Reaching For A Dream by Noodlehammer

Chapter 28

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Jiraiya rubbed at his forehead in consternation, staring at the redheaded teenager that had just now finished telling them about Naruto's recent activities. Gaara was in a similar state of consternation, unsure what he should think of this, but knowing that the man who had saved him from Shukaku so long ago had crossed a terrible threshhold.

"Why are you telling us all this?" The toad Sannin asked.

"I told you because I think that what he's doing is wrong. I used to be Orochimaru's assistant and I've seen some pretty bad stuff, but what Naruto is doing now is way beyond that, no matter his reasons for doing it." Karin said with a shiver.

Jiraiya mulled it over, Gaara doing the same. It had been quite a shocker when the Uzumaki teenager had seemingly just appeared in the village out of nowhere and asked to speak to the Kazekage and Jiraiya. They were both greatly disturbed to hear about the lengths that Naruto was going to in order to save the Kyuubi. If he was willing to go that far, then he wouldn't be stopped by anything. The things that Jiraiya had learned from Tsunade about Naruto's mental state only further reinforced this.

"If you know so much about what he's doing, then why did he let you go?" Gaara asked.

"Because he knows that you can't do anything about it. He never told me where that valley was and he has Hiraishin beacons scattered over most of the Elemental Nations by now, so he can go anywhere at anytime. He's also much too strong to be even slowed down by anyone that isn't Kage level. The only one that he's sure he would lose against right now is Madara."

Jiraiya grimaced slightly at that, knowing it to be true. He was quite upset that neither Naruto nor Tsunade had seen fit to tell him about Madara's resurrection. Naruto was clearly making it personal, but he couldn't fault his godson's logic. With the kind of power that Madara had amassed, it would be a slaughter if they tried to fight him head on and they weren't very likely to achieve anything by it either. He might not have seen the Shodai fighting Madara, but he knew what kind of monsters those two were.

At the very least, it was a huge weight off his chest to know that it hadn't been Naruto who had destroyed Konoha. Though he was deeply unsettled to hear that Orochimaru was now forced to help Naruto with his plans. Those two working together couldn't possibly end well.

He wondered if Tsunade had even realised just how much power she had ceded to Naruto. She had followed his suggestions and gone along with his plans even though she was Hokage and he'd been a Chunin and then a missing-nin. By all rights it should have been her calling the shots, but in the end she had done things the way that Naruto wanted them done, both before and after he became a missing-nin.

Jiraiya knew that Tsunade had never really wanted to be Hokage and would have preferred someone else to take the position. His deceased teammate would have been much more comfortable just running the hospital and giving advice rather than issuing orders. Maybe she had been relieved that Naruto took charge so easily, or maybe she had subtly been trying to get him to take the post.

"Thank you for telling us this Karin-san. The Chunin outside will guide you to your temporary lodgings until I can arrange something more permanent." Gaara said in his usual gravely monotone.

"Thank you Kazekage-sama." Karin replied and left the office, feeling only slightly guilty for revealing all this. Naruto had been the one to bring her here after all and he was well aware that she would tell them everything. Aside from that, she knew that her self proclaimed big brother had to be stopped.

She sympathised with his desire to save his wife, but was it really worth the sacrifices he was making? She wouldn't have said a word if he was making sacrifices only of himself, that would be his business after all, but he was willing to sacrifice everything and everyone. If he wasn't stopped he would probably destroy the world without even noticing it.