Shakuton no Naruko

Part 1

Author's Notes:
This will be yuri, not sure who with. Will probably divert a lot from canon as well.
Also, she does have the Scorch Release but it's not a Kekkei Genkai, that'll be explained later.

It will NOT be a harem fic. Got nothing against, don't like them personally.

They hadn't known what to expect upon Naruko's return. It was safe to assume that she would be stronger, under the tutelage of the strongest Sannin it was bound to happen. The bar was set somewhat low, she'd only known a few jutsu and had been the dead last in the Academy. Though they had to admit she was stronger than she looked, if only the defeats of both Neji and Sabaku no Gaara were taken into account, both on the same day no less. All that they did know, from what Sakura could get out of Tsunade and Kakashi, is that Jiraiya had discovered that Naruko possessed a talent for Fuuinjutsu and kenjutsu, along with a Kekkei Genkai, the Shakuton of all things.

Still it would be a surprise when they laid eyes on her . First of all her wardrobe had improved considerably. Her once short hair had grown to her mid back and two locks of hair framed her face. Not only that but her hair had been somehow tamed and was straight now. She'd thankfully switched out her bright 'kill me' orange jumpsuit for a vermillion high neck, sleeveless dress. It hugged her body somewhat, reaching down to her ankles with a slit on the right side of the skirt from the thigh down, exposing her entire leg if not for the black hot pants she wore underneath as well as fishnet pantyhose under that. Her standard shinobi sandals had been exchanged for black knee high, chunky high heeled shinobi sandals and her Hitai-ate had been moved to her right bicep. She also wore black fingerless gloves with the index finger and thumb completely uncovered. On her left at her waist was a katana in a black sheath, in the small of her back was a fuuinjutsu scroll and on her right hip was a weapons pouch. She'd also taken to wearing winged eyeliner in the same vermillion as her dress, and the same coloured lipstick and wore black nail polish on her toes and fingers. Her bright blue eyes and whisker marks were exactly the same as they remembered and the wore the Shodai's necklace around her neck.

She entered the main gate of Konoha and immediately scaled a building and looked over the village with a smile. It was just as she remembered, a few new building here and there and Tsunade's face had been added to the mountain but still the same.

"Come on, gaki! We gotta go see Tsunade!" Jiraiya called up to her.

Tsunade was startled when she heard a knock on her window. Turning she found Jiraiya crouched outside, waving at her with a dumb grin on his face. Quickly walking over she opened it and stepped aside to let Jiraiya entered, who was closely followed by Naruko. Tsunade immediately enveloped her in a tight hug. "Damn, gaki, I barely recognised you." Tsunade said as she pulled back from the hug to look at Naruko properly.

Naruko smiled brightly. "Looking better than ever, eh?" She said boastfully as she walked back from Tsunade and cocked her hips, were right hand resting on her hip as well.

"Oh yeah, definitely. The makeup's a nice touch. Come on, let's sit. Tell me about the journey. And since, someone, didn't send in enough reports tell me about your training as well."

Naruko started with how they'd headed around just about the entire continent, gathering information from Jiraiya's many contacts while intruding her to each of them so she'd be able to use Jiraiya's network for herself. They'd started to try and work on harnessing the Kyuubi's chakra but after Jiraiya had nearly been killed by a rabid Naruko they decided to leave the fox be, hardening the seal over a week long process. However, in that time they discovered she'd received somewhat of a gift from the Kyuubi, the Shakuton, or Scorch Release.

The Shakuton was an elemental chakra combination, like the Hyōton was created with a combination of Futon and Suiton, the Shakuton was created by mixing Futon and Katon. It was common knowledge that wind techniques made fire techniques much more powerful when used in conjuncture, however the Scorch release took this to a new level. Shakuton chakra could be used to create fire so hot it could be used to mummify people, as it caused the water in their body to evaporate. Jiraiya had decided that it was dangerous to go straight into exploring uses for the Shakuton and proceeded to focus training on Futon and Katon separately, which would help in controlling the Shakuton later on. In that time, he'd also taught her the secret of Kage Bunshin, and had a dozen of her clones train in fuuinjutsu for hours at a time as well as rounding out other ninjutsu such as Jiraiya's own technique the Ranjishigami no Jutsu (Lion's Mane Technique). She'd also eventually learnt to use the Rasengan in one hand.

While her clones worked on all of that with a few of Jiraiya's clones supervising, the real Naruko and Jiraiya worked on her taijutsu and newfound ability in kenjutsu. Once Jiraiya had deemed her ready, after two years of non-stop travelling and training, to begin on the use of the Shakuton. It was difficult, seeing as neither really knew anything about the Shakuton, other than the very basics but eventually they begun making headway, however due to the Elemental natures fundamental power, all of the jutsu they managed to come up with weren't lower then B-ranked. It was during that year the Jiraiya requested some missions for Naruko to begin getting more real world experience.

After some bandit eradication, missing-nin hunting and assassinations, they'd helped squash a small uprising and Haru no Kuni. After that they'd been tracked down by Kirigakure-nin who asked for Sannin no Jiraiya's student to meet with the Mizukage. After some confrontation, a small fight and someone almost being crushed by a toad, they'd met Terumi Mei. It turned out that word of her mission to Nami back when she'd just graduated had made its way to Kiri. The Mizukage very politely asked for the location of the Kubikiribōchō, or if it were in her possession if she'd hand it over to Kiri.

-Flashback-

Naruko's eyes narrowed as she surveyed the Mizukage, trying to find any ill-intention. The woman, Mei, had two Black Ops guards on either side of her and two more were behind Naruko and Jiraiya. They were in a small house in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in Mizu no Kuni.

"Well? Will you give the blade to us?" Mei asked, some impatience appearing on her face.

"Why should I? That sword belonged to Zabuza." Naruko answered.

"Actually it belongs to Kirigakure. Zabuza took it with him after he was forced to flee Kiri." Mei retorted.

"Sure, whatever. When I had it, it was Zabuza's, not Kiri's. Why should I give it to you?"

"Do you know why Zabuza was forced from Kiri?" Naruko shook her head. "He attempted to overthrow the Sandaime Mizukage. He became a mercenary to help fund my rebellion, which in turn won the civil war. Unfortunately you met Zabuza in Nami before we did win."

Naruko starred into her eyes for about a minute. "Say I believe you. What would you do with it?"

"We would find someone worthy to wield it. The Kubikiribōchō would keep Kiri safe again." Mei answered passionately.

Naruko starred into her eyes for some time, trying to decipher if she was being lied to. In the end, she went with her gut."Fine. It's marking Zabuza's grave, in the middle of the forest about thirty minutes southwest of Nami Village." She then gave a cocky smile. "I hope you'll remember this when I'm the Hokage."

Mei smiled in return. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

-Flashback End-

"Only you could earn a favour from a Kage by giving them something that belongs to them." Tsunade said fondly, with a chuckle.

Naruko smiled brightly in return. "And after that we made our way back to Konoha, and here we are. So, what's been happening here, Baa-chan?"

Tsunade sighed. "I'm never getting out of that nickname am I? Same old really. Missions, political bullshit, so on and so forth. Though your old teammate Sakura became my apprentice while you and the Toad were off gallivanting across the Yōso Kuni (Elemental Nations)."

"Woah, really? She must be pretty strong now too, huh?"

"Oh yeah. She's begun to reach her potential. So, now that your back, I'd like to see if all that time away has done you any good. Head to Training Ground 7 at 10 tomorrow morning. Til' then you're of duty, ok?" Tsunade finished by ruffling Naruko's hair, making it almost as messy as it used to be. Naruko sent a half-hearted glare at her before forming a seal and her hair straightened out. She stuck her tongue out at Tsunade as she jumped out of the window.

Tsunade's eyebrows rose and she looked at Jiraiya. He just shrugged. "It's the only way she can straighten her hair. It's a basic version of my Ranjishigami no Jutsu."

"Of course it is." She responded with an eye roll and a affectionate smile. So, how is she going? So how did the training go?"

"Hm. I'll put it this way, when she reaches her peak she'll make Minato look like a wet-behind the ears genin, fresh out of the Academy."

End Part 1