I still do NOT own Naruto or anything, this is just a Fanfic..............But I DO own Leaha/Saki and Kale AND THEIR PLOT
ALSO!!! when something is in * * that means its inside her head (mostly Kale talking, but some is Leaha) when something is in " " that means its outloud (cause when she's alone Leaha/Saki finds it annoying to think everything, so it switches back and forth a little

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CHAPTER 41 -~-

"What?" I almost didn't catch myself and let my jaw drop. We all stood outside the entrance to the small outpost town. Guy had Sasuke on his back for the journey to the village and we were saying our last goodbyes before parting ways, or so I thought. "Y-you want me to come with you? Why?" I blinked surprised.

"Well I want to get to know you better of course. From the way Naruto talks about you all the time, you sound like a capable kunoichi. Also, then he'll have some company while I'm out doing my research." Jiraiya smiled, but I noticed his eyes remained serious; he's lying, he has another reason entirely... he knows something.

"But I don't even have a change of clothes or anything and I'm sure you wouldn't want to go all the way back to the village just for me." "Hmm, yes I suppose you're right about that," he put a hand to his chin in thought. "I'll go back and pack a bag for us," Kale spoke up behind me. I turned partially to send him an exasperated look. *What the hell are you doing Kale, we can't go with them!*

*He obviously wants to talk with us about something, we should give him the chance. Besides you'd just sit around the village constantly worrying over Naruto, that is if you ever leave Sasuke's side at the hospital.*

*Did you forget the old friend they meet up with? We can't let Orochimaru know I'm still alive for sure. And Kabuto already suspects something is off with us, they can't know the truth!*

*Then we'll just be careful, the risk is worth it. We have a chance to get on Tsunade's good side, she's going to become the next Hokage, we're going to have to tell her about us eventually. It would be a really good idea to have her on our side if a certain village elder ever tries anything.*

I turned away with a huff, knowing I'd lost. "I'll go pack a bag and be back in a few hours," I didn't miss the triumphant tone in his voice. Jiraiya broke out in a smile, "then it's settled, Guy inform Kakashi that I took Saki along as well." "Right and Master Jiraiya, bring back the Lady Tsunade, bring her back to us-" "Don't worry, you can count on us, we'll have her back in the village in no time!" Naruto butted in.

Guy turned to look at him in surprise as Jiraiya put a hand on his head in pride. "Naruto, nothing impresses me more than guts kid; come here I want to give you something," he reached into his bag. "Lee got stronger with this..." "Really?" he looked at him with wide eyes. Wait a minute... he doesn't mean, I exchanged a glance with Kale who was already moving to stifle his laughter.

"Check it out!" Guy held out a green spandex suit. I tried, I really did, but I just couldn't hold back my laughter. I nearly fell to the ground as I saw the awe-inspired look on Naruto's face.

"It's breathable, retains moisture and offers complete freedom of movement in one sweet package," Guy listed off, unbothered by my reaction. "If you wear it while you train you'll notice a difference immediately, they really grow on ya," he winked.

"Pretty soon you'll be wearing them all the time just like Lee, I've got a bit of a thing for them myself." "Oh man!" Naruto shouted, taking it and joining him in a sparkling smile. "Don't worry," I whispered lowly to Jiraiya as I gained control of myself once again, "a wild animal will 'accidentally' rip it to shreds during the night."

"See ya later!" Naruto shouted as they started off, waving wildly. I crossed my arms over my chest, refusing to wave goodbye to Kale. "I'll be back before you can say, Kale is the most handsome and talented guy you'll ever meet!" he called to me. "You mean the most annoying and full of himself!" I cupped my hands to shout back. He turned to give me a bright smile and a wink before continuing to follow Guy.

"Pretty cool huh Saki?" Naruto chuckled, holding up the hideous green thing with a large grin on his face. "No." "Don't even think about it, look at that guy," Jiraiya said. "Now that is goofy." Guy stopped and turned back around to give a final dazzling smile and thumbs up, as if he had heard him. Which considering him, probably wasn't that far fetched of an idea.

I walked lazily between the two as Jiraiya led the way to whatever town we were heading towards. He hadn't approached me about anything yet, I didn't know if it was because Naruto was near or if he wanted to wait till Kale got back. I was starting to think I'd imagined the strange look in his eye.

We paused as Naruto stopped in his tracks, "hmm? What's up?" He turned back to look at him. "So Pervy Sage, what exactly do those guys want with me anyway?" He didn't answer, "come on out with it Pervy Sage, you know... don't you?" Jiraiya's eyes flickered to me before they turned back to Naruto, "don't get the wrong idea, it's not you they want, it's what's inside of you."

Naruto grabbed the front of his jacket over his stomach, "what is this thing anyway? Some horrible demon that terrorized the leaf village, so that's why everyone is so afraid of it right? So why do these guys want it so bad?"

"The nine-tailed fox has appeared in times of consequence, all through the ages, a ghastly spirit destroying all that lays in its path. As powerful as any act of nature, men trembled before it. As for what they would want with that malicious monstrosity, that's a hard question to answer Naruto.

I honestly can't say. I suppose with the nine-tails sealed up inside you, they may be thinking of somehow seizing control of that power and bending it to their will. It's a bitter pill to swallow knowing that those two will be after you now, but that is your fate. Ehh not to worry though, after all you will have me around," he grinned.

"Oh well, I'll just have to hurry up and get stronger, no other choice," he smiled determinedly. "Alright! Let's find this Tsunade woman you were talking about so she can fix up Sasuke and we can get down to some serious training."

I smiled at him affectionately; my little Naruto, always so determined. I'm so proud of him. "Hey Saki are you ok?" Naruto popped up in front of me, "you got this weird goofy smile on your face." "Of course I am little bro," I ruffled his hair before sliding his headband down over his eyes.

"Hey! Why do you always have to do that?" he whined. I laughed as he struggled to get it back into position. "Because that's what big sisters do, annoy their brothers." "And it's my job to annoy you," Kale appeared, hooking an arm around my neck.

"Did ya miss me?" he smirked. "Oh yes, it was like there was a hole in my heart and the world seemed dull," I replied sarcastically. "I knew it," he said cheekily and I rolled my eyes.

"Well that was quick, how'd you catch up to us so fast?" Jiraiya asked. "I can always find her, no matter how hard she may try to hide from me." "Can you blame me?" I mumbled. "Like an internal tracking device," he tapped his head, ignoring my comment. "Here's your bag by the way," he slipped it onto my shoulders. "Gee thanks," I muttered as the weight settled on my back.

"Hey, this beautiful woman you got us scouting around for, is she this Tsunade that you mentioned?" Naruto spoke up awhile later. "Hey not bad kid, you're pretty sharp aren't ya? Why, what's on your mind then?" "Well you said she was one of the three Legendary Sannin, the same age as you right Pervy Sage?" "That's right, what's your point already?" I smirked as he started to get annoyed.

"Well... how old is she?" "Same age as me," he grinned. I lightly smacked him on the back of his head, I didn't have to remember what he was thinking, the face he made said it all. "Ow! What was that for?" "I saw that look," I whispered, he scowled at me and folded his arms across his chest. "So what's this Tsunade lady like anyway?" Naruto muttered. "Ah curious are you?" "Yeah."

"Well what can I tell ya... well for one thing she's kind of unpleasant and plus I guess there's the fact that she's known far and wide as a die hard gambler and all." "Great this should be a piece of cake then if she's as famous as all that," he laughed. "Oh she's famous all right, you might even call her legendary... the legendary sucker."

He laughed, "but as legendary a sucker as she is I doubt she's going to be all that easy to find." "Why what makes you say that?" I tuned out their conversation, nothing I hadn't heard before.

I glanced at Kale out of the corner of my eye; he walked leisurely beside me with his hands behind his head, carrying a small pack. I frowned as I noticed a black hilt peeking out, "what's that?"

"Huh, what's what?" he turned towards me. "That thing in your bag." "Oh," he pulled it out a bit more. "A sword." "I can see that," I rolled my eyes, "but why do you have one?" He shrugged, "I got it a little while back, I wanted to have an alternative weapon." I looked at him surprised, "you never told me that..."

His eyes flashed over to mine, "no it's not-" "Hey we don't have time for nostalgia!" Naruto shouted, interrupting him. I turned away, picking up my pace. I can't believe he never told me he wanted a sword... that he wanted something different.

"Come on do you have a plan for finding her or what?" Naruto whined. "Not exactly, we might have a little work ahead of us, but I'm sure the four of us will come up with something," he glanced up at us as we stopped beside them.

"You don't even have the slightest idea how long this is going to take, do you?" Naruto deadpanned. "Fear not, not a minute will be wasted!" "Huh?" "All our time on the road will be devoted solely to you, oh and you guys too if you want," he tacked on at the end, as if just remembering we were there.

"Me?" Naruto asked. "Yepp, we have to get you stronger, time to train!" Naruto grinned, setting his pack on the ground and digging through it. We all cringed as he pulled out the horrid spandex suit, "ok!"

"Wait wait wait wait wait, hold on a second!" Jiraiya said quickly, "I already told you I'm not having that, I won't be seen walking around with someone wearing that that that thing!" "No," I snatched it from his hands, stuffing it in my backpack. "Hey! What gives!" "You are not wearing that!" we all shouted.

I sighed as we finally came to the town we had been heading to. It wasn't the distance that bothered me, but the boredom. Kale and I hadn't spoken; I was still hurt he had kept his desire and ownership of the sword secret from me.

"Woah, man this is gonna be great, I've never seen anything like this before," Naruto said, looking around the crowded street we were in. "Down time is important, so have a little fun before you start your training. This festival will be going on for awhile, so we'll hunker down here till it's over and we'll also start your training."

Jiraiya had barely finished his sentence when Naruto started cheering. He dug around in his bag for a moment before pulling out a fat frog coin purse. "Oh baby that is one fat frog you got there, you're filthy rich!" Jiraiya exclaimed, a twinkle in his eye.

"Yeah I got a pretty big stash, I've been saving up bit by bit from our missions. Catch you later!" he tried to run off. "Stop right there Naruto! I'm going to hold onto your wallet for you." He grabbed it from him, "hey, what do you think your doing!" "Here you can have this much to spend," he handed him a couple bills.

"What! Only 300!" "I don't want to hear it, honoring the shinobi's 3 prohibitions is the duty of any upstanding ninja." "Three prohibitions, what are you talking about?" "You're kidding don't you know? The prohibitions are a trio of temptations that will bring a shinobi to his ruin!

And those three things are: alcohol, pretty women and worst of all money... Though for you, Saki I suppose the second would be handsome men," Jiraiya grinned. I coughed, choking on air in surprise, my cheeks heating slightly.

"Yeah well none of those things really apply to me. I'm underage so I can't drink, I don't get the whole women thing and I worked so hard to save that money that I'm really not that eager to spend it all," Naruto assured.

"You little fool! Don't take money lightly, once you start spending you'll never stop! Money possesses a frightful power, this woman, Tsunade, that we are searching for has ruined herself with the pursuit of it."

"Pretty big talk from someone so addicted to the ladies," Naruto grumbled. "I'm gonna go see if I can gather some information, here I want you to hold on to my bag for me ok? If you happen to get lost somehow, you can always rely on my tracker toad to sniff out my scent," he handed it over.

"Hmph, come on Saki let's go have some fun!" Before I had a chance to speak Jiraiya spoke for me, "why don't you go on ahead Naruto, I wanted to talk to Saki for a bit. She'll catch up with you later," he said to the skeptical look he gave him. He groaned, "fine, just don't take too long ok," he gave me a smile before running off.

As soon as he was out of sight I turned to him, "so Kakashi told you huh?" "He may have mentioned something in passing," he admitted. I rose an eyebrow, "how much did he tell you?" I asked warily.

"He told me about you and Kale's ability if that's what you mean and also... your mark," he said more quietly. I frowned slightly; I didn't mind, it's actually probably better that he had but, I would have liked to know either way. "If it's not too much trouble, may I see it?"

Kale glanced around nonchalantly before nodding his go ahead. I unstrapped the wrist of my left hand glove before sliding it off. I cringed at the sight of it as he took it into his own hands to examine it more closely.

"I've never seen a mark like this, it must be one of his new ones," he mumbled. "Though the coloring is strange, but I suppose that's because it's only partially administered. Have you noticed anything different?" he looked back up at me.

I only debated a second before knowing I couldn't tell him the truth. "You mean like it spreading like Sasuke's can? No it hasn't done anything like that, but back there at the hotel... it hurt pretty bad."

"Hmm... I'll have to look into my notes and see if he ever used something like this before. It doesn't look familiar but maybe it couldn't be fully constructed with half of it missing..." I stayed silent while he muttered to himself.

"Kakashi spoke of a seal you put over it?" Jiraiya glanced at Kale. He nodded and ran a finger glowing with charka over my mark, bringing his purple seal front and center. "This is good work, but it was risky," he gave him a disapproving look.

"No one else could have done it, any other chakra wouldn't have been able to bridge the disproportioned chakra levels," Kale defended calmly. "I suppose you're right, you're pretty sharp kid," Jiraiya grinned. He let go of my hand and I replaced my glove, making sure the strap was secure.

"You'll have to show me your other talent later. All my years I've never encountered something like that, it'll be interesting to see. Though that wasn't the particular reason I wanted you to come with us," he looked around and led us toward a more secluded corner of the street.

After a quick scan he turned back to us, "I was hoping you could help us locate Tsuande." I hid my emotions immediately; this was what I was afraid of, that they would try to use me, though I never imagined Jiraiya would be one of them. I sighed, running a hand through my hair, "look, this thing I'm able to do... it's not exactly, I mean I can't really... control it." I rubbed my arm awkwardly, letting my eyes wander around the street, avoiding his.

"Saki," I glanced up at him as his voice softened, "I know you haven't told anyone about this and I understand. From what Kakashi described of your reaction to him knowing... I know you're afraid," he put a hand on my shoulder.

"And your fears are justified, I see why you don't want many people to know anything about what you can do. Orochimaru has obviously already taken interest, and now you know of the Akatsuki. I highly doubt what you told them was true, that you overheard us talking, am I right? And that comment from Itachi... have you met before?"

I nodded, "I know that they are apart of it, but I don't know anything else. But I wasn't fully lying, we were there when Itachi fought Kakashi, we were hiding in the bushes," I admitted. "Itachi and I locked eyes just before they escaped."

He rose an eyebrow, "we were training nearby when I felt the spike in chakra so..." I shrugged.

"Anyway, from how you described her, I can only guess that Tsunade is in one of the bigger gambling towns or something like that. So far the only time I know much of anything is during dangerous situations," I divulged, giving him the safest answer I could and one that could possibly work in my favor in the future.

This seemed to satisfy him for he nodded, "I understand, but if you think of anything it would be a great help." "Of course," I answered right away; I wanted Sasuke well as soon as possible so I could kill him for being so stupid.

"Well you can run along now and find Naruto, I'll see you all in a few hours!" he said excitedly, his eyes scanning the streets. I rolled my own, "just make sure you pay him back," I said as I passed.

"Woah woah woah, hey short stuff hold on a sec," he grabbed the back of my shirt, dragging me back. "What are you talking about?" "Naruto, make sure you pay him back once you're done wasting his money on your 'research,' " I made quotation marks.

"But you said-" "I don't have to be me to know that's what you're planning on doing Jiraiya," I laughed. He huffed, "well for your information, it is research, how do you expect me to write my highly popular novels?"

"I don't know about popular, but I know Kakashi worships them," I snickered. "Hey that just means the man has good taste." I scrunched my nose; he considers that good taste? "But anyways don't worry about it, I'll take care of it, oh... and thanks for not using the little twerp's nickname for me."

I smiled, "no problem, that's his nickname, I wouldn't dream of stealing it, no matter how accurate it is," I smirked. "Speaking of Naruto, I should go find him before he gets worried, I'll be seeing ya," I ducked around him, running off into the crowd.

I slowed down once Jiraiya was no longer in sight, walking along more slowly on the side of the street. Kale came up behind me, pulling me back into a hug, "I'm sorry Leaha," he whispered softly.

"I didn't mean to, I don't know what I was thinking. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I wanted it to be a surprise. And... also I knew you'd be upset if I told you one of my reasons for getting it," he admitted, burying his face in my hair.

"Why? What's your other reason?" I tilted my head back slightly to look at him. "Don't get mad, ok? You know how I am, I can't help but worry!" "Kale, what did you do?" I sighed. "I didn't do anything; but one of the reasons I took up a sword, besides just wanting to learn how to fight with one, was so I could match Sasuke."

I groaned in annoyance, slumping back against him,