"Jiraiya!"

The white-haired man flinched at the mention of his name, and looked at his old teammate. "Yes, Tsunade?"

The older woman's face was contorted into a snarl as she kept looking from Naruto to the man before her. "What the hell were you thinking when you taught this little punk the Rasengan, of all jutsu? Do you know of the consequences?" Tsunade pointed at Naruto, who was clutching his head. "This brat can't be more than twelve? What are you thinking, passing on foolish ideas like that?" Her hazel eyes were full of pain and hatred.

"Hey, —ttebayo! I can control it! I'm still not done, either! I have to master this jutsu if I wanna become Hokage, dattebayo, and I won't let an old granny stop me, even if I have to beat you up!" Naruto was now on his feet, pointing at her and breathing heavily, his face dirty from face planting on the ground earlier.

Tsunade scoffed at him, the scowl on her face prominent. "You think you'll become Hokage? Everyone thinks that at one point, but it never comes true," she hissed. "Give up."

"No way!" Naruto glared back twice as hard. "I never go back on my word, not now, not ever, and I promised that I would become Hokage! That's my nindō, and I won't let anyone tell me I can't accomplish that! If I were offered the position, I would take it, no doubt! I'll even prove it to you!"

Tsunade cut in, scoffing again, hands on her hips. "If you're so certain that you'll become Hokage, you'll be able to master the Rasengan at the end of the week, got that? And," she pulled a necklace that had nestled under her shirt up for him to see. "If you can master the Rasengan, consider yourself the new owner of this necklace!" She smirked, stepping closer to Naruto.

Shizune, still on the sidelines, gasped loudly. "Tsunade, don't! That's—!"

"Eh?" Naruto interrupted the woman, his arms now behind his head and eyes squinted. "Why would I want to carry that old thing around, —ttebayo?"

Tsunade lifted the necklace higher, the green crystal glinting from the lighting of the restaurant they were next to. "This is old thing is the First Hokage's necklace. It's supposedly good luck." Yeah, right. She dropped it, the necklace settling back on her chest. "I'll even throw that into the deal. Whaddya say, brat?" The woman stared at him, waiting for a response.

Before Jiraiya or Shizune could interfere, Naruto beamed and scratched the back of his head. "Good luck? Of course I want it, so you've got yourself a deal, Granny!" He stuck one hand out for her to shake, his blue eyes staring in determination.

:::

They were back in the hotel room, Sakura and Sasuke sleeping beside each other in the separate futons. When Naruto and Jiraiya entered, they had been talking until the loud blonde split the two up, declaring they were too close to each other, resulting in Sasuke scowling and rolling the other way. His brooding aura was almost suffocating, so Naruto moved to the other side of Sakura before pulling in his bedtime cap and snuggling underneath the covers.

"Naruto."

A blonde head popped up from the covers. "Yeah?"

Jiraiya stared at him seriously before a smile spread on his face. "You're going to have to learn the Rasengan pretty quickly, kid."

A grin erupted onto his face. "Hell yeah, —ttebayo!"

The whole time, Sakura lied there under her futon in her pajamas, internally debating with herself. What am I to do when Orochimaru and Konohagakure's shinobi clash? Am I to continue undercover, or am I to finally reveal what my purpose is? She thought back to her conversation with Sasuke, who said that the curse mark was getting worse and worse. I am assuming when the curse mark continues to progress in harm, then Orochimaru must be relatively near. She shifted onto her side, facing Sasuke's back.

Again, what is my purpose? To serve as the perfect shinobi and destroy Konohagakure, the girl reminded herself.

With that in mind, Sakura finally allowed her breathing to even and grow shallow as she fell asleep. On the bed alone lied Jiraiya, who then rolled over the edge to look at the three genin sleeping on their respective futons. The Kyūbi-holder, Orochimaru's experiment, and the lone survivor of a mass genocide. What messed up kids in a messed up world, he thought, then rolled onto his back, thinking of the events that had occurred earlier that night.

Shorter chapter but guess what? I'm almost done writing the rest of this book! There are less than 20 chapters until the end!

Will Naruto learn the Rasengan?

Will Sakura keep following Orochimaru's orders?