Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

Chapter 20

The whole village was bustling with noise as everyone lent a helping hand with repairing the damage from the onslaught from Sound and Sand. In the meantime, the council had convened to decide who the new Hokage should be. And that is where we find the heads of the clans in the village, including Yuuki and Itachi. Jiraiya had also stayed behind to help with the decision. Though with the current flow of the meeting, he wasn't so sure he should have stayed.

"Jiraiya-sama. As one of the legendary saanin, student to the Sandaime, and also mentor of the Yondaime, we the elders feel it only right that you take it upon yourself to become the new Hokage." The female elder started.

"Iie. I refuse this offer. I am better off with being what I have always been. I am the only one who can wander the nations the way I do in order to gather information for Konoha." Jiraiya said.

"But you are the only one qualified as of now to take the position and lead the village! If word breaks out that Konoha has no new Hokage, we will be more vulnerable to more attacks!" The other elder shouted.

"That is true. But you seem to forget, esteemed elders. There is one other saanin with the capabilities to lead Konoha." Itachi spoke up.

The elders along with Jiraiya turned to Itachi. "She had defected from this village long ago. That disqualifies her from having the right to take up the role of Hokage."

"What if we can bring her back?" Yuuki said.

Jiraiya smirked. "Oh? And how do you plan on doing so? A certain team sent out?" his smirk growing as a plan started to form in his head.

Yuuki smirked along with the saanin. "But of course, Jiraiya-sama."

"And if you fail, what then?!" the elders pushed.

"You expect us to fail?" Itachi said this coldly as he opened his eyes, his Sharingan glowing red in a glare directed at the elders.

They two elders flinched before backing down. "Very well, Uchiha-sama. Do as you wish."

The two elders got up and walked out of the conference room. Jiraiya started to chuckle softly before he bellowed out with laughter. Tears started to leak out of his eyes as he bent in mirth.

"Oh, Itachi! How I love how you ruffle the elders' feathers!" Jiraiya cackled.

Yuuki giggled softly behind the sleeve of her kimono as she leaned her head on Itachi's shoulder. Itachi got up before he reached down to help Yuuki up. With the two standing together like that, Jiraiya smiled. He noticed that Yuuki was starting to show in her pregnancy and his smile widened.

'The house of Uchiha and Haruno shall be revived…' Jiraiya thought fondly.

"Well, shall we tell the rascals of our new adventure?" Jiraiya asked, a large grin gracing his face.

Itachi nodded as he guided Yuuki out of the room and they headed towards the familiar four chakra signatures. They found Sasuke and Naruto helping some carpenters with carrying logs and boards while Hinata and Sakura were not too far off helping carry some refreshments and handing them out. The four then noticed the three adults and quickly ran towards them.

"Onee-sama! You shouldn't be walking around here! You are carrying your first child and it's dangerous around the construction areas!" Sakura worried.

"I'm perfectly fine, Sakura-chan. I am still in my first trimester. Besides, I have Itachi-kun and Jiraiya-sama here with me." Yuuki smiled.

"That's right! Nothing will befall the beautiful Yuuki with Jiraiya-sama here as her bodyguard!" Jiraiya chortled out in a deep booming voice.

Naruto, who heard from where he was helping the carpenter, snorted and said quietly under his breath, "I bet he's thinking of hitting on Yuuki-nee but is too scared of Itachi-nii…"

"I heard that, brat!"

"And you're suppose to!" Naruto shouted back.

Itachi stood off to the side, eyes shining in amusement. "Are you four hungry yet? We decided to go out to lunch."

At the promise of food, Naruto instantly perked up before dropping the beam of wood. To Sasuke's dismay, Naruto gave no warning beforehand and the beam dropped onto Sasuke's fingers. He gave a loud yelp before glaring daggers at a sweating Naruto. Sakura sighed before grabbing some ice from the refreshments she was passing out and wrapped it in her handkerchief before putting it on Sasuke's hands.

"Eh heh…Can we go to Ichiraku's?!" Naruto shouted, scooting away from the seething Sasuke.

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata started out, fiddling with her fingers.

"Eh?" Naruto turned to her. "What's wrong, Hinata-chan? You don't want ramen?"

"Iie. It's not that. Don't you remember?" Hinata gave him a pitying look.

"Remember what?" Naruto asked, confusion clear on his face.

"Ichiraku's got destroyed during the invasion, dobe." Sasuke smirked.

There was a silent pause as the information slowly sank into Naruto's head.

3…2…1…

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The shout was heard throughout the entire village. Itachi sighed before leading the group to a sushi bar with Naruto scuffling along in the back, the life gone in his eyes, with Hinata fretting by his side.

After they had ordered their food, Itachi finally addressed the four children.

"Tomorrow, you four will be going on a mission along with Jiraiya-sama." He said.

The four instantly sat straight, alert with attention.

"What are the mission details?" Sasuke asked.

"The goal: locate Tsunade-hime-sama and try to convince her to come back to the village to be the new Hokage." Yuuki said.

"What?! But I thought that I was going to be the new Hokage?!" Naruto whined.

Ignoring him, Sakura looked to couple. "Do we have any leads to where she may be now?"

"That's where I come in. We will be traveling around the fire country as I gather information on her whereabouts from my many contacts." Jiraiya said.

"So we'll be wandering around aimlessly with no real leads….?" Sasuke asked, skeptically.

"More or less. But I know for a fact that we will most likely find her in a casino or bar…" Jiraiya sighed.

"A casino or bar…?" Hinata asked.

"Yes. She is a well known drinker and gambler." Jiraiya said.

"And she's going to be our new Hokage…?!" Sasuke asked skeptically. 'At this point, Naruto would have made a better choice…'

"But despite that, she is the granddaughter of the first Hokage. Plus, her gambling is infamous." Jiraiya sighed.

"Infamous?" Sakura muttered.

"Her nickname was…or is is more like it…the Legendary Sucker." Jiraiya smirked. "No matter what bet she places, she will definitely loose. Her luck with gambling is as good as Naruto's ability to stay silent."

"HEY!"

"The only time she ever wins a bet is when something bad happens. And not just an 'oh I banged my knee on the table' kind of bad. A 'the world is about to end' kind of bad…" Jiraiya muttered.

"I repeat. SHE'S GOING TO BE OUR HOKAGE…?!" Sasuke hissed.

"Maa, maa. Tsunade can pull herself together when it comes down to it. She is the best field medic to ever live. She wasn't called a Saanin with us for nothing." Jiraiya said.

"W-when do w-we head out, J-J-Jiraiya-sama?" Hinata stuttered.

"Well, since the day is almost over already, you guys can take the rest of the day and night to prepare. We'll leave first light tomorrow." Jiraiya instructed.

"Hai!" All four responded.

With that, Jiraiya bid the family good night and they went their separate ways. They escorted Hinata back to her clan's compound before heading home. The three members of Team 7 took a bath in turns before going to their rooms to prepare for the day. Naruto and Sasuke refilled their weapons pouch and packed their bags with appropriate rations and other things like a bedroll and other knick knacks. Sasuke looked over to Naruto to make sure he wasn't packing unnecessary items and was glad he did so. Naruto was in the middle of packing a bowl of instant ramen before Sasuke chucked a book at him.

"Itai! Oi, teme! What was that for?!" Naruto yelled.

"Why in the world are you packing ramen?!" Sasuke hiss increduously.

"It's nourishment!" Naruto glared before stuffing it into his bag.

"And why are you in my room in the first place!" Sasuke huffed.

"...Your weapons are usually sharper than mine." Naruto chuckled shyly.

Sasuke merely sighed. He finished packing before heading out of his room to Sakura's room. He knocked and opened the door after he heard a soft 'come in'.

Sakura looked up from her packing and smiled. "Did you need something, Sasuke-kun?"

"Ah. I used up my last summoning scroll in the last mission. Do you have an extra?" Sasuke asked.

Smiling, Sakura nodded before going to her shelf and picking one off. She turned and tossed it to Sasuke, who caught it.

"Thanks." Sasuke smiled softly. "Get some sleep. We're going to need our strength."

Sakura nodded and pecked him on the cheek. "Good night, Sasuke-kun."

"Ah. Night."

- Next Morning -

Sasuke, Sakura, Itachi, and Yuuki walked slowly to the gates as dawn approached. Yuuki yawned as Itachi wrapped his arm around her waist while she rested her head on his shoulder. As if it was contagious, Sakura yawned as well, covering her mouth with her hand. Sasuke and Itachi chuckled at their female counterparts. Sasuke reached out and grabbed Sakura's free hand and tugged her along when she started to slow down from drowsiness.

"Where did Naruto go...?" Sakura muttered sleepily.

"Naruto-kun went to fetch Hinata-chan." Yuuki muttered back.

"Oiiiiiii! Morning!" They heard a shout and pounding of feet.

"And speak of the devil..." Sasuke smirked.

They looked behind them to see the energetic blonde running to catch up, dragging a flustered Hinata behind him. When he reached them, Naruto smiled in greeting and Hinata tried to catch her breath.

"O-ohayo...m-minna (1)..." Hinata panted.

"Ohayo, Hinata-chan." Yuuki greeted with a smile.

They reached the gate and saw that Jiraiya was already waiting for them.

"Muo! You kids are slow!" Jiraiya muttered.

"Hey! I'm pregnant! So I can only walk so fast!" Yuuki pouted.

"Well, now that we're all here, let's head out!" Jiraiya sighed.

"Bye, nee-sama! Bye, nii-sama!" Sakura waved.

"Be careful, you four! Look after each other!" Yuuki waved back with a smile.

Itachi just nodded at them.

"See you soon!" Naruto shouted.

And with that the four walked out of the gates for their next new adventure.

(1) Ohayo...minna - Good morning...everyone

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