Chapter 2

Senju's Heir

~~Tanzaku Town~~

Tsunade was known for various things. Her unwavering courage and strength, her -beyond- impressive bosom, and her hideous luck. The latter of which she was far too acquainted with, unfortunately. She suspected such bad luck was what gave fruit to the three greatest mistakes in her life.

At the naïve age of eighteen, she had given birth to the child of a man she cherished deeply, but knew could never pull-off living like a proper father.

Mistake number one.

She cared little, however, for she loved sweet, sweet little Minato more than her very life; he was the only thing she had done right. He was her support, her ray of morning sunshine and the little bundle responsible for singlehandedly ridding her of any and all vices. Yes, her love for him has been that grand. But then, after much arguing, she had given him both her cursed necklace and blessing to become a shinobi.

Mistake number two.

Naturally, the little pipsqueak proved himself to be as prodigious as two of the greatest Senju, Tobirama and Hashirama. He only garnered even more fame as the Yellow Flash during the war; the fastest shinobi to ever live, they still say. However, before any of that, she had changed his surname to Namikaze in fear that he would be targeted by the enemies of her clan.

Mistake number three...

After the war was over, she was confident that her young man had finally gained the respite he so charitably deserved. He had earned the title of Hokage, gained a beautiful wife she more than approved of, and practically ordered her and Jiraiya to live happily in a vacation that was meant to last forever. But of course, what was life without a little twist?

Minato and his wife perished sacrificing themselves for Konoha, and everything she ever loved died with him.

What disgusted her above else was that she could've saved him had she been there, at his side, like she should've been from beginning to end. But she had been naïve, too trusting. She had been blinded by her own expectations that Minato, a Senju, could hold his own even against all nine of the legendary Bijū.

From what she heard, he indeed stood up against the strongest of the Bijū. They say his ferocity was equal to that of Uchiha Madara, and that his will to protect had been just as powerful as her grandfather's. Unfortunately, that will to protect had been what ended his life in the end.

It wasn't long before she found out Minato and his wife died protecting not just the village, however, but also their newborn, Uzumaki Naruto.

For the past few years Tsunade had lived blaming Minato for her suffering, for leaving her to grieve his death. Perhaps this had been illogical, but no mother should ever live to bury her own son. And not until she realized she had been mourning hypocritically -because she would've done the same for him- did she finally understand how foolish she had been for scorning him at all.

Of course he would rather die than live to see his firstborn perish... He was his mother's son, after all...

But even when realizing this, Tsunade couldn't help feel somewhat grudgeful when thinking of little Naruto; even if his innocence was practically a singularity on practical terms. But like her spite for Minato, she had grown out of it with the passage of time.

Once in a while, she would receive pictures of him from the shinobi under Jiraiya's payroll. He was nine now, and he was the most adorable little thing she had ever laid eyes upon.

Still, she dared not go to him for various personal reasons. She was scared he would hate her for leaving him alone in Konoha, and while Jiraiya assured her he had never been hurt because of his Jinchūriki status, she feared he would hold a grudge against her for leaving him alone for nine years. Her heart would not be able to handle the hatred of a child so identical to Minato.

However, she would be damned if something so superficial would stop her from taking care of her grandchild, even if she wasn't yet ready to deal with the responsibility.

She was the strongest kunoichi in the world, dammit! She knew she would get there eventually!

Which is why, after many years of serving as a nomad gambling her fortune away in an effort to fill the void left by Minato, she was meeting Jiraiya in a bar she enjoyed frequenting for the first time in years to discuss Naruto's condition.

"You're one hard lass to locate, Tsunade."

Sitting on a creaky stool Tsunade swore she would destroy before leaving the bar, her chocolate eyes found the tallest man she had ever met. "Jiraiya... What took you so long?"

"Forgive me," he uncharacteristically apologized. "But the map you sent me had five different encryption languages, three of which no record exist and another that bases around a tongue that was used millenniums before the Rikūdo Sennin's time... I can tell you put some serious thought into it. Fortunately, I didn't need to waste a whole week trying to translate it."

Tsunade's left brow rose, "Oh? Then how is it that you're here right now?"

"Shizune told me where you were," Jiraiya cackled seeing Tsunade's cheekbone twitching in meager annoyance. "Yep, she's been secretly sending me your location ever since we parted ways years back. Don't hold it against her, though. All she's been doing is more for your sake than mine, seeing as I'm the only one who can get you out of any pickle; what with you diligently ignoring the existence of Konoha and all."

Tsunade sighed hearing this and slumped on the bar's counter. "I should've known that little brat was up to something when she kept coming back to the apartment with a new bottle of sake... the guilt must have been eating her..."

Jiraiya raised his hand and ordered a drink from the man ringing the floor. "Why did you take her with you again?"

"She's the niece of a good friend that died in a mission," muttered Tsunade. "Besides, she's a talented medic and God knows the world needs more of those..." She sniffed as the thought threatened to fill her with melancholy. "So, on to what we're here for... How's my little blond doing? Must I poison Konoha's water supply to get him out of that hellhole?"

Jiraiya knew Tsunade was joking.

Still, as he sipped from his newly arrived drink, he worried she would truly go through with her threat should he tell her what he knew. "Tsunade... I need you to keep calm with what I'm about to tell you, ok?"

A chill crawled down Tsunade's spine. The fact that she knew the exact composition of the chemical drawing that reaction from her did little to quell her worry.

"Jiraiya... you have five seconds to elaborate..."

The darkness in her voice brought goosebumps to Jiraiya's arms. He had only heard such a deathly tone from Tsunade one time before, and he had nearly died then. "Promise me you'll keep calm-"

"I AM calm!" The wood on the counter before them splintered under the sheer pressure, the girth of Tsunade's massive chakra. Her eyes turned to Jiraiya with moist already over them. "Please... For the love of what you consider precious, tell me he's not..."

The bar attendant shakily neared them from his station, his face clammy and lacking any solid color. "I-i-is everything alright, ma'am, sir...?"

Jiraiya suppressed a sigh hearing her plea. All this time, and Tsunade still didn't understand that she was what he considered most precious. "We're fine, sorry for the mess. I'll be held responsible for any further damage. Here, this is my account number."

Seeing the young man waltz back hurriedly with the offered digits in hand, Jiraiya addressed Tsunade carefully. "The little troublemaker's fine. He's not harmed or anything of the sort. It's just..." He groaned and downed his drink in consecutive gulps to gain some false courage. "Well... He's kinda being detained in the deepest pits of the Anbu headquarter's facilities..."

That heartless, old bastard...

The aura around the only female Sannin didn't change, though that only worried Jiraiya more than had she exploded into curses. It was like sitting next to a ticking time bomb long overdue for detonation.

"Tell me... why was he put in there to begin with...?"

Jiraiya swallowed deeply as his mind drew up his next words. "Take this with a grain of salt, but according to my informants inside the village... Naruto was seen using Mokuton as a show-and-tell project."

The stool Tsunade was sitting on instantly turned into lumber. Her golden pigtails flailing under the power that was her green chakra, she turned and headed in the opposite direction, her heels clicking and scratching the boards under them. Ignoring the door five feet across from her, she made her own with a single chakra enhanced fist.

"Tsunade!" Jiraiya went after her and followed after the seething Sannin a wise three feet behind. "Hime, I need you to calm down! Where are you even going?"

A growl crawled its way out of Tsunade's throat hearing such a foolish question. "I'm going for my grandson! Where the hell else?!"

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune carefully landed behind Tsunade with Tonton in her arms. She too wisely kept her pace parallel to Jiraiya. "I felt a giant tremor all the way from the hotel! What's going on?!"

Jiraiya should've known this would be the outcome. "Look, the political repercussions of you going in and attacking the Hokage's personal guard would be like putting a stamp saying S-class Nukenin over your own forehead! It would be like telling the enemies of Konoha, a village your grandfather founded, that now is the best time to attack! Besides, even the old man wouldn't be able to come in and out of Anbu headquarters without losing an arm and a leg!"

"Good thing I have two of each!" Tsunade launched herself over the sapphire walls of the village and headed north, directly and without a doubt toward Konoha.

Shizune groaned, but followed nonetheless. "We left everything back in the hotel!"

Jiraiya cursed as he matched Tsunade's trail over the tree branches. "I know what you're thinking, Tsunade. But his genes are invaluable to Konoha! They wouldn't so much as hurt him knowing what he carries! I feel the same way as you but-"

Mid-jump, Tsunade grasped Jiraiya's robes and dragged him over her shoulder.

Shizune gasped, "TSUNADE-SAMA!"

Tsunade dug her fellow Sannin into the ground as they decreased in speed for a good quarter kilometer, coloring and injuring his back with grime and scrapes. She dragged him back up and crashed his much taller figure against a nearby tree, encrusting him into it.

Her eyes brimmed in tears, she separated his footing from the ground. "Do you really?! Because as I recall I didn't see a single tear in your eyes when we buried our son! Minato knew you as a sensei, but never as a father! I raised him myself without your aid, so how could you possibly fathom what it feels like to fear for the life of one's child?! It is because Naruto has that bloodline coursing through his veins that I must go to him!

"Everyone, including you see him as a sack of invaluable genes! It is because of that reason that only I can protect him! I see Naruto for what he is, a child! He's not a Senju, he's not an Uzumaki; he's my grandson! And I won't let you, Hiruzen, or the council even lay a finger on his blond locks! I will get him out of there and not you or Konoha will ever get a shred of his DNA, even if I have to die to ensure it!"

Jiraiya tilted his head when Tsunade's fist came very close to blowing it off. Seeing as she had given him more than enough time to react, she hadn't intended to kill him. Though the tree behind him was an entirely different story.

Guilt filled him hearing the blunt truth behind her words. She was right. He had done his best as Minato's master, but had never tried to be the kid's father. He had seen and protected him like one, but had never tried to make a connection with him because he'd felt... scared. He hadn't been ready to be a father then, nor did his duty permit it. Not until the boy had turned into a man did he actually take time to be with him, to get to know him.

But just like Tsunade, he had lost him at the absolute worst of moments.

"Help me, Jiraiya..."

Her sudden plea caught the Toad Sage by surprise. He reassessed the woman holding him hostage and no longer saw the imposing figure he was so accustomed to seeing. Before him stood a desperate, broken woman asking for his help. It took him a moment to realize that all this time, Tsunade had been struggling to get those words out.

"Tsunade-hime..."

"Please," Tsunade released him and pressed her forehead against his chest, tears streaming down her chin. "Let's not make the same mistakes we made with our son..."

Hearing her say that was more than enough for Jiraiya to fight the entire world should it prove necessary. Redemption, family; all of it was knocking at his front door. And not even his loyalty for the Leaf would stop him from answering.

No, not again.

~~Konoha, Hokage's Office~~

Aside from the outside impression he naturally gave, Sarutobi was not a very patient man. Which is why, when a shinobi had barged into his office nearly two days ago with news of the "that boy" using one of the most sought after bloodlines in a show-and-tell, he had not choice but to act with haste.

All jesting aside, the boy had not made it halfway to his office without being attempted against by unknown parties five times.

Two of those times had not been to kidnap, but to separate that little blond head from his shoulders. The only reason he had made it unscathed was because Kakashi had been part of the Anbu team aiming to secure him. And even when inside his office, Sarutobi doubted the boy had felt anything but safe when over a dozen meat shields -courtesy of the Anbu- had surrounded him.

Now he was heading into an emergency meeting hosted by yours truly, with every and all top dogs in Konoha, and by extension, the Land of Fire. Yes, even the Daimyō.

"Old piece of worn rubber... How bad does he want a descendant of the Senju...?"

"Did you say something, sir?"

"Nothing, nothing..." He assured his assistant, his pace quickening. Tsuki was her name, a little younger than he. She was kind if not a little nosy, though that's why he personally hired her to begin with.

After much pondering, Sarutobi had decided to lock the boy in literally the safest place in the Land of Fire - the pits of Anbu headquarters. Where there was an agent in every corner, and over three hundred more patrolled with specific regulations. Even Uchiha Itachi would find it difficult to go in and out of that place without losing an arm and a leg. He sneezed and his assistant muttered a barely audible "bless you."

Hm, perhaps somebody had the same thought.

Some may call his actions a little excessive, but he would not take risks when it came to little Naruto's life. The child had suffered enough as it is. He was not oblivious to the way his teachers abused of their power and how the other children constantly used him as a scapegoat for their parents' folly.

In fact, he recalled threatening some of those parents, if his memory served him properly...

He reached the double doors holding the meeting room and his assistant grasped the handle. She opened the door and allowed him entrance. Holding his hands behind him, like a proper gentleman, Sarutobi eyed what was Konoha's major players. The Hyūga, the Aburame, the Nara - every clan-head in Konoha was sitting around a rectangular, wooden table.

And at the head of the table sat the most powerful man in the Land of Fire -besides himself, of course-. The Daimyō of their esteemed nation, and Konoha's greatest economic benefactor. Pissing him off was like purposely disclosing all secrets Konoha held in its vaults. They would be ruined, basically. Just ask Suna how they were doing

Sarutobi dutifully took the seat at the remaining head. "Daimyō-sama."

The old, crook looking Daimyō accepted his greeting with a nod of his head. "Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi knew the distance separating them was respectful, but tension was stronger - an expected gesture when two men of equal governmental powers sat across from each other. The Daimyō looked foolish at first sight and gave the impression that he couldn't even eat on his own, but he knew this man was the king cobra among the den of snakes he helplessly found himself in. He had to be if he was the one who won the royal throne from a family of eight brothers and six sisters.

He mustn't be underestimated.

"Now then," he hardened his voice and tethered his fingers before him. "We all know why we're here..."

"Know?" Inuzuka Tsume, the head of the Inuzuka clan, inquired with some of her trademarked sass. "The news is the gossip of the whole freakin' village! Everywhere I go, I hear "that boy" having something which had been thought lost forever. How is it even possible that the child has something so invaluable to begin with?"

"Such facts are irrelevant," argued the Hyūga head, Hiashi. "What matters is what we are to do with such a precious mineral."

"Naruto isn't an object," Shikaku Nara growled lowly to blur his distaste. "What we should be worrying about is figuring out how we're going to protect him. According to Kakashi, the kid was attacked five times from the Academy to here. And it's two blocks away."

"Perhaps we should also be worrying about national security," said Aburame Shibi. "Why you ask? Because the influence held by the spy network of our enemies is so organized, it took little to mount an assassination attempt one hour after it being known what the child has. It is obvious something is fundamentally flawed with our counterespionage division."

Choza nodded his agreement, "It is too far a coincidence, I agree. Where exactly was Jiraiya-sama in all of this?"

"The fault is not Jiraiya's," Sarutobi quickly intervened. "It is no secret our power has dwindled ever since the Kyūbi claimed nearly half of our forces nine years ago. We have yet to heal from the blow we received that day, and Jiraiya, despite being a Sannin, can only do so much with the distributed forces."

"Nobody is blaming Jiraiya-sama, Hokage-sama." Inoichi Yamanaka assured. "We are all well aware of our situation. Personally, I believe we should be thinking up ways of securing Naruto's safety at all costs, since we can't leave him in the Anbu's cages forever. He harbors what is arguably one of the most powerful bloodlines in history."

"Is everybody here only interested in the boy's latent abilities?" The Daimyō's question in a shinobi affiliated matter was a rare and precarious thing, but his tone made it clear he expected no defiance or disinterest in his words. "My father, my grandfather; my entire family owe Shodaime-sama everything. If this child is indeed a descendant of that man, then I have no intention of allowing anybody to treat him as anything less. Yet you have him jailed..."

Hiashi awkwardly cleared his throat and addressed the man like he was deserving, with respect. "Apologies, Daimyō-sama, but it is much more complex than how you entail it."

"Really?" He asked, almost mockingly. "The only complex matter I see are the intentions nearly