself. "Though I suppose he doesn't, now does he…"

Naruto turned his eyes skyward as his companion trailed off. It would be just like Jiraiya to test his capacity to handle subtle genjutsu by sending a gorgeous woman to distract him. The man was apparently the master of devious training methods – their stealth game of cat-and-mouse on the way into Tanzaku-gai was just one example. One more thing to work on.

He was certainly grateful that his sensei was clearly taking his training seriously, frustrating as it was at times. Jiraiya knew what he was up against better than most, having tracked Akatsuki for a few years back when Orochimaru had been a member. And he certainly had a proven track record of powerful apprentices.

The thought of the Yondaime brought Naruto's musings to a halt. Blue eyes flickered over to Tsunade briefly, considering. Jiraiya had undoubtedly been talking to her for much of the day about their mission, but damn if he wasn't curious himself.

"Why'd you leave?" he asked bluntly. He doubted his abilities at extracting information from people extended to legendary ninja.

The honey-brown eyes were locked on his before he could blink, and the gaze was far less inviting than it had been the first time. "That's a pretty personal question, kid," she said quietly.

And you walked up here and put a genjutsu on me without prompting, Naruto thought. Beauty aside, he had no desire to have sexual thoughts about his sensei's teammate – she was old. "Just curious," he said instead. "You haven't been in the village for at least fifteen years. Didn't think that was standard for future Kages."

Tsunade snorted. "And who says I'm a future Kage?"

The chunin felt his brow furrow. "Well…I mean that's why we're here. Feel like your village asking you to come back and be Hokage isn't something that you can, well, ignore." he said, entirely confused.

"Tch. Those elders can rot in hell for all I care. I'll tell you the same thing I told Jiraiya, kid. There's nothing left in Konoha for me."

"…but you must ask yourself this: what allegiance does a man…owe to a village that does not appreciate him? None." Orochimaru's words came to mind without prompting.

Naruto grimaced at the thought of the traitor's words. It seemed the Sannin weren't all that different, in the end: Orochimaru defected, Tsunade left, and even Jiraiya spent minimal time in Konoha. What a team, he mused.

"That's it, then?" he asked, intrigued. "I didn't think Jiraiya-sensei would let it go that quick."

Tsunade shrugged in his periphery, taking a pull from her bottle. "I may give the pervert shit for being an idealist, but he knows a lost cause when he sees one."

Naruto nodded, trying to quell the mix of confusion and irritation bubbling beneath the surface. "Just seems odd to me, ya know. Your gramps was the Shodai and your sensei was the Sandaime…why wouldn't you follow in their footsteps?"

"Being Hokage is a death sentence," Tsunade declared immediately, as if she didn't even have to think about it. "Anyone who wants that hat is a damn fool," she said, bitterness seeping through every word. Her eyes snapped to Naruto for the second time that night, pinning him once more. "But you know that already, don't you? All that talk about wanting to be better than the Yondaime and even you don't want to Hokage."

She shifted so that she faced the young blond fully, and Naruto felt the full weight of her attention fall on him for the first time. "You joked about being behind a desk, but I could see it in your eyes," she continued. "You want to be Hokage as much as I do, so why bother asking?"

Naruto shook himself. "They're also not asking me to take the job," he murmured. "That's kinda it, though. I don't know what happened to you – don't really want to either – but whatever it is, they know about it, and they're asking you anyway. The village wouldn't do that unless they really needed you…"

Tsunade barked a laugh. "You have no idea what they make you give, kid. They'll ask for your life, and that's fine; that's what you sign up for when you graduate, even though you don't know it. But then they ask for your friends' lives, and your family's, until you're the only one left…and then they ask for more."

"That's what being Hokage is. And for your sacrifice, you get your faced carved in stone," she concluded, raising her sake in a mocking toast. "Most don't even get that much," she whispered into the night.

Naruto leaned back, considering the Sannin's words. It wasn't much more than he had already considered himself, back when he learned of his parentage from the Kyubi. It took a certain kind of person to seal a demon into your newborn son knowing the likely consequences; even among shinobi, who had loyalty bred into them from their first academy lecture, that was above and beyond.

But that's who the Hokage were.

The Shodai had died defending his troops from Salamander Hanzo's first, unexpected offensive at the outset of the First Great War. The Nidaime had fallen to Kumogakure's Kinkaku Force, sacrificing himself so that his team could pass word of Kumo's treachery on. The Sandaime sacrificed his soul to stop Orochimaru.

And his father? A small, sardonic smile split his lips at the thought.

"I used to want to be Hokage," he said quietly. "The villagers hate me because of the Kyubi, so I figured that if I became Hokage then they'd have no choice but to love me. But that's not what being Hokage is about."

Naruto shook his head. "I studied them, ya know? Every scrap of information I could get my hands on. Especially the Yondaime," he said. He turned his eyes skyward, knowing that he had Tsunade's undivided attention. "He sacrificed his soul and his life to stop the Kyubi. He's the village's greatest hero, and they don't even know what he gave up, not really."

Honestly, Naruto didn't quite know what he thought of Namikaze Minato most days. As much as he hated what his father had done to him, he couldn't help but feel an inkling of pride for the man.

He turned back to the Sannin to find her wide eyes locked on him and roiling with an emotion he couldn't name.

The chunin inclined his head slightly. "To be Hokage is to be the least selfish person in the village," he declared softly.

Mentally, he had put himself in his father's shoes many times. Would he have been able to sacrifice not only himself, but his only child for the betterment of the village? "The village has to come first, no matter what. And I don't know if I can do that. That's why I don't want to be Hokage," he told Tsunade.

The older woman regarded him carefully for nearly a minute, a glint in her eye that hadn't been present before. Naruto held her gaze with ease, daring her to challenge his declaration. She nodded after a while, turning to stare out into the night, presumably lost in her musings. The younger blond settled himself after a few minutes, reflecting.

She hadn't reacted overmuch to his hinted knowledge of his parentage. Which either meant she had known or suspected from the moment they had met. Jiraiya probably confirmed it to her, he deduced.

"Jiraiya was right," Tsunade said without prompting, breaking him from his musings. The young blond turned to her expectantly. "You are smarter than you look."

Naruto felt his eye twitch, but couldn't help the laughing snort that escaped him. Beside him, Tsunade smiled, settling in to watch the stars once more.

/~/