Naruto was feeling a lot better as he sat in his room in the hospital. He had spent a lot of the night just talking with Gaara and getting to know the boy, he wasn't sure, but Naruto thought that he might have started to reach the other boy. Although heading his story like that, Naruto could see how Gaara had turned out like he had. He didn't want to think about where he might have been if he had been all alone in the world he could easily have ended up just like Gaara.
But it looked like maybe he had helped the other boy, only time would tell and he hoped that Gaara would open up.
He sighed as he counted down the time Hinata was usually around to visit in about an hour. That made him grin she usually brought ramen with her making it even better when she showed up. Although personally he couldn't wait to get out of here, it was just boring. At least the doctor had just told him that morning that he would be released tomorrow. There was so much he was planning on doing.
First was to hit Ichiraku ramen as he had a lot of meals to make up for it. Then he planned on seeing how everyone was doing, maybe bug Neji and Sasuke for a bit since that was always fun. Maybe get in some training with his dad, or maybe Lee if he was up for some as well. Then of course there was also hanging out with Hinata. He never got to really do much with her given all the insanity of the chunin exams to do much, plus him in the hospital didn't help matters.
He grinned with his hands behind his head as he started to think of all the things they could do. Normally they hung out as friends for years but now that things were different, there were all kinds of secret places they knew where they could be alone. Originally it had just been a way to play alone, which was hard when your best friend was the oldest daughter of a major clan. Especially when that clan could see through objects, thankfully with Hinata she knew the kinds of things her clan could do.
"You look like a boy with some interesting thoughts," a familiar voice broke him out of his day dreaming.
The boy shot up to see Jiraiya there sitting on his window with a perverted grin on the man's face.
"I've seen that look plenty of times of a young man in love with a girl," Jiraiya told him. "Just remember that she has a scary father from what I remember."
Naruto sweat dropped, "Yeah I do know." Naruto muttered remembering Hiashi chasing him around the village when he thought that he and Hinata were up to something very naughty. It had been a complete misunderstanding but still, the threat had been there. He had to revise his plans about Hinata to make sure that whatever they did alone, they weren't caught.
Jiraiya heard what the boy muttered, maybe he could use this for his latest book. The plot of a young boy seducing a princess was turning out very well, now with an overprotective father figure? Oh he really wanted to take out his note book the ideas this boy was giving him could make him finish his latest novel fairly soon.
"So what are you doing here Ero-sennin?" Naruto asked the man.
Jiraiya scowled a bit, "I really wish you wouldn't call me that."
"Yeah but it's true," Naruto grinned.
'Oh yeah he got her personality all right,' the man thought to himself. "Well I got a special mission and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me."
"A special mission?" Naruto's eyes lit up at the thought. "What kind?"
"Oh trust me this is a good one. I'm going to track down my old teammate and bring her back to the village."
Naruto looked confused, "That's it? Man that sounds boring, I'd think I'd rather stay here and go on a date with Hinata-chan."
"Kid this is important!" Jiraiya couldn't believe how fast the boy blew it off. "Look I'm going after my old teammate Tsunade." He saw the boy blink as the name didn't register. "One of the Sannin?" Still nothing. "She's the greatest medical ninja the world has ever known!"
Naruto thought about it, "I think she sounds familiar..."
"Brat didn't you ever learn about the Third Shinobi War or personal history of the village in school?"
Naruto just shrugged, "I never liked the book stuff in school, I was better in the practical thing."
Jiraiya was about to say something, before he realized that he had been the same way in school and there was no way for him to chew him out without being a hypocrite. He pushed that aside as it wasn't important and wanted to get to the matter at hand. "Okay then, look she's important for the future of the village because she's going to be the next Hokage."
"What!" That got a reaction out of Naruto. "The Old Man is Hokage!"
"Look he was my teacher and trust me when he was made Hokage I was never prouder. But he's old and his injuries were pretty bad. He only took up the job again because there was no one else that could be the Hokage. But he's old, you can fight the world but you can't fight time. Sooner or later time catches up to all of us." He stepped off the window and stood in front of Naruto.
"Hell even I'm starting to feel my age. I'm not as fast or as strong as I used to be, sure I make up for it with experience and knowledge and I'm still good enough in a fight. But there comes a time when we have to admit that we can't just keep doing this. He's realized that he's just not strong enough to go on and he's picked Tsunade to replace him." That is if he could figure out a way to get her to agree to the job he thought to himself.
Naruto looked down as he thought about it. As far back as he could remember the Old Man had been the Hokage, he always thought that the day would come when he would take over for him. He never once thought that someone else would be Hokage. Naruto looked up at Jiraiya.
"Is she really good enough to take over for him?" Naruto wanted to be sure that if there was going to be someone to take over, then they were the right person for the job. Not just anyone was going to take over for the Old Man after all.
Jiraiya grinned, "Kid, she's the granddaughter of the First Hokage, as I said she practically invented modern medical treatments. She's also pretty damn strong, maybe one of the strongest ninja in the world."
"She's really that strong?"
He barked out a laugh, "Trust me I wouldn't want to mess with her and I'm one of the few people that could take her on."
Jiraiya thought that Naruto was on the fence he could sense it, just one more little push and the boy would agree and he knew just what the kid would want to hear. "Tell you what, while we're searching for her I'll teach you a killer technique that only a handful of people know."
Naruto's eyes lit up like it was his birthday, "Really!"
"Yep, so what do you say kid?"
Naruto thought about it, he really wanted to get out of the hospital and enjoy some time with Hinata but this mission seemed to be really important plus this Tsunade woman sounded really strong. A new technique would also be something he could really use. That invasion had been a tough battle and he saw just how bad things could get. If he wanted to become Hokage one day he would need to be strong enough to protect everyone.
Another thought came to him his dad had told him about how because he was so busy his team wouldn't have much to do now. In fact his dad had a mission in a few days and Sakura and Sasuke couldn't go on it as it was a jonin only apparently from what he had said.
Naruto didn't like the idea of maybe getting stronger while his team was left behind, his dad always told him the importance of team work.
"Well I might but I want my team to come with us." Naruto told him.
Jiraiya hadn't expected that, "What do you mean you want your team to come?"
"They worked really hard for the chunin exams and they were with me to help me when the invasion happened. It wouldn't be right to leave them behind since my dad will be too busy with a genin team for a bit. We're a team and if they can't go then I can't go."
Jiraiya sighed as he thought about it, it would change his plans a bit but it was doable. Plus he had to admit the kid was thinking of his team that was something he could appreciate. He also knew that if he trained Naruto in the rasengan like he was planning to, he would have to think of something for them as well. He knew plenty of techniques but he wasn't sure he knew much about them. This was looking like a lot more work for him as he ran a hand through his long white hair.
Three students...god it had been so long since he had that. An image of three young students looking up at him in Rain country as he taught them how to be a ninja, those had been good years with them. An old pain filled him the loss of Yahiko, Konan and especially Nagato had been hard on him.
For a moment he didn't want to do this again, the memories were old but the pain still fresh. He closed his eyes as he wondered what he should do. He really wanted to spend some time with Naruto and to teach him the rasengan as it was his heritage. Kakashi had apparently already did the first stage so it shouldn't be too long to teach him.
'Brat has got me over a barrel and he doesn't even know it,' He thought to himself slightly amused. "Fine kid you got it."
"Alright!" Naruto couldn't wait to tell them. "Hey you think Hinata-chan can-"
"No." Jiraiya was firm this time. "Look brat, you're lucky I'm allowing them to come but that's it. This isn't some kind of vacation it's a mission and I'm not going to bring everyone you want. It's your team and that's it."
Naruto slumped a bit, being with Hinata on the mission would have been great but he knew he was pushing his luck. "Alright."
"Good, I'll get a few things settled with the Hokage and Kakashi about your team and see you tomorrow at noon." Jiraiya left through the same window he had entered by.
Naruto watched him go and was wondering just how he was going to break it to Hinata the he was going on a mission that he had no idea how long it would take. He sighed, he had really been looking forward to spending time with her too.
-Elsewhere-
Hinata was currently on her way to visit Naruto in the hospital again, she made a point to see him every day when she could. The last few days had been crazy but the village was slowly starting to get back to normal. There was still a lot of construction but that would take time anyway, the villagers themselves seemed to have gotten over the shock of the attack and were slowly putting their lives back in order.
She had also been able to think a lot about what she had learned about her boyfriend, a word she still had trouble thinking about without blushing slightly. Naruto had been adopted all this time, which looking at an image of the Fourth Hokage she could see a slight resemblance, given that she was one of the few that knew his face for the longest of times.
Still the fact that he had the Kyuubi itself sealed inside of him was something she had never known could happen. Although Naruto had told her that he hadn't known about it for long, it had hurt a bit that he hadn't trusted her with it. They were the oldest of friends but she could see that he had just been too afraid to tell someone. It was a frightening thing to have to deal with but she was a bit proud that he was keeping the village safe. All his life he had been secretly guarding their village from the demon and Hinata felt a sense of pride in Naruto's accomplishment.
She walked into the hospital going straight to his room, she knocked gently and heard Naruto's muffled voice. She opened the door and saw him sitting in his bed smiling through his mask as usual. She always felt her heart warm at his smiles, they reached his bright blue eyes and she felt like she could look at his eyes forever. They were just so expressive and deep she loved to look into them. They were such a stark contrast to the eyes of her clan.
"Hinata-chan!" Naruto greeted her eagerly.
She couldn't help but smile at how happy he was to see her. "How are things today Naruto-kun?"
"Well I'm getting out of here tomorrow that's the good news."
Hinata's expression lit up, "Oh that's wonderful. I know that you don't like it in here."
"Yeah it's just so boring," he sighed. "There's no one else in this room either and mostly everyone is busy. I kept telling the doctors I was fine a few days ago but they wanted to make sure I was okay. Oh well at least when you visit it makes things better."
Hinata blushed slightly as she walked over to him and placed the take out ramen on a dinner tray for him. "I got your favorite."
"Awesome!" Naruto eagerly dug into it like he was a starving man. Since it was just him and Hinata he pulled down his mask to eat his meal.
Hinata nearly giggled as she saw him eat, he always looked so happy when he started eating ramen. He was soon finished and she noticed he had a noodle piece on his cheek. She had to take care of it soon or else he might put his mask on it and then it might get stuck. Without even thinking she took a small napkin that came with the takeout and wiped his cheek.
"Naruto-kun you shouldn't eat so fast, it's not healthy." She told him gently as she got the piece.
"Then how else would I get you to be this close," he grinned at her.
Hinata suddenly realized what she was doing and blushed deep crimson. She was very close to him now and her heart was beating faster. He could always do this but it got worse ever since she started actually dating him. "I-I just wanted to make sure that your face was clean."
He chuckled, "That's what makes you a good girlfriend." He noticed her blush and look shyly away. "And you're really cute when you blush and stutter."
"Y-you really think so?" She always felt self conscious of her stuttering and tried to work on stopping but it was a hard habit to break.
"Yeah I do."
She felt pretty happy that he said as much to her.
Naruto liked to see her happy but he knew that he had to tell her about the mission. He sighed, he really wanted to enjoy this. This might be the only time he would have with her until the mission. "Hey Hinata-chan? I got something to tell you..."
Hinata looked at him and noticed the serious expression on his face and was starting to get a bit worried. Naruto told her all about the mission he was going on as soon as he was getting out the hospital. By the end she knew that it was a very important mission but she also felt a bit sad. She was hoping to spend some time with him, that entire month during the training for the chunin exams she missed seeing him.
The only time she got to see him was during the final rounds. She had seen him only in the hospital and even though they were alone at times she did miss going about the village with him. She had been looking forward to some time together outside of the hospital.
Naruto did notice her downed expression and tried to think of something to cheer her up. "Hey Hinata-chan, I don't know how long this mission will take but how about we go out on a date when I get back?"
"A d-date?"
"Yeah, I want to make a special one for just us. What do you say? When I get back I'll take you out." He smiled at her.
She blushed at the idea and liked it, she nodded her head feeling slightly giddy at the thought of Naruto taking her out. They hadn't really had the change to actually do much in the way of dating and her mind started to wonder exactly what he had planned.
"That's good, so don't worry I'll make sure it's a great date." Although he had no idea what to do, at least he might have a long time to think on it. He could also ask Sakura for advice and get a girl's view on things. "So if we're not going to see each other for awhile then how about we make the most of this?"
-Elsewhere-
It had taken most of the day but Jiraiya had finally gotten around to finding Kakashi to tell him what Naruto wanted. Apparently he was laying low, not that he blamed the younger man, that woman although pretty he was sure had a temper to her. Still it had been a pain to find the man, someone didn't become an elite jonin for nothing after all. Kakashi had given the go ahead, he was going to be too busy with a few upcoming missions to take care of his team.
The Hokage had gone along with it as a genin team that was only partially complete and without their captain couldn't be used for missions other than D rank and there was much more important work to be done.
So he had gotten the approval for the mission, Kakashi would let his other two genins know and so that they could prepare.
At the moment he sat in a branch of a nice tree thinking about what was going to happen. It was going to be a major pain tracking down Tsunade. Oh sure he could do it, she left an obvious trail when you know what to look for and she was only interested in keeping creditors and the loan sharks out of her hair. Of course that was only half the challenge and might even not be the hard part of it.
No he knew that the hardest part would be convincing her to come back and take the job. Oh that wasn't going to be easy, given the loss of both her younger brother Nawaki and also Dan. After the war and all that death she just broke inside. She just couldn't take it and so she ran, it was only through the favour of the current Hokage that allowed her to do as she wanted.
Truth was he had no idea what he could say to her, he hadn't even seen her in years although he was certain she was still using that genjutsu of hers to say young looking. A perfect example of a woman that was vain about her appearance but then again, if anyone knew her secret to keeping a young looking appearance that genjutsu would be all over the place. He grinned as some even though that her looks were even enhanced than how she had really looked like.
Truth was she had looked like that, he knew all too well. All too many times he had gone to sleep with her image in his mind. Yeah he knew he was an old fool, hell he had been a young fool trying to get her to date him since they first met as genins. Back then she was pretty flat but he still thought she was the most beautiful girl he had ever met. So over thirty years or trying and rejection and even now he would still love it if only once she would give him a chance.
Yeah he was now an old fool still in love with the first girl that had stolen his heart and had no desires of returning it as she had said many times over. But the heart would want what it wanted apparently. He could put his emotions behind him when they met, he was a professional at times but this would be hard on him. Seeing her for the first time in years would be a bit hard but she needed to finally come home. Konoha needed her more than ever and in a way he knew that she needed to come home and face things. She needed to learn how to heal those wounds. He just hoped that he could figure out a way to do that, and baring that at least maybe he could hope Naruto could.
He had been watching the boy and something about him could change a person.
"Wow you look pissed today." A female's voice broke through his thinking.
"Tell me about it, I was having such a good morning and then it gets ruined because of some damn pervert." A very familiar voice that he heard that morning in fact.
Jiraiya looked down into the steam filled area of the woman's open aired baths. He noticed the familiar purple hair and from what he could see was a familiar body wrapped up in a white towel.
"I swear to god if I see that guy again it will be too soon." Anko told Kurenai.
"What exactly happened?" Kurenai had seen her friend looking a bit in a bad mood.
Jiraiya cursed his rotten luck, he thought a little peeping would have been nice before leaving for the mission but this was getting dangerous. He had gotten an eyeful of that woman this morning and apparently was lucky to get away with his skin intact. Well he wasn't going to tempt fate now and slowly got up and tried to silently leave. But of course, cursing his damn love for the female form after it happened. He took one quick peep and stepped on a small twig growing out of the branch which snapped under foot.
He looked down at it in horror and he could almost count it off in his mind before it happened.
"Is there someone up in that tree!"
He tried to move but when they started throwing anything that wasn't nailed at his location. A wash bucket slammed into his head, that made him loose his balance. The good news was that he fell into the pool so it was a soft landing the bad news, was that he landed in the pool.
Coming up for air he was met with the angry looks of many women of Konoha including a very familiar face.
"Oh this must me karma," Anko said thankful she still had on her towel as she cracked her knuckles, a very sadistic grin on her face as she looked down at him.
His face paled he knew that look he had seen in on Tsunade many times. "I can explain..." he tried to say.
"Tell it after we kick your ass," Anko told him.
The screaming from the hot springs that day could be heard half way through the village.
Next up Chapter 3: The Mission