the sealed kunai

Chapter 4: Reality Check

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, I rent. It's the next best thing, trust me, and it's as close as we'll ever get...

Naruto awoke with a groan, "Ugh... Okay, I guess I still can't use all of my jutsu yet." The previous night Naruto had exhausted himself trying one of his more upper tier ninjutsu. Waking up in his own bed he realized that Tsunade must have been spying on him again. Naruto chuckled, "Heh heh, I wonder if she saw that one."

Naruto jumped out of bed and tripped over a black bundle at the foot of his bed. As it groaned he realized who it was, "Shizune-san? What are you doing here?"

Shizune's hazy eyes opened and widened as she jumped up, surprising the blonde, "Tsunade-sama! Where is she?"

Naruto grabbed Shizune to calm her down, "Hold on a second, just wait. You're saying she did this to you?"

Shizune stopped stirring and rested in his arms, though he felt her breathing was still frantic. Naruto sighed and let her go. Shizune immediately made for the window, "We have to find Tsunade-sama! It might be too late to stop her!"

As Shizune left through the window a kunai buried itself to the right of her head into a wall. They both turned to see Jiraiya standing on the ledge uneasily, "Where's Tsunade?" His voice held a threatening tone as he slinked along the wall up to Naruto and Shizune.

Naruto took note of Jiraiya's condition, "Geez ero-sennin what the hell happened to you?"

Jiraiya sat on the ledge and experimentally flexed his arms, "Tsunade drugged me last night. I should have known better, she wasn't as pissy as she usually was when she drank with me."

Naruto's attention was drawn up at an adjacent rooftop. But when he peered up he saw nothing. Shizune had gone to fetch Jiraiya an antidote to whatever Jiraiya had ailing him. She ran back and handed Jiraiya a glass of water and some crushed up pills, "Sorry Jiraiya-sama, there isn't an antidote to the poison, this should even you out though."

Jiraiya took the pills and swallowed them with the water, "Thank you Shizune." When Naruto's attention returned to the roof he could no longer sense anyone's presence.

Naruto looked at Shizune, "It's Orochimaru isn't it?" Shizune looked surprised. Naruto looked over to Jiraiya, "How you feeling ero-sennin?"

Jiraiya crushed the glass in his hands, "It's not much. My chakra is still fluctuating, but it'll have to do."

Shizune looked down sadly, "Orochimaru came to us last week with an offer; restore his arms and he'll return Tsunade-sama's most precious people to her from the dead." She looked at Jiraiya hopefully, "Today is the day they meet, we might still be able to keep her from doing it."

Jiraiya stood, "So how are we going to find her."

Shizune grabbed Ton-Ton and jumped to the ground before placing the small pig onto the ground, "We need your help Ton-Ton. Can you find Tsunade-sama for us?"

The pig oinked as it sniffed at the ground. Jiraiya and Naruto dropped down around them just as Ton-Ton began oinking wildly at Shizune. Shizune turned to the other two with her, "Ton-Ton has her scent. Come on, it's this way!"

XxX

They returned to the area of the ruined castle and found even more signs of destruction, though they were newer. Naruto smiled at the sight of the pulverized wall, "It looks like the old bat turned him down."

Jiraiya nodded, "Yeah, that might not be so good for her though. Come on. We still have to find her."

As they ran into a field they found Tsunade being beaten by Kabuto. Shizune shouted for her mistress as she ran over to her side, "Tsunade-sama!"