Never Again: A Naruto Fanfiction

Chapter 19: Cold Truths

"Bring it," Tsunade beckoned as she curled her outstretched finger. "Let's see what wannabe Yellow Flash has in him." Naruto's nose curled up as he readied himself. He took a deep breath as the first mode of Kurama's chakra flashed onto his skin. 

Naruto, now a glowing yellow with two strands of his glowing golden blond hair rising above the rest, several tomoes resembling the Sharingan dots spread across his clothing, glared at Tsunade. 

"Jiraiya," He said, not even bothering to look at him. "How badly?" 

Jiraiya rose an eyebrow, confused. "What?" He asked. Naruto's feet slid in the dirt as he further readied himself. 

"How badly do you want me to beat your teammate in the ground?" His voice was darker than usual.

"I'm ending this," Tsunade said angrily as she shoved her finger in the ground, the dirt road splitting as the cracks raced towards Naruto's glowing form. Naruto watched it in what looked like slow motion. 

"I'm going to become Hokage!" Naruto shouted as he vanished in a yellow flash. Tsunade's eyes widened as she whirled around, expecting to see Naruto throwing a punch, but saw nothing but open air. 

Damn, She thought. He played me like a fiddle.

Naruto, who was facing her back, enlarged his hand with Kurama's chakra and punched forward, stopping just mere inches from the back of her head as a large gust of wind, having been created from the sheer force behind his punch, blew her hair forward as well as any loose dirt and gravel on the road. 

"I could have killed you," Naruto whispered. "You underestimated me and you would have died if I were an actual enemy. I know you've been through a lot, Tsunade. I know the pain of losing everything. But we can learn from those experiences and let them define us to be better people, or we can let them destroy us. I chose to let it define me so I can learn and protect those that I care about here. What are you going to do now?" He finished. 

"Heh," Tsunade chuckled. "You sound exactly like them, you know?" She turned around and brought her hands up to her neck and unhooked her necklace. "I guess I'll place my trust and hopes into someone one last time." She wrapped the necklace around his neck and placed a kiss on his forehead.

Naruto's eyes widened as he returned back to normal, silently thanking Kurama. He chuckled. "Talk about a one-eighty." He muttered under his breath before getting serious. "Alright good. Does that mean you'll be the Fifth Hokage?" 

Tsunade let out a resigned sigh. "On one condition," Naruto rose an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest. "You help me take down Orochimaru once and for all." The grin that spread across his face sent chills down her spine. 

"As long as I get to cut off that snake's head I'll gladly comply with that request," Naruto said ferally. Orochimaru was a sick snake who had ruined Sasuke's life and took him away from the Leaf. He also killed the old man.

He would get his revenge. 

"Alright then," Jiraiya spoke. "Didn't expect that at all, but what is, is well, is." He looked over to Naruto. "I want to teach you a thing or two. We have a week, correct?" Tsunade's eyes widened as she looked over at her former teammate.

"How do you know that?" Jiraiya scoffed.

"Don't insult me, Tsunade-hime. I'm a spymaster after all." He said with a grin. 

"I hope you don't use that to do your 'research' for those pervy books of yours," Tsunade said in a warning tone while cracking her knuckles. Jiraiya paled. 

"Of course he does," Naruto replied without missing a beat. He looked up at the night sky and frowned. "Well, I'm a little worn out. I'm going to bed, I'll see you later pervy sage, and nice meeting you again, Tsunade-baachan, Shizune-nee." 

"What the hell did you just call me?" Tsunade barked, but Naruto was already gone before she could hit him on the head. She took a deep breath and looked over to Jiraiya. 

"So what's up with Minato's kid? I know he couldn't have been in any war, yet his face was so solemn and filled with despair. What happened to him, Jiraiya?" Jiraiya frowned.

"It's a long story, but he's a lot more experienced than we'd like to believe when it comes to war and battles." Tsunade rose an eyebrow. 

"What do you mean?" She asked seriously, crossing her arms under her bust. "Was he in a long-term mission? How long has he been in the shinobi force?" 

"Would you believe me if I said for about," He counted on his fingers. "About nine-years?" 

"Four-years-old?!" She exclaimed. "What did Sarutobi-sensei do to that poor boy?" He shook his head. 

"You don't understand," Jiraiya said with a sigh. "Listen, I know what I'm about to say is going to sound absolutely crazy, but it seems to be the truth. Naruto is from the future." Tsunade raised a single eyebrow.

"You're right. You're absolutely off your shit." She said crudely. "Now tell me what's really up." Jiraiya shook his head.

"I wish I was lying." He stated. "But Naruto knows things that not even Sarutobi-sensei knew about. He even made two S-Ranked criminals run away with the information he held in his brain, it's insane. Why do you think he knew about Nawaki or Dan? Or about the deal with Orochimaru?"

"I assumed you told him." She said defensively. Jiraiya shook his head.

"No, I didn't tell him a word." He grabbed a scroll out of his pocket and held it up. "This is the key to the Kyuubi's seal. Naruto asked for it. Nobody knew about this seal besides Minato and me. Not even Sarutobi-sensei or the Kyuubi knew about it." 

"Is there any other evidence?" Jiraiya steeled his face. 

"Ask him yourself. He said back in his timeline, you two were extremely close, hence why he called you a fake." Tsunade formed an 'o' with her mouth and looked at where Naruto had walked off. 

"I guess I'll have to ask tomorrow morning. Maybe I can teach him a thing or two too." Jiraiya chuckled. 

"Trust me," Jiraiya began. "He would eat it up. He wants to learn and master everything he can. I think even without the Kyuubi inside of his gut he could be a monster that could make your grandfather look like a blubbering idiot." Tsunade's eyes widened. 

If this was any other person telling her this, she would laugh. If this was not her teammate, the same person who trained Minato Namikaze and taught three children in Ame how to survive, she would call them a fool. 

But this was her teammate. This was Jiraiya of the Three Legendary Sannin. This was Jiraiya the Toad Sage. 

"You're serious," She said in awe. Jiraiya nodded. 

"With his Uzumaki bloodline and his almost infinite amount of chakra and the abuse of Shadow Clones, he can get decades worth of training in a few years. He wants to be the strongest to stop his future from becoming this world's future, and with that scary amount of motivation, he can do anything." 

"And if he masters the Kyuubi's chakra, who he's apparently friends with. . ." Tsunade's eyes widened even further. "Holy shit, Jiraiya, you're right."

"You doubted me?" He said with a boastful laugh. "I'm the best sensei on the planet, Tsunade-hime, don't doubt the greatest author of all time!" He shouted with a thumbs up, only to get slapped across the face by Tsunade. 

"Quit being a pervert, pervert." She muttered as she stormed away. 

Things were going to start getting interesting. 

Especially with the Uzumaki brat around in her life. 

And done. How was it? Good? Bad? Tell me!

Merry Christmas! 

Til next time my lil demons!