They had left at dawn that morning, taking the eastern gate out of Konoha and heading towards one of the posts that bordered the village. They walked at a leisurely pace, in no rush, since they didn't know exactly where the Sanin was located. The sun trickled in through the canopy high above, a gentle wind rustled through the underbrush occasionally, and Naruto found the silence infuriating. "Oi, you old pervert! Haven't you got something I can be learning while we walk? I'm your apprentice, teach me something."
"I taught you plenty over the past month, cut me some slack, you're like a sponge when it comes to this sort of thing. How's your jumping doing? Since you can't fly like your winged pony friends, you have to-" He was cut off by the irritated voice of Naruto yelling down at him from a nearby cloud.
"I know, I know, I have to compensate for my lack of flight by incorporating leaping strikes, like the toads use. I've been practicing with Rainbow Dash, but honestly we both think it's kind of weird. Fighting someone mid air, when you can't control your direction is difficult." Naruto grumbled.
"The trick is to anchor yourself on your target, beat on them a bit, and then leap away when they gain the upper hand. You have an advantage, with those clouds of yours, acting as platforms for you to strike from and retreat to. How's your jumping height coming?" Jiraiya asked.
"I can hit 15 meters easily now, using wind chakra to boost my jumps. Can't you teach me a new technique? Something I can work on while we walk, you said this could take weeks right?" Naruto asked, bringing the cloud down to walking level.
"Fine, this is something my student taught me, took him years to create it, and me months to learn it. This, is one of the Fourth Hokage's signature techniques, the Rasengan." Jiraiya said proudly, forming a spinning blue ball of chakra in his palm. "It doesn't seem like much but-"
"It's pure shape manipulation, like my bubble and armor techniques. You just spin a bunch of chakra in your hand?" Naruto asked, excitedly.
"Yes its pure shape manipulation, a lot of techniques start out that way, and the Fourth never finished this one, but even still it has a lot of destructive force." He demonstrated by drilling the ball right through a nearby tree, creating a small hole at the entrance, and devastating the tree on the reverse side. "It's tougher than it looks to do it, only Kakashi and I know it right now. The first step to learning it involves water balloons though, so we'll have to wait till we hit the next town." He turned to see Naruto already filling a balloon from his canteen of water.
"What? I always keep a supply of balloons on me, in case of balloon emergencies." Naruto replied, seeing the odd expression on Jiraiya's face. "What's the first step?"
"Try and pop the balloon by spinning your chakra." Jiraiya said simply, leaving the two to walk while Naruto screwed up his face in concentration.
The silence dragged on for several miles, as Naruto continued to try and pop the balloon. Jiraiya figured it'd be weeks before he reached that point. "So kid, you got a girlfriend? Or at least have your eye on someone? Some of the girls around your age are real lookers."
"Not having this conversation with you, ya old pervert." Naruto grumbled.
"C'mon, you have to have noticed, unless you swing for the other team." Jiraiya teased.
"We are seriously not discussing this." Naruto deadpanned, returning his attention to the balloon.
"Oh, I get it, since you were raised by them, you're probably going for a little 'transformation technique' action. I hear you can use it to transform others, I wonder how your pony friends would look as humans?" Jiraiya joked, only to receive a water balloon to the back of his head. "Oi, what the hell! Now you need another balloon!"
Naruto shrugged and pulled another out of his equipment pouch.
Much of that day's journey went the same, with Naruto focused on the water balloon, and Jiraiya attempting to tease him. Naruto refused to give him the satisfaction of rising to the bait, but by noon he had nearly run out of water balloons, and not a single one was burst by his chakra.
The eventually arrived at a post station, a small village that held basic necessities, such as a bar for Jiraiya to gather 'crucial intelligence for their mission'. Naruto let him go, knowing by now his teacher's habits, and instead went to restock his supply of water balloons. Not knowing where to start he simply created a few dozen clones, and let them disperse into the town.
Naruto himself went up to the hotel room, intending to rest a while, and continue work on the new technique without the white haired man's constant teasing.
O~O~O~O~O
Sasuke sat in a small tea shop, eating lunch while waiting for Kakashi to come collect him. The jounin had said they'd go for some one on one training after missions that morning. It was coincidence he heard a passerby mention to a fellow chuunin, "Kakashi's been taken to the hospital, I can't believe someone that strong got into our village, security really needs to step it up."
"Can you blame them though? Look at the state the village is still in, they've been running the patrols ragged while the walls are being fixed." His companion replied. Sasuke heard no more of the conversation, quickly paying his bill and rushing for the hospital.
He found his teacher's room quickly enough, inside were Gai, Kurenai and Asuma, looking worried. His teacher lay on the bed, seemingly suffering from extreme exhaustion. "What happened? I heard you were attacked?" Sasuke asked.
Before he could get a response another ninja burst into the room. "Is it true? Did two S rank ninja in black cloaks with red clouds really attack the village? Is one of them really Itachi?" Sasuke was out the door before anyone could silence him, already sprinting down the hallways at top speed. Gai immediately left to follow.
He dashed through the village at top speed, stopping only when he found his target, Sakura and Karin sat in a tea shop, as they had every week for the past month or so. "Sakura, black cloak red clouds, they were just in the village."
The pink haired girl dropped her cup, and Karin perked up at attention. "We need to warn Naruto, they're likely looking for him." She immediately rose to her feet, Karin quickly joined her.
"I'll come along, I have a gift for sensing chakra, we'll be able to find him easier this way."
"Aren't you still on probation?" Sasuke asked.
"They can lock me up when we get back, this is the right decision." The two nodded at her resolve, and the three headed for the eastern exit.
O~O~O~O~O
At the post station Naruto sat resting in the hotel room, occasionally grumbling as his clones sent him messages. Jiraiya was at the bar, as he said he'd be, swooning away over some woman and getting far too drunk for a ninja of his caliber. He snapped to attention, however, when one of the clones burst, revealing a fleeting image of a black cloak and red clouds. Not willing to bet his life that they were here by coincidence, Naruto quickly made to flee his room, he needed to find Jiraiya and get out of there.
A knock came at his door shortly after, which opened for the two cloaked missing ninja, to reveal some strange contraption. With a whir it opened up and began to play music, Kisame began to bob along with the catchy tune, as Itachi leaned forward, trying to find an off switch. After a few seconds the music stopped, and the blue ninja turned to his partner. "Well, that was-"
With a bang one of the cannons went off, covering Itachi in cake batter.
Naruto hit the ground running, hearing the music playing from the room he just left via window. He knew exactly which bar the old man was in, it was just a matter of getting there before... A crash behind him told him it was far too late to finish that thought. Civilians scattered into nearby buildings, as the wall of the hotel room was blown outwards in a massive ball of flame.
"It was tradition!" Naruto yelled over his shoulder, as the two ninja hopped down into the street and began chasing him. As they got closer Naruto saw that one of them appeared to be blue, and hefted a large bandage-wrapped something on his shoulder, the other one, appeared to be Itachi Uchiha. "Ah Horseapples." Naruto grumbled, taking the next right turn.
"Surrender Naruto, we need to take you alive." Called Itachi, the two missing ninja had gained on him easily, and would soon be within striking distance.
"But that doesn't mean we can't cut off your legs, to keep you from running away." His blue partner grinned.
"Or, how about I go sit on a cloud, in the upper atmosphere, until you two get bored and go away?" Naruto taunted, leaping up a larger building, and spitting a cloud out to land on. His victory was short lived, as Itachi seemed to shoot black fire from his eyes, which clung to the cloud and began burning it away.
"Seriously? How is that even physically possible?" Naruto grumbled, leaping even higher and spitting a massive wall of clouds to cover him from the fire. Sadly the blue ninja from before would not let him escape that easily, and leapt off a nearby roof. With a swing of the bandaged tool he slammed the blond back down to the ground.
Itachi approached the collapsed orange clad ninja, who had broken several ribs from the impact. "You will come with us." He said, in that annoying monotone voice.
"Do you hear... Birds?" Naruto coughed out.
"Itachi!" The missing ninja turned, seeing his younger brother running at him with a fist full of lightning. The older Uchiha merely sidestepped, grabbed the younger sibling's wrist, and broke it, sending the boy to the floor in pain, next to his blonde teammate.
"In hind sight, drawing his attention was a bad idea." Sasuke grumbled.
"Stab first... yell at him after." Naruto agreed. "Jiraiya should be here soon at least."
Itachi glared down at his younger brother, sharingan eyes slowly morphing, "Sasuke, you'll never defeat me like that, you lack-" Salvation came in the form of a massive toad being summoned directly over the space previously occupied by the two rogue ninja. The dust settled, revealing he had predictably missed his targets, but Naruto and Sasuke were both safe for the moment.
The blonde pulled himself to his feet, helping Sasuke do the same, and the two leaped to the safety of the large toad. Naruto was about to berate his teacher for ditching him to go bar hopping when a cry of "Naruto! Behind you!" Caught his attention.
Jiraiya pushed the boys down, activating a technique that made his hair grow into a spiky wall that blocked a pressurized jet of water. "Troublesome Brat!" Kisame yelled, darting from his position towards the defenseless Karin. Sakura leapt forward, arm cocked back to deliver a haymaker, as the blue ninja charged forward, bandaged tool ready to swing.
With a sudden cry of "Dynamic Entry!" A blur of green shot forward, catching the shark man off guard with a kick to the jaw, which sent him flying into a nearby building. Gai landed on a rooftop, giving the 'good guy pose' to the two girls. "Sorry I'm late, I had to clear this mission, and my youthful team got ahead of me!" He shouted to Jiraiya.
"Kisame, we're leaving." Came Itachi's calm voice from yet another roof. "Sasuke, if you desire power, look under the tatami mats of the Uchiha shrine." His partner booked no objection to retreat, and the two darted out of the town.
O~O~O~O~O
Hours later Naruto and Jiraiya continued on their journey, Gai had taken Sasuke, Sakura, and Karin back to the village. They had explained hearing word of the two rogue ninja in Konoha, and had rushed to warn Naruto, a fact which relieved Naruto, as he was worried Sasuke was going seeking his brother out for revenge.
Jiraiya had apparently picked up a lead on where Tsunade was, and they'd be on the road for at least another week, which made Naruto glad he had picked up more balloons to practice on. He'd likely need them, as the Sanin was giving him even more grief, now that two girls had risked becoming awol to rescue him.
The fact that one of the two was distantly related to him just made Jiraiya's taunts even worse.
Eventually he interrupted the old pervert's talk of 'restoring the clan's pure bloodline' by asking about the seemingly impossible task he was performing. "What am I doing wrong? I'm just supposed to spin my chakra right? The balloon won't pop no matter how hard I spin it though." He demonstrated, holding the balloon in one hand and watching it stretch horizontally as the water spun within it.
"You're only spinning it in one direction, you have to do more than that, spin it as many ways as you can. It takes mental dexterity kid, you won't get it that quickly." Jiraiya said dismissively, as Naruto stormed off up ahead, grumbling about teachers who didn't give all the instructions at once.
"I'm still pissed though, those two goons from before totally ran me over! How am I supposed to compete on a level like that?" Naruto called over his shoulder, turning new focus on the first task.
"Those are S rank ninja kid, you're still a genin at the moment, a chuunin most likely when we get home with Tsunade. It's going to be years before you're on their level, and that's if you train hard." Jiraiya said.
"Then I'll train hard! I'm supposed to be your apprentice right? Step up the training, I can handle it."
"The biggest issue right now is that a lot of your training comes from the ponies, and a lot of it just doesn't convert well to non-ponies. Unless you suddenly sprout a horn or wings, their techniques and martial art styles are not very well compatible with you. That's why I'm trying to modify your fighting style." Jiraiya explained.
"Then I'll have Twilight look into spells she thinks I can mimic with chakra, like the bubble shield one I already have." Naruto shrugged.
"That's probably a good idea, word has it both Luna and Celestia used some really nasty ones during the invasion, but I doubt those would be within your grasp. In the mean time, I'll work at getting your taijutsu up to snuff, and your ability to strategize with those clones of yours. Once you get the hang of the Rasengan of course." He chuckled, seeing his student still struggling away at it.
Over the next few days they travelled about the countryside, stopping of course at every bath and brothel, looking for any sign of the missing Sanin. Naruto eventually got the hang of spinning the chakra in multiple directions at once. He had tried using a clone to assist him, but Jiraiya had quickly dispelled it, saying anyone with his level of control shouldn't rely on a crutch.
Bursting the rubber ball was the easiest part, once Jiraiya got around to explaining he'd need to make his chakra denser and spin it as rapidly as possible while still maintaining the multidirectional flow. For someone like Naruto, who'd worked with making his chakra nearly solid in the past for his techniques, it took less than a day before he obliterated the ball.
The final task, forming a shell around the resulting ball of energy, still eluded him when they arrived at their most recent destination, Tazuka town. The village held numerous casinos and bars, and was the most likely place in the area for Tsunade to be staying. That, and as Jiraiya pointed out, gesturing to a pile of ruins in the distance. It 'used' to have a castle.
The two of them checked into a hotel for the night, and began searching bars until at last they hit paydirt. Jiraiya made for her table, leaving Naruto behind at the bar. A few moments later, a girl, Tsunade's apprentice by the look of it, came over to join him.
"The two want to talk by themselves for a while." She said, giving him a shrug and taking a seat. "I'm Shizune, by the way."
"Naruto, what's it like, being her apprentice?" the blonde asked.
"A lot of dragging her home when she's had too much, and a lot of running from debt collectors. Still, it's the best medic training I could hope to ask for." the girl replied.
"I can't believe someone that talented wastes it drinking and gambling, there are people at home who need her, who depend on people like her to have their back when missions go wrong." Naruto grumbled.
"She's lost a lot to that village, her fiancée, her younger brother, she just can't take living there anymore." Shizune said.
"Bah, I know plenty of orphans, hell I'm an orphan myself, and I've had a rougher life than most people you could probably name. People die, it's part of growing up around ninja, but when they die in the line of duty, you should at least show them some respect, not abandon the village they loved to go drinking." Naruto said, getting up and walking over to the table.
"Who's the kid Jiraiya?" Tsunade said, giving Naruto a curious look as the kid sat at the bar.
"Don't tell me you don't recognize him Tsunade, he's another responsibility you ran away from." Jiraiya said.
"We ran away from, you were away from the village as well Jiraiya. Don't pretend like you've been playing loyal ninja while I've been gone." Tsunade smirked.
"More loyal than you, at least." Came Naruto's voice, the blonde stormed over to the table.
"Oh yeah? Well only an idiot would be loyal to that village. It's taken everything from me." Tsunade grumbled. "And before you even ask, I'm not going back any time soon."
"The old man needs you to heal him, so he can finally enjoy his retirement." Naruto argued.
"The old man had it coming. Being Hokage is a death sentence kid, I'm not going back to Konoha." Tsunade said, slamming her glass down on the table.
"You're just going to keep running then? You're going to continue spitting on the dreams of your family? You're going to sit there, and mock the old man that taught you to be a ninja, turn your back on the village that raised you, and laugh at the oath you took as a healer? How many people do you think died in Konoha while you were out drinking all these years. How many people do you think you killed because of your negligence? How many people did you abandon?" Naruto asked, banging his hands on the table.
"Who the hell are you to criticize me?" Tsunade growled, getting up from her chair.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I'm going to be the next Hokage. I'm going to bring peace to this world. And I'm going to kick your ass if you don't go back to Konoha and heal your teacher!" Naruto yelled, staring her down.
Tsunade actually seemed shocked for a moment, before laughing in his face. "I don't know which of those dreams is stupidest, but if you want to fight, let's step outside."