TITLE: Truthspeaker

AUTHOR: fUnKyToEs

CHAPTER: The Fifth Hokage: Part X

WORDS: 10, 324 words

DISCLAIMER: I don’t own, nor pretend to own, anything that has already been copyrighted.

BEFOREWORD: Yes… I decided to write a very long chapter to compensate for not updating the original plot for a while… oh, and this is IMPORTANT. I seemingly forgot (for some reason I stupidly assumed) to tell all of you that the bonus arc… DOESN’T EXIST! It’s just a bonus arc, that’s all. The whole boob thing and the ****thing doesn’t exist, ok? It’s just fun and games. They never went to the beach, it’s totally unrealistic that they’d all get the day off, that’s like, all their D missions right there… takes a deep breath, sorry, I suppose I just forgot to write that earlier… = ____=

Well, anyway, this chapter IS of existence, as it’s apart of the real plot. Ok,

Enjoy!

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“Don’t do it.”

Jiraiya and Naruto blinked in surprise, turning to where Sasuke was laying. He was pushing himself up, slowly and deliberately, his body shaking with fatigue.

“This guy…” he said, his face down, overcast, “Is mine!”

Sasuke! Naruto’s eyes widened. Sasuke wasn’t shaking with fatigue, but with anger. What’s with Sasuke? Naruto wondered, Why is he acting like this?

Everyone turned to him, but no one spoke.

“I have no interest in you,” Itachi said, his voice completely emotionless.

“Shut the hell up!” Sasuke yelled as he charged.

Jiraiya moved for only an inch, before stopping.

Naruto’s mouth fell open and he yelled in alarm when Itachi shot out his hand, just when Sasuke had reached him, and sent him flying back at the wall. Sasuke seemed to bounce off, blood almost comically spurting out of his mouth, and then gravity took in and he slammed back into the wall and slid out. The dent that was there from his previous hit was now a crater.

Naruto started to move towards him, but was cut off by Sasuke. “Don’t Naruto!” Sasuke yelled.

Naruto halted, his eyes widened even father. “Sasuke…” he said quietly.

Sasuke was breathing heavily, his body shaking. Small marking where beginning to spread along his body.

The seal… Itachi thought, It’s unraveling…

Sasuke clenched his fist. “This is… my fight.” He seethed through clenched jaws.

Naruto’s eyes widened. He had never seen his friend like this before.

So… Jiraiya thought, it all comes to revenge…

There was a moment’s pause when no one did anything, till Itachi began to walk towards Sasuke.

“Bring it on!” Sasuke yelled.

Blood gurgled out of his throat when Itachi’s knee made contact with his stomach. As Sasuke’s body fell backwards from the momentum, Itachi slammed his elbow at the base of Sasuke’s neck, forcing the body to fall forwards again, when he kicked Sasuke in the throat, forcing Sasuke’s body up again. Itachi grabbed Sasuke by the neck and began slamming him by the head into the wall.

Why…!? Blood spurted out of his mouth. Why is there such a gap of power between us?!

Kisame chuckled, “No mercy at all…”

Itachi let Sasuke drop to the floor.

What have I been… doing all this time? Sasuke thought as Itachi reached back down and grasped him by the throat.

Itachi closed his eyes.

What the hell have I been…?

The slits that were Itachi’s eyes opened, and Sasuke’s hell was born yet again.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

“How is she?” Jiraiya asked as the doctor came out.

The doctor sighed, “She’ll live, if that’s what you’re asking,” The doctor replied. “There’s no major physical injuries.”

“That’s good.” Jiraiya sighed.

“I had to redo the stitches on her back—I won’t even ask how she got them. The bruises on her neck will heal in time. She won’t need a brace, just wraps with ointment,” he handed the jar and a package of cohesive bandage wrap to Jiraiya. “This should be enough—it should last two or three weeks. Put new wraps and ointment on in the morning and before she goes to sleep.”

“I see…” Jiraiya said, “I’ll make sure she puts it on.”

“Good.” The doctor says. “The only thing that worries me is her current mental state. I’m no medical ninja, but I can recognize genjutsu when I see it.”

Sasuke screamed a scream that sent shivers down their spines.

“Sasuke!” Naruto yelled, rushing forward but Jiraiya caught him by the arm, “Guard Grace,” he said, smoothly, “Don’t forget, that’s your mission.”

Naruto clenched his jaw, his face tense with fury, before he conceded and stepped back, standing protectively over Grace, who was still unconscious, propped up against the wall next the woman whom Jiraiya had brought in with him upon his entrance.

The screaming persisted.

“Yes,” Jiraiya answered, “She was put under a genjutsu.”

“Normally,” the doctor said, “When receiving patients who were placed under genjutsu, they recover within a few hours. The effects aren’t major, unless there were physical injuries added to the genjutsu.”

Jiraiya nodded.

“However,” The doctor said, “With this… I’ve never seen the effects of genjutsu quite like this before.”

Jiraiya said nothing. Of course he wouldn’t… he thought, The mangekyo sharingan can cast a genjutsu like a small time doctor, no any doctor, medic ninja or not, has ever seen…

“I can tell you this,” the doctor continued, “She will suffer from intracranial injury, or TBI, traumatic brain injury.”

“What are the side effects of this?” Jiraiya asked.

“The most obvious symptoms of TBI is nausea, dizziness, vomiting, light headedness, blurred vision, or tired eyes, headaches, difficulty balancing, and loss of motor coordination.”

“How high of a chance that these symptoms will occur?” Jiraiya asked.

“Most probable. Although her physical injuries are not great, she does have some slight bruising to her cranium, which has caused a slight tremor to her cranial nerves.”

Jiraiya narrowed her eyes, “How bad is it?”

“Not bad,” The doctor admitted, “I would like her to rest for some time, but I assume you need to be on your way?” he glanced at Jiraiya’s head protector, noting that he was a ninja.

“That’s right.” Jiraiya paused, “These cranial nerves...”

“Control things such as her eye movement, facial expression, taste, smell, chewing, things that are located in her facial area, as well as her respiratory system and the direct sense impulses throughout her body. Basically, it controls her five senses.”

“And you’re saying that it was injured?”

“A slight tremor,” the doctor said, “Although surprisingly, the tremor did not occur entirely because of the cranial injury, that alone would only have a small effect. It was the genjutsu that caused the tremor to occur.”

“I see…” Jiraiya said. “You mentioned the obvious side affects of the TBI, but what about the not so obvious effects… anything I should keep my eye out for?”

“Convulsions, inability to wake up, weakness of limbs, agitation, these are just a few symptoms of severe TBI,” The doctor replies. “A good symptom of this is if one or two of her pupils is dilation of one or two of her pupils.”

Jiraiya nodded.

“I’m no expert,” The doctor said, “But I do know some things about genjutsu. It’s like… waves entering the ear and sending a vibration that is translated by the brain into sound, like the one casting the genjutsu is sending radio waves through the victims head, effecting their senses to create the illusion and hallucination that the caster wishes the victim to see, hear, smell, taste or touch. Genjutsu can often be evaluated with an EEG, a device to measure and calculate the brain waves of a patient. The EEG measures the electrical activity of the neurons of the brain. Genjutsu affects and manipulates these electrical currents, which is why it is so effective. Because this genjutsu was so powerful, the electrical currents in her brain were somewhat marred, causing the tremor.”

“That makes sense.” Jiraiya said.

“Because it’s a genjutsu, and a powerful genjutsu, you will also have to watch out for flashbacks. These are common with genjutsu victims, and the level in which the one cast on her I’m sure that she will have one or two. Another thing,” the doctor continued, “Make sure you watch for loss of movement in limbs. If one side because paralyzed or abnormal posturing, which is the involuntary flexion or extension of the limbs, as these are symptoms of ICP, or intracranial pressure.”

“What happens then?”

“If the pressure within her skull raises too high she will die.” The doctor said bluntly.

“And…” Jiraiya sighed, “The chances of that happening?”

“Little to none,” the doctor replied. “I doubt many of these symptoms will occur,” he added, “I’m just giving you the basics so you are prepared. The worst that will happen are the obvious symptoms that I mentioned earlier, like weakness or headaches or nausea. The greater symptoms are less likely to happen, but it’s possible—which is why I request that she stay here, at the hospital. She is in no condition to be moving around—constant movement or stress, physical or mental, will increase the chances of more serious symptoms!”

Jiraiya sighed, leaning against the wall. “I know,” he said, “I know that the best thing for her right now is to rest… but we…” he glanced at the doctor, “We’re on a mission right now, an important mission.”

“I understand that,” The doctor said, “But you must understand that her brain is in too weak of a state to—”

“I’ll be careful,” Jiraiya said, “She can travel, correct?”

The doctor didn’t say anything. He clenched his jaw for a moment, and then said, “Yes, by tomorrow she can be released—I don’t suggest it, but she’ll be a condition that she won’t have to be hospitalized anymore.”

“Good,” Jiraiya said, “Then tomorrow we’ll leave.”

“But—”

“You don’t have to stress it,” Jiraiya said, he grinned, “Besides; we’re tracking down the best medical ninja in the whole continent!”

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Naruto grumbled. Why did Jiraiya get to go into the room and he didn’t? What did the doctor have to say that they all couldn’t hear?

He crossed his arms and huffed angrily.

He was getting a little worried. At first Grace seemed fine, she was able to stand and talk, right? So what was the big deal? But that was the problem. When Jiraiya and he brought her to the hospital, the staff began freaking out. They brought her into that room. She’s been in there for over twenty-four hours, how much longer will it take?

Not to mention Sasuke…

He just keptscreaming. Naruto didn’t know what to do. What should he do? Protect whom? How could he choose between his two best friends?

Jiraiya made a hand seal, and Naruto did a double take when the walls, floor and ceiling turned into something that reminded Naruto like a throat. He didn’t realize how close he was. Sasuke was sucked out of Itachi’s grasp and into the sides of the throat.

Itachi and Kisame both took a step away from the walls. Kisame looked down and took a few more steps when his feet began to sink slowly.

“Too bad,” Jiraiya said, “Itachi… Kisame… looks like the both of you are already in my stomach.”

Itachi looked almost peacefully at Jiraiya for a few seconds more before turning back to Sasuke, who’s only body part visible, was his face and upper chest. “What you are lacking…” he whispered, “The reason you are weak… is because you lack… hatred.”

“I used black magic to summon the esophagus of the giant toad from my Ouki Mountain Rock Inn,” He grinned, “I hope you enjoy being food for Iwagama!”

Naruto stepped from side to side, trying to get used to the strange to terrarium. “What… what’s going on here!?”

“Don’t freak,” Jiraiya said, “It’s just my jutsu. You and Grace are safe.”

Itachi turned to Kisame, “Kisame, come!”

Kisame took a step then swore. Saliva began to crawl up his sword, holding it in place.

“There’s no way for you to escape,” Jiraiya told them, “Nothing escapes my senses while in here.”

Kisame swore again and pulled his sword free and he and Itachi began running down the hallway. Behind them, the walls of flesh began to close in. “What about the girl?” Kisame called to Itachi, who was few steps ahead.

Itachi looked back, at the girl who was now sleeping against the flesh. He didn’t say anything, but looked ahead, picking up his speed as the walls collapsed even faster. There was a window up ahead. “Those walls are fast!” Kisame shouted, “At this rate…”

Itachi closed his eyes.

Naruto jumped when Jiraiya sprang to his feet and rushed around the corner, his eyes wide with shock. “What’s going on?” Naruto yelled.

When the reached the corner, the end of the hall was blasted apart. The hallway was black, as if scorched then covered with soot. The walls were still aflame with fire that was completely black, as if cursed. The smell of reeking burning flesh was so overpowering and nauseating that Naruto almost collapsed.

The wall… Jiraiya thought, was surely blown apart by them…

“This black flame…” Naruto muttered, leaning closer to peer at it.

“You dumb ass! Jiraiya yelled, “Don’t move closer to it!”

Naruto eeped and moved away.

“And aren’t you supposed to be guarding Grace?” Jiraiya yelled, smacking the blond kid over the head, “What if they had snatched her?”

Naruto whimpered and covered his head, rushing over to where Grace was laying.

Jiraiya looked at the black flames. That guy… what on Earth did he do to do this? And this black flame…the flames were ignited from within Iwagama, and it scorched its flesh… He held a scroll in his hand, and spread it in front of him. Naruto, forgetting yet again his ‘post’ peered over his shoulder in curiosity.

Jiraiya made a hand seal. Better save this flame to bring back… he thought. “Sealing jutsu,” he yelled, “Seal fire!”

The black flames morphed into a stream of flame that sucked into the scroll. Once the fire was all collected Jiraiya rolled the scroll then tied it tightly, pulling the stream with his teeth to ensure it was knotted thoroughly.

Jiraiya stood up, placing the scroll in a pouch at his waist and wiping his hands off. “Alright,” he said, “Everyone ok?” he glanced at Grace. We should probably get her to a hospital… as well as…

“Sasuke?” Naruto asked, glancing at where Sasuke was still embedded in the wall. He hurried over to where his friend was. Jiraiya stamped his foot and the walls, floor and ceiling of the hotel returned to its original state. Sasuke was released and Naruto helped him to the floor.

Sasuke appeared to be in a daze, he was staring off into the distance, his eyes not looking at anything.

“Sasuke…” Naruto murmured.

Jiraiya blinked, then turned around. “How long have you been there?” he asked.

Naruot turned around in surprise. “An ANBU!” he said.

“Hey, Naruto,” the ANBU said, his face concealed behind the mask.

“Huh?” Naruto said, “Wait a second—Ryuichi!”

“You’re a little late,” Jiraiya complained, “As Squad Fifteen’s captain I’d think you’d be a little faster, especially since that girl was once your ward.”

The captain shrugged, “You little jutsu made it a little hard for me to get here,” he said, “You do realize that along with whatever is inside getting out it’s pretty hard for whatever is outside for getting in too?”

Jiraiya muttered something inaudible. Then he sighed, “I’m assuming that you’re here to take Grace back?”

“Those were my orders,” The ANBU replied, “I will take Lady Grace, and Sasuke Uchiha, back to the village, and report to Lady Utatane the appearance of the Akatsuki.”

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes, “You can take Sasuke back—in fact, I insist. But Grace stays with us.”

“My orders were—”

“And I’m telling you that I need Grace to stay here.” Jiraiya cut.

The ANBU was silent, then he said, “I’m afraid that Lady Utatane’s orders overrule your own.” He replied. “Her orders are superior to yours, regardless of your rank and stature in the village.”

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes again, then said, “You may be very powerful, for a jonin, but I don’t want to have force to make sure Grace completes the village. I’ll bring her to the local hospital to ensure any injuries are un-sustained, but I must insist that she continue the mission.”

The ANBU again was silent. “It’ll be my neck,” he warned, “When I don’t complete this mission.”

Jiraiya shrugged, “I know this will be the second time you failed,” he said, “And that you could loose your rank as captain of the ANBU because of it,” he opened his eyes and stared coldly at the younger man, “But I don’t really give a rat’s ass about your type, if you get my drift.”

Naruto looked between them, worriedly and confused. He always thought that the two of them got along… was it fake?

“I understand, Lord Jiraiya,” the ANBU said, bowing stiffly. He disappeared then reappeared next to Sasuke, picking him up gently. “I’ll tell Lady Utatane that you are having Lady Grace continue the mission.”

“Wait!” Naruto shouted as the ANBU began walking away, “Jiraiya, what are we going to do now? Why did those guys target Grace and me? Why did that guy do this to Sasuke?” he clenched his fists, “There’s a change of plans” he growled “We’re going after those guys and kicking their asses! I’m not going to rest until I’ve gotten back at them!”

“You idiot,” Jiraiya said, “You go after them now you’ll die!”

“I can’t just sit around and do nothing!” Naruto shouted.

“What kind of guy—!?”

Jiraiya’s face turned cold and he glared at Naruto, “Will you shut up for once?” he said, “You’re too weak right now to do anything, you understand me?”

Naruto leaned forward in the bench as Jiraiya entered the room. “Well?” he asked, “How is she?”

“We’ll be leaving tomorrow.”

“What?!” Naruto yelled, “That long?”

“Hey,” Jiraiya said, “You forget how much damage Grace has received this month, you really think that she’ll recover that quickly? Both she and Sasuke are in critical condition. The only difference is that Grace has to get moving quickly, while Sasuke can stay in the hospital for as long as he wants. We need to take some time and let her recover.”

“But…” Naruto said, his eyes closed as his mind attempted to work out the details, “Wouldn’t that mean she needs to stay a long time too? Shouldn’t she stay, then?”

Jiraiya sighed, “Look,” he started, “We need Grace in order to complete the mission. Once we find out objective Grace will be in better hands than she could ever be anywhere else.”

“Why’s that?” Naruto asked.

“Because,” Jiraiya replied, “The woman we’re searching for is the best medical ninja to ever come out of our village.”

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

“My head hurts…” I complained.

Jiraiya turned towards me, a worried expression on his face. “What?” he asked. “Is something wrong?”

I veered away from him, “Stop freaking out every time I complain,” I complained, “You always used to ignore me before, why the sudden change in attitude?”

“Because,” Jiraiya sighed, “You have—”

“Traumatic brain injury,” I finished in a mocking tone, “Yeah, yeah, I get it. You guys forget that I’ve been spending the last few months of my life in a hospital for one thing or another; I’m used to having some sort of weird thing wrong with me. It’s like trouble is attracted to me. I’m so over it…” I muttered, glaring at a rock as I passed it.

“You know something,” Naruto said, “I’ve noticed that too.”

“Really?” I asked, “You noticed something? Oh, look,” I said in a high pitched voice, “Naruto has a brain. At least your brain isn’t ‘traumatized’!” I snapped, glaring at Jiraiya.

Jiraiya glared back. “I wish you weren’t in such a bad mood,” Jiraiya muttered.

“Yeah,” Naruto said, “Every since we left you’ve been in such a bad mood.”

“Can’t I be human for once?” I asked.

Jiraiya and Naruto glanced at each other. “No.” they said, “We like you better when you’re too happy and well behaved.”

I sighed.

Why am I stuck with these two? I glanced up at the sky, “I feel like we’re forgetting something…”

Somewhere, far, far away… two servants and a large amount of luggage waited patiently for the arrival of their princess…

“Oh well,” I said, shrugging, “Must not be very important.”

There was silence that was welcomed by all of us. The scenery was so peaceful. When I first woke up in the hospital, it gave me a little bit of a shock. To tell you the truth, I thought I was back in Konoha, and, to continue telling the truth, I sort of wished I was there. I wanted to make sure that Sasuke was ok. It was weird, I mean, I don’t remember Sasuke being there. The only reason I knew was because I remember reading about it, as well as Naruto and Jiraiya informing me that Ryuichi had come and taken him back. I hope he’s ok… I was almost too scared to ask what Itachi had done to him… just thinking about it sends shivers down my spine. Thinking about what Itachi might have done to Sasuke reminded me of what Itachi did to me.

My first experience with genjutsu wasn’t the most pleasant of experiences…

And what I saw…

I shuddered so visibly that Jiraiya halted again. “You ok?” he asked.

“Why do you keep asking me that?” I asked, “I think you’d be able to tell if I started having a seizure.”

“I know,” Jiraiya replied, “I’m just being careful.”

“If you’re in such a need to be careful you should have left me at the hospital.” I informed him.

He sniffed and turned his back towards me, which, I might add, is a perfect target to practice glaring daggers at.

“When are we getting there?” I asked, cutting the silence.

“Soon.”

Naruto and I looked at each other, and grinned at the new opportunity.

We both waiting a moment before Naruto asked, “How long now?”

“Soon,” Jiraiya replied.

We suppressed the giggles that were starting to sneak up our throats.

“What about now?” I asked.

“No.”

“Now?” Naruto asked.

“No.”

“Now?” I asked, grinning.

“NO!” Jiriaya shouted, turning to me, his eyes wide like he hadn’t been sleeping for a whole week.

Naruto and I leaned backwards in an almost comical way, unable to suppress the chuckles from the humorous look on his face. He sighed and started walking.

We stayed quiet, before Naruto opened his mouth.

And that was when my admiration for Jiraiya grew tenfold. Quickly than I could see, Jiraiya appeared behind Naruto and duct taped his mouth.

Then he quickly walked ahead of us and continued walking. Naruto’s eyes were wide and his face turned red.

“Wow,” I said, “That’s pretty cruel.”

“You really want to hear Naruto talk for another two hours?” Jiraiya asked.

“Good point.”

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

They were beginning to come up to the village. “Another little outskirt of Konoha?” I asked.

“Yup.” Jiraiya replied, “There are a lot these little outposts and provinces.”

Naruto sped up and tugged on Jiraiya’s sleeve, glaring and pointing at his… ahem… otherwise immobile mouth. “Oh, sorry,” Jiriaya apologized.

“OOOOOWWWWWWW!” Naruto yelled as Jiraiya ripped off the duct tape. “WHY THE HELL DID YOU HAVE TO DO IT SO PAINFULLY!??!?”

“WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE TO HELL SO LOUDLY NEAR A SETTLEMENT!” Jiraiya yelled back with equal volume.

“You’re both yelling pretty loudly,” I muttered, glancing that the people who were staring at us.

Jiraiya hit Naruto over the head, and continued walking. “You know,” I muttered, “You kind of look like a child abuser.” He really does, I thought, in fact, with his white hair and perverted reputation… and with my bruises and injuries… we could easily be mistaken as—

“I want the two of you to behave while we’re here,” Jiraiya began.

Naruto halted his face serious. Jiraiya and I stopped, stunned slightly.

“Pervy Sage,” he said, “Those guys… why are they after Grace and I? What are they after?” there was silence. “You don’t know, don’tcha?”

“They’re not so much after you, but what’s inside of you.” Jiraiya replied.

Naruto placed his hand on his stomach, gazing down.

“And me?” I asked, “What are they after me for?”

He didn’t reply. Then, “You’re smart,” he said, “They’re after your intelligence.”

“Intelligence,” Naruto began.

I gazed at Jiraiya, “You’re not telling the full truth,” I said.

He gazed back. “No… no I’m not.” He admitted.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

“But…” the small dark haired woman exclaimed, backing away from the entrance of the building, “But… this is the most expensive gambling den around!”

“Stop your complaining,” Tsunade muttered, lifting the flap of the entrance, “Come on, let’s go.”

The men inside looked up in surprise at the sight of the two woman, and the pig, walking into the room. A few recognized her.

She placed a large brief case down and opened it. It was full of money that could not possibly belong to her. “I want to turn this all into chips,” she said, grinning.

It didn’t take long for the rest of them to recognize the…

Gah! The small dark haired woman shrieked in her head, They’re happy already!

…Legendary Sucker!

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

“So…” Naruto asked, “This Tsunade woman you mentioned earlier, is she the woman we’re tying to find?”

“Yup,” Jiraiya said, “you’re getting smarter!”

I giggled.

“You mentioned that she’s the best medical ninja around, so… she’s pretty famous?”

“Yup,” I said, smiling.

“So it’ll be pretty easy to find her!” Naruto grinned.

“Actually,” Jiraiya said, “She may have a name for herself but she’ll be pretty hard to find… She ain’t really the type to age gracefully… so she’ll probably use some sort of jutsu to make herself look younger.”

“Is that even possible?” I asked. “I mean, why would someone want to do that in the first place?”

“What do you mean?” Jiraiya asked, “Don’t you want to prolong aging for as long as you want?”

I shrugged, “Why bother? It’s going to happen anyway and it’s natural, I’m not afraid of aging. Besides, I have plenty of time till that time comes and personally, I don’t want to be a twenty year old grandmother…”

“So you do want to be a grandmother,” Naruto asked.

“Well, duh,” I said, “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Nothing,” Naruto grinned.

“Anyway,” Jiraiya continued, “Like Grace said, she’ll probably have the appearance of a twenty year old. However,” he said, “I’ve heard lately that she’s been changing her appearance to that of a ten year old, or a forty year old, or etc., to get away from her gambling debts…”

“Oh yeah,” I said, “She has a problem with that… That’ll probably cause problems later, too…”

“You have no idea,” Jiraiya agreed dryly.

“That’s not… very good,” Naruto muttered.

Jiraiya placed his hand behind his head, “As a kid, Tsunade always used to loved to gamble,” he grinned, “But she always sucked at it, both in skill and luck.”

“Personally,” I said, “I’d give up—why do such a risky thing all the time if you always fail?”

“Then why bother being a ninja?” Jiraiya asked.

“Are you suggesting I’d always fail?” I snapped.

“No,” Jiraiya said, “But it’s still risky.”

“I doubt someone will assign someone a mission they aren’t capable of—it’s an entirely different matter.”

Jiraiya shrugged.

“So how are we going to find her?” Naruto asked.

“We’ll be going by foot,” Jiraiya muttered, “Haven’t you caught on by now?”

“By foot?” Naruto whined, “But that will take too long!”

“Don’t you remember what I said earlier?” I grinned, “We’re spending most of the time on you!”

“Hey!” Jiraiya complained, “That was supposed to be my cool line!”

“If that was supposed to be your cool line—it sucked,” I pointed out.

Jiraiya sighed dejectedly, “Well,” he said, “Anyway, Grace is correct. I’ll be training you along the way, so there’s no reason to be in a rush.”

“Training me?!” Naruto yelled, excitedly, jumping up and down.

“You’d think he forgot from when we told him earlier,” I muttered to Jiraiya.

“You think we didn’t tell him?” He asked.

“I don’t even remember,” I shrugged, “We might of—we might of not.”

“I think you’re the one who’s forgotten,” Jiraiya muttered to himself.

I glared at him, “You—”

We kept walking for a bit, getting closer and closer to the little village. To tell you the truth I was a little apprehensive. Not that I expected Akatsuki to be waiting there for us and to attack us again—that’be just stupid, seriously, but…still. The fact that we were replaying the last scene was sort of… déjà vu like. I mean, it’s like… the same scenario. Hopefully we get Tsunade and leave.

That too, I’m worried about. What is Tsunade like in real life? And I don’t just mean the size of her breast. I mean… what is she going to act like? I know how she acts in the manga and anime but is there any difference in real life? What will she act like around me? How will she react to me? Will she even like me? As far as I’m concerned it’s pretty important for her to like me. Whether I like it or not those elders are turning me into quite the little political figure—and I’m not just talking about pretending to be a princess who’s pretending to be a nobody—“Oh my god!” I shrieked, “We forgot about pretending to be a nobody!”

“What?” Jiraiya said, turning around.

“We forgot…” I muttered, slumping. “To pretend… to be… a nobody…”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Naruto asked, confused.

“You know how I’m pretending to be ‘Princess Haruka’?” I asked.

“Ah,” Jiraiya said, a lightbulb going off in his head, “We forgot about referring to you as Ayame…”

“Yup.” I said, sighing. “So much for the mission.

“It doesn’t matter,” Jiraiya said, “The Akatsuki already figured out that you were the real Grace, as long as other villages don’t figure it out, we’re good.”

“So you have to refer to me as Ayame?” I asked.

“Probably,” Jiraiya said, “Well, actually… Grace might be somewhat of an unusual name but I’m sure we can call you it, it’s not like we’re talking about you in public like you’re the Hokage’s granddaughter, and besides, with that long hair you have on, no one, unless they knew you, or have seen you up close on a regular basis, would be able to recognize you.”

I grinned, “I suppose that’s true.” I placed a hand on my heart, “It gave me a heart attack for a moment there.”

Naruto grinned, “That wouldn’t be good!”

“I wasn’t serious,” I snapped. “I think you’d notice if I had a heart attack.”

“Hey,” Naruto complained, “I was pretending too!”

“Yeah right,” Jiraiya and I said in unison.

We continued to walk in silence. I bet we’ll get to the village in a few minutes… maybe fifteen? Like I was thinking before… the village was turning me into a political figure. I don’t just mean being the former Hokage’s granddaughter, I mean… I had overheard, shortly before I left, Lady Utatane talking to that guy elder about the council… I wonder if they’ll be—

“Alright Pervy Sage!” Naruto squealed, “What are you going to teach me, eh, eh?”

“Well don’t get too fired up,” Jiraiya muttered, his shoulders slumping already with exhaustion at the thought of having to train the runt, “We still need to gather information about Tsunade—there’s no point in training before we do that.”

“Information?” Naruto asked.

I blinked. There was a railing up ahead, marking the end of the road. When we reached it, I realized that the road we were walking on was on the bluff above the village. No wonder I could only see a few houses in the distance! “This is sooo cool!” Naruto exclaimed, “Not as cool as Konoha, but cool nonetheless!”

“Didn’t know there was such a long word in your vocabulary,” I grinned, but I have to say, I’m pretty excited too. This is, besides the little village just outside of Konoha we were at before, the first real village I’ve been to in this world!

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

“Wow,” I said, “It’s so much bigger than the last village!”

I think there was some sort of festival going on, because there was a huge marketplace and bazaar set up with stalls and tents and shops selling tons of things. The streets were crowded with people, it was almost hard to walk through all of them. There were children dressed up as ANBU running around with little fake katana and people eating ice cream, Asian food, and cotton candy. “Wait,” I said, pointing, “They have cotton candy?”

“Wow!” Naruto exclaimed, a cute little excited blush on his face, “This is the first time I’ve ever seen anything like this before!”

“Well,” Jiraiya grinned, “Have fun doing whatever you want! And you,” He turned to me, “Be careful.” He turned to face the both of us, grinning, “This will be a little beak before the real training starts, so have fun, and we’ll be staying here for now, ok?”

Naruto grinned and slipped off his backpack, reaching in and pulling out a little stuffed frog. He rubbed it against his cheek, uncontrollably grinning.

“Wow,” I said, in awe, “That’s a lot of money!”

“It’s like a tax collector!” Jiraiya exclaimed, “That’s a lot of loot, kid!”

“Well,” Naruto said, with pride, “I’ve been saving up! It’s good to have money for a rainy day, right? Well,” he said, grabbing my hand, “Let’s go!”

“Hold on one second!” Jiraiya called. “Where do the two of you think you’re going?” he snatched the little frog purse away from Naruto and looked seriously down at the two of us, “You shouldn’t go spend this!” he said, “Don’t the either of you know anything about the Three Ninja Sins?” he closed his eyes.

“Nope,” Naruto said, “What is it?”

“I can’t believe you don’t know what they are…” he sighed.

“Like you’re a good example,” I muttered.

“There are three things that ninja are forbidden from doing… alcohol… money… and woman!”

“Then you’ve broken all of those every day of your life,” I pointed out, dryly, “Who are you to tell us not to do those?”

“Besides,” Naruto said, “Grace and I aren’t even twenty, so no alcohol for us, and I’m too young to be seriously into woman, and Grace certainly isn’t into woman, so there’s no worry of us spending money on that.”

“You idiots!” Jiraiya yelled, “Don’t say something so brainless about money! You two will end up waiting it anyway!”

“You’re the brainless idiot!” I yelled back, “Collect information—my ass, you’re just going to spend Naruto’s money on woman!”

He backed away from me, “Watch who you’re accusing!” he yelled.

“What do you mean,” I sneered, “Don’t forgot—you’re the one who keeps insisting that I’m so smart, it’s that same INTELLIGENCE that I have that I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO DO WITH THE MONEY!”

He didn’t say anything, “Damn…” he muttered.

I snatched the purse away from him, “Besides, I’m not a ninja yet, so it doesn’t matter for me. Come on, Naruto.”

“Wait!” Jiraiya called, tossing us his backpack, “Hold on to this for me!”

Naruto grumbled and grabbed it, slinging it over his shoulder.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

“Wow!” Naruto exclaimed, “That was really amazing!”

I grinned, making a fist in the air, “Wasn’t it! We sure got the best of that perverted Sage!”

“I know!” Naruto squealed, “Now we can spend money doing whatever we want!”

“Speaking of which,” I said, looking around, “What exactly do you want to do?”

Naruto paused, joining me in our quick scan of the area. “No idea,” he said, “I’ll just do a little of everything!”

“I think I’m going to buy clothes…” I said, “I’m sick of wearing these. I don’t care if the hospital washed them… I need new clothes.”

“I don’t think I have enough money for spending on fun stuff and clothes,” Naruto said, looking worriedly at his purse.

“Don’t worry,” I grinned, “I have lots of money!”

“Really?” Naruto exclaimed.

“Yup,” I grinned, “Lady Utatane gave it to me, she told me not to tell Jiraiya—probably because she knew that he’d try to take it from me—to spend on whatever I might need.”

“That’s so cool!” Naruto said. “Where are you going to buy clothes? What are you going to buy?”

I glanced around, “I’ll probably buy something that helps me blend in… maybe something a little more Asian?” I nodded, “Yup, I’ll buy something a little more Asian.” I set of towards a shop.

Naruto stood there, a confused look on his face. “… Asian?” He asked out loud.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

“Wow!” I said, “That was so much fun! I can’t believe how much you suck at everything—I mean, you’re a ninja, shouldn’t you be really good at this stuff?” I laughed, “I was better than you!”

“Shut up,” Naruto muttered. “Hey! Let’s try on some masks!”

We walked over to a masks stall and Naruto grabbed an ANBU mask, placing it over his face. “How do I look?” he said, posing.

“Like a really short ANBU wearing a blindingly obvious orange jumpsuit.” I said. “You might have to rethink your wardrobe if you want to enter the ANBU, kid.”

“Whatever,” Naruto said, taking a step. He yelped as he tripped over a rock and landed on his face.

“Watch it!” The owner said, “If you’re putting a mask on be careful where you step!”

“And he’s a ninja,” I muttered to the stall owner.

“You’re kidding,” The owner said in disbelief.

“Sadly… no…” I said.

“A pretty girl like you,” he grinned, “Would look beautiful in this!” he produced from within his sleeves a beautiful pinkish purple ribbon.

“Wow!” I squealed, “That really is pretty!”

I turned around and let him place it in my hair. I rushed over to the mirror and glanced in it. It really did look pretty! With the blond hair and the ribbon with a bow at an angle I looked like a doll! I handed him some money but he shook his head, blushing, “No, no, I couldn’t possible charge a pretty girl like you!”

Pervert… I thought, but I smiled sweetly nonetheless.

“Grace!” Naruto yelled, “Look at this!” he accusingly pushed a little book in front of my face.

I pushed it away, “I can’t see it if you put it so close,” I said. My eyes widened. “Is that Jiraiya’s bank book?!”

“Look at all the zeroes!” Naruto exclaimed, “He can buy whatever he wants with all this!”

“Wow,” I said, “It’s a good thing I kept him from taking your purse…”

“Yeah,” Naruto said, “Good thing…”

“So,” I said, paying the man for Naruto’s masks, for some reason he didn’t mind Naruto paying him, and when we finally got away from the stall we began walking towards some more shops, “Where do you want to go now?”

“I’m starving!” Naruto said, “Let’s go there!” he pointed at a little stall/shop sort of thing. It reminded me of Ichiraku Ramen Bar at Konoha.

“Really?” I asked, “Ok.”

When we got there I realized that their specialty was squid. “Bleh,” I said, making a face, “I’ll pass, thanks.”

“I’ll order those ones!” Naruto said excitedly, “Why don’t you like squid?”

“Because,” I said, “I’m just not into seafood.”

“So that’s why you don’t eat like… anything,” Naruto said, “Seriously, you have the weirdest eating habits.”

“I do not!” I yelled, “So, I don’t eat seafood, what’s the big idea?”

“Whatever country you came from must have been weird,” he said, stuffing a small squid into his mouth, “Cause here, we EAT.”

I sniffed and looked away, then chuckled when he proceeded to choke on the squid he had put in there. After a little while we left and began searching for Jiraiya.

“He has to be done… doing whatever he’s doing,” I said, “By now, at least.”

“We do we have to carry these anyway?” he asked, holding a small and large squid in his hands.

“Because the large one is for Jiraiya and the small one is a present for you.” I informed him.

“I know that,” he said, “That shop owner was really nice to us—I wonder how he knew we were with Jiraiya?”

“Because we told him?” I said slowly.

“Oh yeah,” Naruto said, “But why would he give us free food then?”

“Remember when I said earlier that Jiraiya had a shop here?” I asked.

“Um…”

“Well, I said it,” I said, “That was his shop.”

Naruto halted. “He owns that shop?” he asked, “Man, he must be loaded!”

“You saw his bank book,” I said, “Seriously, that creep must have thought he was smart trying to pull that fast one on us…” I smirked, “Good thing I know his moves…” I shuddered, “That sounded so wrong…”

We halted when we heard laughter coming from within a building. We looked at each other. “That sounds like…” I said.

Naruto rushed over to the building and opened the flap, “Pervy Sage’s voice…”

Sure enough, there was the pervert, with three… ahem… lankily dressed ladies stringed on him. Strange, he didn’t even take Naruto’s money and yet he STILL ended up here. Pervert is as pervert does…

He was drunk as well, not surprisingly.

Naruto and I just stood there, at the entrance, staring at him. “I told you he breaks those sin things.” I said.

“I bet those Ninja Sins are just made up—a way to get our money,” Naruto accused.

“That creep would probably go to any means,” I said, dryly, “To get money, alcohol, and woman.”

“What a creep,” Naruto said.

“To think, while taking care of two minors,” I added, “He go off and do something so unseemly as this.”

“Hey!” Jiraiya complained, hiccupping slightly, “You guys… aren’t be’n berry nice.”

“And he’s not even setting a good grammatical example,” I said, sighing and shaking my head, “What a failure.”

“So… how’d it go at the festival?” he hiccupped again.

“Fine,” I said. “How’d it go here?”

“HOT!” Jiraiya barked in laughter. The three women next to him laughed that fake little laugh. “You!” he said, pointing at me, “What’ya… do’n… there? Huh?”

“What on Earth are you talking about?” I asked, placing my hands on my hips.

“You… look really preeeeetty,” he said, a stupid little smile on his face.

“You idiot,” I seethed, “You CREEP! You’re what, fifty? I’m what, sixteen?”

“Hey,” he said, “You’re… you know, ‘sixteen’. That’s… the age of consent.”

I shuddered and recoiled away from him, “You freak,” I accused, “I don’t like it when you’re drunk!”

“You perverted old man!” Naruto yelled, raising his hand up in the air. He gasped as the squid stick slipped and flew out of his hand.

“You brat!” Someone yelled from behind.

We spun around to see two white dressed men walk in. “Whoa,” I said, “I was kind of hoping they wouldn’t show up…”

“How did you know…” Naruto began, but wasn’t able to finish.

“What the hell are you going to do about this?” The man in front yelled. “This is a designer suit! You’re going to have to compensate for it!”

“You know,” I said, “For a designer suit it looks pretty cheap.”

“What!?” the man seethed, turning to me, “And who are you?” he sneered, “This kids big sister?”

I folded my arms, “That’s right,” I said, “You have a problem with my little brother?”

“Like hell I do!” he yelled, “Look here,” a creepy look spreading across his face, “How about you be a good older sister and you can compensate for the money it will need to replace it… eh, Akoki? What do you say? This girl is pretty cute, huh!” he reached out but before he did so Jiraiya appeared in front of me.

“Look,” he said, “I don’t care what kind of fucking trashed clothing you bastards wear, the only perverted adult allowed to mess with this girl is me, got it?”

“Look here, you bastard!” The bald man yelled, “You better watch your step! Akoki is a former Chuunin from the Stone Village! He’s a legendary Yami Ninja! Someone to be afraid of! So watch your back! Or it’ll be your neck!”

“Legendary, huh?” Jiraiya chuckled.

Akoki growled, “I’ll show you what real pain is!” he yelled, as he charged Jiraiya.

Jiraiya pushed me aside, causing me to collide with Naruto. “Naruto!” He yelled, “Pay close attention!” His hand was extended to the side, and what appeared to be whirlpool appeared in his palm, forming a little ball of spinning air. “This is the technique I’ll be teaching you.” The currents of air were so powerful it nearly blew me over. I can’t believe the rasangan was so powerful! Jiraiya rushed towards the Chuunin and slammed the hand with the wind technique into the man’s stomach, sending the man flying backwards and into a cart.

“No way!” I said, “That’s there too!”

“C—cool!” Naruto exclaimed, “That’s so sick!”

“I can’t believe it,” I said, holding my face with my hands and staring at the little cart full of water balloons, “What the hell is this world coming too? Is my WHOLE LIFE full of coincidences or does someone up there like MESSING with me?!”

“Who are you talking to?” Naruto asked.

“A Satanist,” I muttered. Then I shook my head, “I’m just a little… taken aback by the velocity of the technique.”

“…velocity?” Naruto asked.

“Never mind,” I shook my head.

Jiraiya picked up a water balloon and chuckled. “Hey old man!” he yelled to the frantic and hysterically owner of the cart, “I’ll buy all the water balloons, both the intact ones and the ones that were ruined!” He handed the old man the wad of money, then turned to Naruto, both and I had run out of the building as soon as Jiraiya had left. “Let’s get training!”

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

“Ooh, yeah!” Naruto yelled, pumping the air with his fists, “I can feel the tension rising! Let’s get training! Let’s get training! LET’S GET TRAINING! BELIEVE IT!”

“Shut UP!” Jiraiya yelled, covering his ears, “I can’t take any more of this!”

“Tell me about it…” I muttered from where I was sitting on a bench, a little ways away. We were just outside the village, near the road. I was sitting on a bench, watching the two bicker back and forth, sipping tea. Seriously, they should just get to the training, unless they’re training for how long two idiots can yell at each other over who’s the greater idiot…

Jiraiya nodded towards me and I reached down into a bag and took out a water balloon. I tossed it to him and he caught it, then proceeded to hand it to Naruto. “Here, a water balloon.” He said.

Naruto tossed it from one hand to the other, “So why do I have to hold this?” he asked, an annoyed expression on his face.

Jiraiya sighed, “Didn’t you pay any attention when I did the jutsu?”

“Of course I did!” Naruto yelled, “But how am I supposed to connect that with a water balloon!?”

Jiraiya sighed, “Well, what did you see in the jutsu?”

I sipped my tea again, quietly and calmly. I’m going for the ‘pretty girl side kick’ that sits in the distance and just pretends to be pretty and does nothing, really.

“Um…” Naruto closed his eyes, thinking, “I saw… spinning? Yeah, those guys spun!”

Jiraiya grinned and motioned to me. I sighed, set down my tea cup gracefully, no pun intended, no, scratch that, pun intended, and picked up a water balloon, throwing it to him. He caught it, giving me a weird look, most likely at my sudden strange attitude, then held the balloon in his palm. “Watch,” he instructed.

Even I leaned forward in my seat, trying to get a better look.

The water… inside the balloon was spinning.

Then, when the water reached a certain speed the balloon exploded.

“Wow!” I said, “That’s amazing!” I got up, forgetting that I was pretending to be lady like and walked over. “How did you do that?” I asked.

“I’m the one who’s supposed to ask questions,” Naruto said.

“What if you’re too stupid to think of them?” I snapped.

“Hey!” Naruto said, “I’m not that stupid!”

“Yeah you are,” I retorted.

“You just beat me to it!” Naruto said, “They were on the tip of my tongue!”

“So you’re slow too,” I said, sighing in mocking exasperation, “I can’t believe what I have to put up with…”

“Will you two just shut up?” Jiraiya snapped, “And let me explain?”

We meeped into silence.

Jiraiya cleared his throat, and then began. “I’m sure,” he told Naruto, “That you remember with your tree climbing, you must control and level your chakra flow, correct?”

“Yeah,” Naruto replied.

“And that with the water walking,” he continued, “The flow of chakra must be irregular and continuously changing, to match the flow of water, right?”

“…yeah…” Naruto replied.

“Well,” Jiraiya concluded, “With this jutsu, you’re using the water technique. A continuously changing flow of chakra.”

“Chakra with continuous flow…” Naruto said, musing over the facts in his head. I’m sure it’s just echoing in there.

“Ok,” Jiraiya said, “Here’s a way to understand it. To be able to do this jutsu, you need to be able to read the “elements” and predict the outcome.”

“How will I do that?” Naruto asked.

Jiraiya turned towards me.

“What?” I asked, “I’m not a walking encyclopedia!”

“What’s that?” Naruto asked.

I smacked my head.

Jiraiya ignored Naruto’s comment, and continued his lesson. He held up a finger, “First, you will use the tree climbing chakra by maintaining your chakra in a constant flow. Second, you will use the water walking chakra for the release, which will be continuous.”

“I get it!” Naruto exclaimed happily. “Do the tree climbing until the water is about to boil, and then do the water walking technique to release it!”

“Good job!” Jiraiya said, rubbing his head, “You’re getting better and better at this!”

“What about my training?” I asked.

Jiraiya turned towards me, confused, “What do you mean?”

“Didn’t you say earlier,” I said, pointing in the direction we had originally come form, “Way earlier, that you’d train me, too?”

There was silence.

“Oh yeah…” Jiraiya said slowly, “That’s right, I did say that.” He grinned, “Ok, we can work on your shadow clone jutsu.”

“But—”

“Until you’ve perfected that I won’t teach you another technique.” He said, “You need to work on your chakra skills, and since you’re missing about five or six years of training you need to make sure you master the beginning skills. After that I’ll start you on—no… that’s dangerous…” he frowned. “After that, you’ll just have to deal with it.”

“Why can’t, after I master the shadow clone jutsu, you teach me to walk up trees?”

“What if you fall?” he asked, “Do you realize what a delicate state you brain is? Until we reach Tsunade and she can heal you, you need to be careful.”

“Ok, ok,” I said, “how about after I master shadow clone jutsu and after we find Tsunade and she heals me then you teach me the climbing technique?”

Jiraiya sighed. “Fine.”

“Yay!” I cheered. “Good luck, Naruto!”

“Good luck, Grace!” He cheered back.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

I felt Naruto moving and I opened my eyes. The poor boy. Jiraiya didn’t feel like getting a two rooms, and we were sleeping on one of those futon mattress things on the floor. I didn’t feel, nor did I feel safe, like sleeping next to the fifty year old pervert, so I had Naruto sleep between us. Both Jiraiya and I have a habit of clinging to whatever living thing is near us.

“I have to pee…” Naruto mumbled, half asleep. I let go of him and together we untangled him from Jiraiya. Jiraiya muttered something about ‘boobs’ then turned around and began snoring.

I helped Naruto up and led him to the door. It was almost comical the way he was moving, like he was sleep walking. I had half of a suspicion that he was, he was so much like a zombie. He’s so cute when he’s sleepy!

I opened the door and peered out, nearly getting a heart attack when a cat meowed at my feet. Her owner called for her and she went bounding off. “I wonder where the bathroom is…” I whispered as Naruto began to sleepily lean against my side. I grabbed his hand and led him off towards the end of the balcony, to where the restroom sign was. The cutest thing was Naruto’s sleeping cap. I’ve never seen something so cute before… I could eat ten bowls of rice of it! Just kidding… but seriously… Naruto’s got to be the cutest kid in the world. I always forget he’s only two and half years younger than me.

“Here’s the bathroom,” I told him, opening the door and leading him inside. I tiptoed out and closed the door behind him, standing guard (there wasn’t a lock).

I sighed, and crossed my arms, shivering in the early morning breeze. It was nice out—it’ll be a nice day at least. A good day for training. Yesterday I managed to make a clone, but it was so pathetic looking I almost gave up for the day. I’ll have to keep trying, I thought, after all, if I complete this mission I’ll become a Genin! I need to learn how to do these basic jutsus if I’ll ever be successful as a ninja! I glanced downwards, to the street level, and smiled as I saw the doors of shops and houses opening and people beginning to quietly and slowly bustle out.

“GRACE!”

I shrieked as the bathroom door flew open, Naruto standing there, his eyes wide with excitement. “I figured it out!” he exclaimed.

“How to flush the toilet? Gah—Put your pants on!” I shrieked.

His face turned bright red and the door closed with a bang, then opened, his clothes now fully on. “I figured it out!” he repeated, “The spinning thing!”

“I don’t even want to know how,” I said, “But I’m glad you figured it out.”

“Remember before!” Naruto informed me excitedly, “You remember how I was able to spin the water but not break the balloon?”

“Yeah.”

“You know how the Pervy Sage was telling me before how I had to concentrate the flow of chakra?”

I sighed, “Naruto…” I said, “It’s way too early to be thinking about something like that…”

He tugged on my bathrobe, “No, really!” he said, “It’s important!”

“I understand that,” I yawned, “I was just coming out to help you get safely to the bathroom, I didn’t mean for you to—”

“Come on!” he whined, “Just listen?”

I sighed, “Ok,” I said, “Just don’t expect me to pay any attention to you.”

I wasn’t kidding when I didn’t pay any attention to his blabbering. I was so tired myself that I couldn’t keep up with his ADD/ADHD mind. How does this kid do it, huh?

“And that’s what I realized!” Naruto grinned cheekily at the end of his rant.

I yawned, “That’s really great, Naruto, can I get back to bed?”

“Huh?” Naruto said, “You don’t want to train?”

“Look,” I said, waving tiredly as I began to walk back to our room, “Go ahead, knock yourself out, in fact, do that exactly, it’ll save me the energy later…”

“So what you’re saying is…” Naruto said slowly, “You’re going to go back and sleep in the same room… all alone… with that perverted old man…?”

I halted and turned around slowly, a panicked look on my face. “Think I could tag along?” I asked quietly.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Naruto was wearing his blindingly bright jump suit, as usual, but I was still wearing the bathrobe and pajamas that I had bought. The pajamas were light pink and the bathrobe was purple. Somehow they just went with the hair. Ok, so I always wanted to buy some sort of girly sleep wear, don’t judge me, ok?

I slumped against the back of the bench, folding my arms and shivering slightly. The sun had just risen, about a half an hour ago, probably, and although Naruto was sweating from his work out with training, I was freezing. Seriously, I think I’d rather chance the dark and creepy dangers of the empty room with Jiraiya than here… on second thought… I think I’d rather be here…

Not that I don’t trust Jiraiya, I know he’d never do anything for real… not intentionally at least. That’s what I’m worried about… what if he did something while he was sleeping? Just thinking about it makes shivers go down my spine…

But… this was still nice. I finally have some quiet time to think in peace. Yesterday I was spending my time training, even though it was annoying because Jiraiya kept making me take it easy and rest. He doesn’t seem to like the idea of me doing too much work. Says it’s bad for my mental health.

“As soon as we find Tsunade,” he keeps saying. I know that whatever Jiraiya is freaked will go wrong with my head she’ll be able to fix, but seriously, I’d like to not be fussed over like this. Don’t get me wrong, being fussed over isn’t bad, but when you can’t even do anything because people are overreacting and worried that you’ll have a seizure or fall over dead it gets kind of annoying.

But now… I can just rest and think.

What I’m most worried about is Sasuke… I know, from Naruto, and Jiraiya, that he came… but I don’t remember him at all. I don’t remember anything, except for when Itachi placed me under the genjustsu. After that everything is blackness. I don’t even remember waking up. Naruto and Jiraiya informed me that I had woken up for a short amount of time, protecting Naruto. This surprised me, and I was kind of pleased that my maternal instincts were that great. But… why can’t I remember it? It’s all so confusing.

And Sasuke… I kept wanting to ask Jiraiya what happened. Is Sasuke ok? Is he badly injured? Was he placed under the genjutsu? If so, how bad? The same as… I remember? But I’m too afraid to ask. Too afraid that it’ll make me remember. Too afraid of seeing that look on Naruto’s face, the look of someone who had just lost a friend.

“SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!” Naruto yelled.

“What?” I snapped, “I was just thinking something really cool, there!”

“I can’t do it!” Naruto complained. “I guess I was wrong…”

“So I’m guessing the only thing you learned this morning was how to flush the toilet?”

He glared at me.

“Let’s go back,” I said, yawning. “I’m really tired and we should probably get some rest before tomorrow—I mean today. Jeez, I’m all messed up.”

“Alright…”

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

As we walked up the steps to the balcony, we noticed that the door to our room was open. “Must have left it open,” I said, “Oh well.”

“Hey,” Naruto said, “One of those balloons rolled out.” We stopped at the sight of a calico cat swatting at it with its paws.

It was such a peculiar moment. Knowing that I’ve seen it before wasn’t even the most peculiar part of it, it was like déjà vu. The strangest part was the fact that I knew exactly what was going on inside of Naruto’s head; I didn’t even have to look at him.

I knew before the cat did that it would pop the balloon with it’s claw. It hissed and jumped away, glaring at it from a safe distance.

“That’s…” Naruto said. “That’s it…”

And I knew that he had it.

He dashed through the open door and started yelling for Jiraiya to wake up, “COME ON you Pervy Sage! At least wake up!”

“Only if Grace does the Sexy Jutsu…” Jiraiya muttered happily in his sleep. “Yeah… just like that…”

I reached into the bag of water balloons and tossed one to Naruto. He grinned as he caught it, and then stood above the perverts head. He held the ball in one hand, then… swoosh, water rained down on Jiraiya’s head.

The older man spluttered and his eyes twitched as he fought between sleep and confusion. “What the hell?” he muttered, staring up at the triumphant look on Naruto’s face.

“First step,” Naruto grinned, “Cleared.”

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

“Right, right,” Jiraiya said, “So you cleared the first step, good for you.”

He yawned, “But why’d you have to drag me out here?” he muttered, “The suns not even up yet.”

“Oh, quit complaining,” I snapped, “The suns been up for the last hour.”

“That’s still pretty early,” Jiraiya whined.

I sighed, “Since I have no intention of training this early,” I said, “I’m going to go take a walk in town.” I started walking towards the stair that led down to the village, “Bye!” I waved.

They didn’t respond, and if they did I didn’t hear them. Naruto was probably too hyped about the next step and Jiraiya was probably too lazy. Jeez… he blonds in the Nara clan… I walked down and walked through the now only beginning town. Most people weren’t up, and there weren’t any passerby’s, or shoppers, unless you count myself and other people taking a morning stroll. Mainly people were beginning to set up stalls and shops, beginning to cook food. It smelled so nice and fresh—so nice! A perfect place to start the day. I really like it here, I thought as I reached a fountain. “I didn’t see this before,” I said, smiling as I leaned over to peer at my reflection.

It wasn’t until I looked at my reflection that I realized I wasn’t alone…

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To be continued…

32 PAGES!!! I’m pooped…

Well, hope you enjoyed the chapter… I enjoyed writing it… but my hand muscled didn’t… anyway, about the genjutsu… I made it up, yes, yes, it’s embarrassing. I just had to think of a way to scientifically explain genjutsu… and that’s the only way that made sense to my feeble and brainless mind… I’ve only ever worked with DNA, not the brain… oh, and I know that they might not have DVD players in the Naruto world, but they do, if you pay attention to the manga, have pretty high tech medical equipment, so they probably would have an EEG (or something similar), if not… well… I don’t care.

Anyway,

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, I should be updating soon because I’m going to Hawaii for a week starting the first of July so I won’t be able to update then but I’ll probably update two chapters next week instead of one to make up for it.

Well, have a nice week!

fUnKyToEs