Chapter 113: The Legends Meet (Part 1)
"I'm sorry, Orochimaru-sama. I can't remove that Hirais-, no, Hikōjin's marking, it's engraved on the inside of your cheek." A white-haired young man explained, performing a high-level healing technique on his boss, "I may be a good medic, but Kaname Uchiha is one of a kind. I can't even imagine how she put it in there."
"Rasengan with extremely precise wind-nature chakra control... *Hiss*, if not for that Snail I would have caught Kana-chan's body for myself." the muscles in the Snake Sannin's mouth ripped again engraving a seal, making him seethe in pain, "Why did you not report that her boyfriend is a jinchūriki, Kabuto? … No, it wasn't your fault. That senile old man must have put it behind S-class wall, not bad Sarutobi-sensei…"
"Thank you, Orochimaru-sama. What now?"
"Now, I need to find Tsunade-chan. She is part Uzumaki and has a knack for seals."
"Will she help you? Orochimaru-sama, you did not break up with your team on friendly terms."
"Fufufu, no, we did not. But I'm the only person that can bring her loved ones back to life."
"And what about Konoha, Orochimaru-sama? Kaname Uchiha is... tenacious to say the least. An injury won't stop her from coming after you."
"After us, Kabuto-kun. I can imagine what happened now, they used you to filter the half-truths back to me. I never expected Sarutobi-sensei to be so... delightedly deceitful." Orochimaru chuckled, "As for Kana-chan, I prepared a trap, one she won't be able to dodge that easily."
"Huh?"
"Fufufu. The seal I left with young Sasuke-chan has a failsafe. If you try to mess around with it... Well, Kana-chan will have a very bad day."
"But I found the record of Hatake Kakashi putting a seal restraining yours, Orochimaru-sama."
"A shoddy job won't stop the effects of my masterpiece. I put the Cursed Seal of Hell, knowing that either the Toad or, most likely, Kana-chan, won't be able to hold back her curiosity and use their chakra to probe it. Fufufu..."
-----
Kaname joined in on the team's eight gigglings while they explained to her how Hinata took both of her male teammates down. A sharp headache struck her, making her sway on legs.
"Sis? Are you okay?" Naruto called out.
Kaname felt her chakra rapidly depleting, "Naru-, find... Utakat-" she collapsed to her side and landed unconscious on Sasuke.
"Uff..." the raven-haired teen groaned under the added weight of a woman.
"Sis! SIS!"
"Naruto-kun, calm down." Hinata held the boy back, "Sasuke-kun, what's Nee-sama's status?"
"I feel her heartbeat," The Uchiha replied, checking the pulse on Kaname's wrist, "Her breath... is shallow and erratic."
"Naruto-kun, she needs your help this time. Find Utakata-san and Izumi-san as quickly as possible."
"But-"
"Clones, Dobe. Use clones."
"Ah! <Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu>!", hundreds of pops filled the surroundings, "Go, find them!"
-----
"Uh..." Her eyelids felt like they were made of lead, Kaname's slowly restarting brain registered two small bodies snuggled up to her and a steady beeping sounds of medical equipment. Fighting over her drowsiness, she slowly opened her left eye and noticed pristine white roof panels of a hospital room. 'Fuck, what did I do this time to land myself back into the hospital?"
"Morning, sleepyhead." Utakata's voice greeted her. She felt his hand delicately caress her cheek.
"...H-..." Kaname groaned.
"Take it easy, Kana-chan. You got hit by something. The overuse of adrenaline did not help you much. You were out for three days already."
"... Orochi... his seal." she gasped.
"It's okay. You need to rest, Kana-chan. Don't worry, I will deal with everything." Utakata reassured.
"Mmm," she hummed calmly, closing her eye, "Thanks."
When Kaname fell asleep, Utakata silently walked out of the room.
"How is my Little Butterfly?" An elder woman questioned him instantly.
"Tired. She needs to rest, Sachi-san."
"Once I find that Snake I will bolt his balls to his forehead, even if it's the last thing I do."
"Revenge is not important at the moment, Sachi-san. Izumi, have you got any ideas on how to help Kana-chan?" Utakata turned towards the brown-haired woman.
"I don't know, I tried everything already. I can keep Kaname-sensei alive, but whatever I did to recover her health, only made Snake's seal activate its defense mechanisms making the situation only worse." Izumi brainstormed, "I'm worried that if I investigate the seal, I will get under its influence as well. I'm sorry Sachi-sensei, but without a competent iryōnin at her side, I doubt Kaname-sensei would live another day."
"No worries, Izumi-chan, I understand. If shit happens a blind old-woman can't become the last hope. Still, I can help you with experience, what're Little Butterfly's symptoms?"
"The seal's defense mechanism acts like a poison that tries to seep the life out of her and depletes Kaname-sensei-'s chakra. As I said before, I can keep her alive, but it was a miracle she even woke up. Any ideas?"
"Hmm," the old Uchiha dropped her head deep in her thoughts, "... We can't help Butterfly, but if she comes..."
"Exactly my idea, Sachi-san." a gruff voice jumped into the conversation.
"Hokage-sama." Utakata greeted the man.
"Good to have you here, Sarutobi-san, what did you plan out to bring Tsunade-san back?"
"Kana-chan did a number on Orochimaru. Unfortunately, as we can see, it was almost a case of mutual destruction. He did not expect his forces to get exterminated so efficiently, meaning he will look for another leverage against Konoha. Finding Tsunade-chan, and persuading her would at least double his strength."
"I'm going to look for Tsunade-hime," Jiraiya continued, "You are an expert neurologist, Sachi-san. That would make Kana-chan and Izumi-chan specialists in saving the lives of the injured on the battlefield, and Tsunade-hime an expert at long and extensive recuperation. Whatsmore, including Kana-chan, she is a second person that survived and overcame Snake's poison."
"Can you find her, Jiraiya-san?"
"I'm not sure, Sachi-san. I believe I'm one of the few that do have a chance."
"I want to go too!" Naruto jumped into the conversation.
"Naru-kun, it's not nice to eavesdrop on a conversation."
"I'm sorry, granny. But I will do anything to help Sis ~ttebayo!"
"Naruto, it's going to be dangerous. Kana-chan would kill me if I took you with me."
"Take me with you, Ero-sennin? I don't think so, I will just follow you ~dattebayo, if you want it or not."
"*Cough* Not if I have a say about it, Naruto-kun. I'm sorry, but Konoha is under the highest alert, Orochimaru-kun's troops may still lurk around." Sarutobi coughed out.
"Even you, Hokage-Jiji? Ugh… Whatever, if I put some effort even your ANBU have problems catching me. I'm going." The blonde decided.
"... Such a problematic brat." Jiraya groaned.
"Utakata-san, if Itachi-kun goes with them then I doubt anything could happen to Naruto-kun."
"You're hurting my feelings, Izumi-chan… Do you not believe in Konoha's spy master's -"
"A pervert." She destroyed the senior ninja.
"Ugh…"
"Naruto, are you sure about that?"
"Yeah. I feel that I have to go, Utakata." Naruto nodded.
"... Shit! Okay, I understand that. If not for Haru and Kushina I would go there myself. Just don't leave Jiraiya-san's side."
"Hehe, thanks, Utakata!"
----
"So we're to act as your babysitters, huh Naruto?" The team of three quickly traveled north-west from Konoha.
"I prefer a sparring partner, Itachi-nii ~ttebayo."
"Hmm, maybe later." The man replied, "Jiraya-sensei, where are we going?"
"Tsunade-hime is known as the Legendary Sucker. She is addicted to gambling. Tanzaku Quarters are known for their gambling opportunities, even if she isn't there, I'm sure we can find people that she owns money to."
"Hey, Ero-sennin!" Naruto called out after the white-haired man.
"What is it, brat?"
"I have a deal ~ttebayo. Scarecrow-sensei told me that Tanzaku is also known for 'fine women'. I want you to continue teaching me the Rasengan, or I will tell my Sis where you took me."
"Ugh…"
"Pfft… He got you there, Jiraya-sensei. We both know the first thing you will do is to get eloped with a lady to… gather information."
"... No respect for your elders. Okay brat, listen, to learn Rasengan you need to accomplish three-"
"Yeah, I know, Ero-sennin. My Pop's explained it to me. Rotation, power, and containment, right?" Naruto took out a water balloon from a pouch on his hip, "I'm trying to pop it already."
"Hooh~ If it was Minato-kun that started teaching you, then, as his Sensei, I must finish it."
------
[Late evening next day]
Five men looked slack-jawed at the drunk woman sitting next to them at the blackjack table. She is a fair-skinned woman with brown eyes and straight blonde shoulder-length hair that parts above her forehead. Her hair has shoulder-length bangs that frame her face. This woman looks to be in her mid-twenties with a very curvaceous body, and enormous breasts that pull gazes of all males around.
"I won?" Tsunade gasped, spitting the sake on the floor, "Impossible. Hey you!" she pointed her finger at the dealer, "Shuffle them and deal again!"
"Tsunade-sama? Maybe we should leave already, we have lost too much today." a young, 18-years woman, called out to her teacher.
"Not now, Shizune! I'm going all in!" The big-breasted woman shouted out, pulling some leftover coins from her pockets.
Shizune is a woman of average height and slender build with onyx eyes and jet-black hair. Her hair is straight and chin-length with bangs that cover her ears and frame her face. She stood behind Tsunade, holding a small pink piglet in her hands.
"No, stop, Tsunade-sama! You won't have any more money left!"
The croupier looked between two women not sure what to do about the situation.
"See the chip?" Tsunade asked the man, seeing him nod, she picked it up and crushed it to dust with her hand, "This will happen to your balls if you don't deal the cards now."
"Ah, yes, as you wish..."
"... Wow, Tsunade-sama. Two kings, that's twenty points, you won!"
"No. Split them." The blonde took a swing of sake.
"Huh? I'm sorry, Tsunade-san, but did you mistake the game for another one? This is blackjack, the hand closest to twenty-one wins. You won't get much closer than that."
"Split," she growled.
Shrugging his shoulders, the dealer separated her pair and added two new cards.
An overwhelming gasp filled the table, all men stood up from their chairs in astonishment.
"A pair of aces... That's a double blackjack? You won?" Shizune's jaw dropped.
"Shit! We need to go now." Tsunade stood up from the blackjack table and turned towards the exit.
"But the prize money!"
"It's not important, the last time I won that much was when Dan died."
"Uncle-?" Tsunade pulled her arm, leading the young woman outside.
"Whatever is going to happen, I want to be as far away from civilization as possible. That way at least I won't have to hear the bad news too fast." The busty woman tugged Shizune towards their hotel room, "Pack only the necessities, we're leaving in ten minutes."
...
"Not so fast, Tsunade-sama!" Carrying an enormous backpack, she shouted after a fleeing woman.
"Keep up, Shizune! We don't have time to lose!"
"Fufufu. And where are you running off to so quickly Tsunade-chan?" a sinister laugh stopped them.
"Orochimaru? No wonder I felt like running away from a slimy bastard like you. Have you come here for me to finally end you?"
"No-no, Tsunade-chan. This time I come in peace. I need your help and medical knowledge."
She flipped him a bird, "See if I care. And who is this, your new fuck boy?" She pointed at a silver-haired young man Shizune's age.
"I have a proposal for you, we can help each other out."
"I doubt it. I need to go, whatever your stupid plan is, I don't want to take part in it. See you never." She turned on her heel.
"Do you want to meet your beloved Dan and younger brother Nawaki again, Tsunade-chan?" Orochimaru's question stopped her in her tracks.
"What did you say, Snake-bastard? They're dead," she growled.
"Fufufu, I see you're interested in my proposal. I was... attacked, someone put, let's call it, a tracking seal on me. I want you to remove it."
"A seal you can't manage yourself? Was it Sarutobi-sensei or Jiraya?"
"Hmm~ I see you don't follow the news across the world. Neither of them, Tsunade-chan. For your expertise, I'm willing to resurrect your close ones."
"Resurrect, how?" she questioned.
"Fufufu, that's thanks to your granduncle Tobirama. He created a forbidden jutsu allowing him to use the dead to fight. People are too scared to use it, but I-"
"You don't have any qualms about that, huh?" Tsunade narrowed her eyes.
"No, not one bit. So? Do we have an agreement?"
"I won't know if I can help you until I see the seal, Orochimaru."
"Not a chance, I'm not allowing you anywhere near striking distance. And you exactly know why." Tsunade smirked at his caution, "Kabuto did a drawing of the seal for you to examine."
She snapped the piece of paper from the silver-haired young man. Ten seconds after looking at the drawing, she looked back at Orochimaru, seething in anger, "Are you kidding me, bastard? It's not a seal, just words, Burning Familial Love."
[AN: Minato's Hiraishin was made up of the kanji for "endurance" (nin), "love" (ai), "of", and "sword" (ken)]
"Fufufu, so the last Senju, a grandaughter of Uzumaki Mito, falters upon seeing an unknown seal."
"Come down, let me hit you just once, bastard. We will see who falters." Tsunade pointed her fist at the man standing upon a tree branch.
"No thank you, I would like to keep my head in its place. So what? Are you giving up? I wouldn't be surprised. A part Uzumaki-"
"Just shut up and let me think!" she growled back, "That's clearly of Uzumaki design, my grandmother told me that it's possible to change geometric shapes with words, but it's very high level. It's way above anything Jiraya or Sarutobi-Sensei studied. Who did you anger this time? The Uzumaki clan is dead."
"You couldn't be more wrong. Uzushiogakure was destroyed, but some Uzumakis survived, their descendants live to this day, Tsunade-chan." He corrected. "If you want me to bring back your loved ones you need to break it."
"... I understand, give me two days, Orochimaru. Such a complicated seal needs a lot of work."
"Tsunade-sama? But..."
"Not now, Shizune! We're leaving." Tsunade turned back and walked back to town.
------
Jiraiya spring back onto his feet in the morning by a loud explosion next to his head. Rubbing the sleepiness out of his eyes, the Toad Sannin noticed the remains of a plastic ball in Naruto's hand.
"See, Itachi-nii? I have this step under my belt."
"*Yawn*, what time is it?"
"It's six-thirty, that's a brutal way of waking you up, but at least we won't have to wait for you to doze off till eleven, Jiraya-sensei."
"Six? Wait a moment, Naruto, how did you pop the ball?"
"Hehe~" the blonde scratched the back of his head. "I finished the second step already."
"Huh? In a single night? It should take you at least a month. Minato the Genius had to take a week off to do that."
Naruto shrugged, "I may suck at this, but I used about a hundred clones. They all tried to do it. With eight hours of your beauty sleep and shadow clone cheats summed up to a lot of training, ~ttebayo."
'Stop grinning like a madman Jiraiya,' He thought to himself, 'it's expected that their child would become a genius, even if he doesn't know it himself. STOP GRINNING.'
"Naruto stayed all night, holding up between 121 to 126 clones, Jiraiya-Sensei," Itachi replied tiredly.
"So Naruto has done about 980 hours of training in just eight hours? What can I say, it seems like cheating to me."
"Yes, I thought so as well. He is just like Nee-san."
"Hehe, thanks, Itachi-nii."
"No problem, kiddo, I'm just stating the facts. Jiraiya-Sensei, if you're already up, we can continue towards Tanzaku Quarters. We should reach the town this evening."
"Uhh, you slave driver, I just woke up."
"Ero-sennin, did you forget that Sis is connected to a life-support system?"
"Shit. Okay, let's go."
-----
"Tsunade-sama! You can't listen to the words of this liar! Neither your brother nor Uncle Dan would want you to do it. Did you forget their dreams or even yours?!"
"SHUT UP!"
"..." Shizune watched her mother-figure with a hurt look.
"Orochimaru knows my weakness. You know I can't stand to watch someone bleeding. If we fought I would be near useless against him... BOSS, bring more sake, I need to get wasted!" After downing an entire bottle in one swing, she burped loudly.
"Tsunade-sama..." Shizune's barely hidden sorrow was interrupted by a loud boy.
"It's the third pub you got into, you just want to get wasted!"
"Moron! Those are the best places to gather info! Oh, hi, Tsunade-hime, we're looking for you. Itachi-kun, don't let anyone in."
"Huh? This blondie is who we're looking for? Are you sure we got the right person, she should be your age, Ero-sennin?"
"Ugh. Now even you come back, Pervert. What the fuck is this town, a museum for old fossils?" a drunk Tsunade greeted her teammate.
"What do you mean, Tsunade-hime?"
"Our old friend found me yesterday."
"Orochimaru? What did he want with you?"
Tsunade gave a look, silencing Shizune's protests, "Nothing much. What did you come here for?"
"To tell you the truth, Sarutobi-sensei chose you as the next Hokage's candidate."
"Say what, Ero-Sennin!? But Sis-"
"You know Naruto that your Sis doesn't want the position, right?"
"At least one intellectual person remains in that deadbeat village. By the way, who is the loudmouth?"
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, the future Hokage, remember it, granny!"
"Uzumaki?" Tsunade took a glance at the boy, "Nah, he lacks Uzumakis' distinct red hair."
"He is an Uzumaki, Tsunade-hime. You're distantly related by blood, he is Little Kushina's son."
"Hmm, yeah, I do remember Kushi-chan. Say, gaki, did your older sister put a seal on that Snake bastard?"
"Uh? How did you know?"
"Heh, so Uzumakis still do live in Konoha. Even at a glance, I could discern that clan's handiwork. At last some good news."
"But-" Naruto tried to correct the misunderstanding, but Jiraiya's hand on his arm stopped him.
"Yes, Naruto lives in Konoha. But his older Sister got heavily wounded after she repelled Orochimaru's invasion. She needs your help, that's the second reason we came here."
"An invasion, huh? But let us return to the first point. Why would I want to become a Hokage? You do know how much I hate that position."
"Huh? Are you a little bit insane, granny? It's the Hokage, like the strongest shinobi in the world, who wouldn't want to become one?"
"... Call me that once again and I will break all the bones in your body, gaki."
"Why? I mean you're as old as Ero-sennin, I have to call you a granny, granny ~ttebayo."
"Huhu, you have got guts, gaki. You want to become a Hokage, huh? That's one of the shittiest life goals I ever heard of. Excluding the old fool, all the other Kages of Konoha are dropping like flies." She stood up.
"I'm not going to listen to someone dissing on my pops and Jiji. I don't care if you're a woman, I'm going to kick your arse ~ttebayo!"
"Ah, this confidence and linguistic tics. It seems you're really an Uzumaki. Come outside boy, I will show you where this bravado of yours will lead you."
Walking outside, Jiraiya noticed that his older student dispersed, remaining hidden from their target, 'Itachi-kun learns so fast...' he thought happily, "Tsunade-hime, just for clarity sake, it's a fight to the first hit, lethal use of force is forbidden."
"Yeah-yeah. I will give gaki a chance, I will use only one of my fingers." Tsunade extended her index finger.
"Grr."
"What a little boy got angry? How cute." the woman teased.
"I wouldn't underestimate Naruto if I was you." Jiraiya gave silent advice to his teammate, but his words were omitted, "Whatever. Begin!"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
dahnik
dahnik Hello, my dear readers :-) Another 3,3k chapter under our belt, I hope you liked it :-) Kaname returns in the next chapter, I didn't want to make her suffer but sending her after Tsunade felt like cheating, so I temporarily disabled her ;-P Tsunade's relationships with Naruto are too important for the story to be overlooked - that's why we have some of his own adventure here :-)
As always I can't wait to read your comments and ideas. Show some love by sending PSs and reviews for this story :-)
If you found any mistakes, please inform me :-) I don't like mistakes :-P