Desert Flower

Tsunade

  The tower in front of us lay in shambles as we looked down on it. It had been a few days since we started training with the rubber balls, and we were going into another town now while still searching for this Tsunade lady.

  "So what happened? It's like a typhoon hit it." Naruto questioned while standing at my side.

  "Yeah."

  "Run! Run for your lives!" A man shouting came running down the road, followed by more screaming people.

  "Hey, you there! What's going on?"

  "If you're smart, you'll run too! There's a monster up there!"

  "A monster?"

  "Now, just calm down." Jiraiya kept an even tone while speaking. "What kind of monster? What do you mean?"

  "A snake! A huge snake! It crushed the castle without even trying. I'm out of here!"

  "Wait! How big a snake?" Naruto yelled as the man ran away. "Hey, our village was attacked by one too. Wait! Don't go! I know something about big snakes!"

  "Naruto, come on. This could be the same snake." The old man turned on his heel. "I'd like a closer look at this monster." He began to run, and we followed, going along the trail of destruction to find the giant snake.

  By the time we reached the end of the trail, the snake was gone. There was no indication of where the beast may have gone next, and it seemed as if it may have just vanished. There were no scales left behind or anything.

  Looking at the destruction in front of me, I chewed on my cheek while thinking. I knew animals in nature could get really big sometimes, but.... Could this snake have been summoned?

  Jiraiya and Naruto could summon giant frogs, and I could wolves, it'd be daft to think there weren't others who could do the same with different animals.

~

  "This is getting ridiculous." Naruto groaned while his fingers were laced behind his head. "How many places are you gonna drag us to? I'm starting to think this old lady doesn't even exist."

  "Well, in the meantime, we'll get a bite to eat in here." Jiraiya turned to a tavern.

  "What are you talking about? It's a tavern!" Naruto shouted.

  "Yeah, so?"

  "You trying to be a bad influence on me? Hello! We're underage."

  "You idiot, nobody is making you do anything, all right. Just have a snack and stay out of the grownups' way."

  "If we're just looking to eat, why don't we go somewhere real, like a ramen shop? Why this stinky dump?"

  "When will you learn? This is just the sort of place where you can pick up information."

  "Guys...." I waved my hand while looking into the tavern's windows as they were arguing in the street. "Guys!" I raised my voice to get the two to shut up since they were still bickering.

  "What?"

  "Isn't that her? She looks really young but matches the description." I pointed into the tavern, and Jiraiya paused before standing beside me to look. He saw the blonde woman with brown eyes and a diamond on her forehead just over the dividers between booths. The old man's eyes narrowed at me before looking back to the woman to double-check.

  "Tsunade!" He screamed, running into the tavern.

  "Huh?!" Naruto looked just as shocked.

  "Jiraiya?! What are you doing here?" The woman stood while slamming her hands onto the table in front of her.