Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Summoned In Time

Chapter One

Tsunade was headed straight for the next town where she could get a good drink, and find some quality gambling, when she realised where she was. She stopped, staring out towards the tree line, knowing that just past them was an old abandoned settlement. Shizune kept going for a few paces before she noted that her guardian and mentor had stopped.

"Tsunade-oba?" she asked. "What is it?"

Instead of answering, Tsunade simply grabbed her hand and led her through the trees and to the old settlement. The faded symbol of the Senju clan was barely visible on the broken gates, but she ignored it in favour of wandering into the old compound. Shizune looked around with wide eyed wonder as Tsunade strode with purpose toward the main family houses.

"Th-this is an old Senju compound," Shizune breathed in awe. "Do you… Do you think there's anything left here?"

"Probably not," was Tsunade's reply. "My clan would have taken everything from here when the village was formed. The wards are mostly gone, but there's still some resistance. So maybe looters haven't been in here yet. We'll see."

The main house was in the middle of the compound, and mostly intact. Tsunade kept a firm hold of Shizune's hand as she pushed open the half rotted door, most of it falling off when she did so. Inside was dark, but some dappled light shone through a few cracked windows. Tsunade found a candle and, using a one handed jutsu, lit it. She grabbed it and moved further through the house.

At some point, Shizune's hand left her own, though the girl stayed close regardless. Tsunade had pulled open some shoji doors, letting enough light in that she didn't really need the lit candle anymore. But she kept it close when she came across a trapdoor that possibly led to an underground escape route.

"Stay up here, Shizune," she ordered as she pulled it open.

"But what if someone comes?" Shizune asked, a little scared at being left alone.

"If that happens…" Tsunade bit her lip. "If that happens, then come down. But stay right here otherwise, alright?"

Shizune nodded and Tsunade stepped down into inky darkness.

There were old scrolls down here, but upon checking them, Tsunade saw that they were basically housekeeping records for the clan. What supplies they had, how many trips they'd made for supplies, things like that. Boring stuff, really. Paperwork. She made a face and stashed a scroll she had back into its pile. Continuing through, she eventually found the place where the main family's secret escape route was, the latch that hid it even still worked. She pulled it, and an earth wall moved to the side.

Well, earth jutsu were her clan's speciality, if you didn't count the Mokuton, that is.

She was about to close it again and head back up, when she spotted another scroll. It was right there in the middle of the escape tunnel, looking like it had been forgotten or lost in a rush to leave. Curious, she bent and picked it up, noticing the kanji on it indicated that it wasn't a housekeeping record like the others. Shrugging, she stashed it in a hidden pocket, then closed the tunnel and headed back up to where Shizune waited for her.

They didn't stay much longer, and soon were back on the road for the nearby town, Daisen. They got a room, and Tsunade left Shizune with scrolls to study while she went out to drink and gamble. Later that night she was back, Shizune long in bed and asleep. Tsunade pulled the scroll from the compound out and stared at it. It was a Senju scroll, of that there was no doubt. But the Uzumaki crest was also on it. She realised that there was some kind of jutsu embedded in the scroll, though she had no idea what sort.

She wasn't stupid enough to activate it herself.

Biting her thumb and resolutely ignoring the blood, she summoned a small portion of Katsuyu. "Tsunade-sama," the slug greeted her. "What can I do for you?"

"I need you to get a message to Jiraiya," Tsunade said. "When you de-summon yourself, get one of his toads to reverse summon him, and tell him to get his useless ass to Daisen. Can you do that?"

"Of course, Tsunade-sama," Katsuyu said. "Jiraiya will have the message by morning."

As the little slug disappeared in a puff of smoke, Tsunade sighed and wondered what the hell she was even doing.

OoOoO

Two days later, Jiraiya showed up.

"Hime," he greeted with a drawl. "To what do I owe the honour? Have you finally decided that you can't live without me, and just have to… oof!"

Tsunade threw the scroll at him to stop him in his tracks. "Tell me what this is," she snapped at him.

"A scroll?" Jiraiya said, sarcasm lacing his words a tad, then he looked closer at it. "Hmm… This is… Where did you get this?"

"There's an old Senju compound nearby," she told him. "This was in the main family's escape tunnel."

"So… you don't even know what this is?" he asked, continuing when she shook her head, "this scroll… the markings indicate it's a time travelling scroll."

Tsunade's brow rose. "You're kidding?" she said. "That's… that's… That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of!"

"And yet, that's what it says," Jiraiya said. "You haven't… tried opening it, have you?"

Tsunade whacked him over the head. "Of course I haven't, you dolt!" she snapped at him. "I'm not an idiot, like some people!"

She glared heavily at him, then the two of them stared down at the scroll. "There are a lot of people who would love to get their hands on something like this," Jiraiya said. "People who should probably be kept far, far away from it."

"Like Kumo, Iwa, Danzou…" Neither of them particularly liked or even trusted Shimura Danzou, even if the Hokage did.

"So what should I do with it?" Tsunade wondered.

"Destroy it," Jiraiya said matter of factly. "Get rid of it in a way that no one could ever make use of it, no matter what jutsu they might know. Unless… you wanted to use it?"

Tsunade whacked him over the head again. "Why would I want to do that?" she demanded.

"Curiosity?" Jiraiya said as he rubbed his abused skull. "Though I wouldn't suggest doing it here. Maybe in a more secure or even just remote location? Back at that compound, perhaps?"

Tsunade wanted to say no, wanted to burn the thing to ashes. But she couldn't deny she was curious. After all, that was why she'd gotten Jiraiya to come here, right?

…

Right. Nodding, she said, "We'll go to the compound tonight. I don't want Shizune involved, so she can stay at the hotel."

She snatched the scroll back from him and shoved it back where she'd been keeping it. "Meet me at the east side of the village after ten tonight," she said as she stood.

"Late night rendezvous," Jiraiya grinned. "I can't wait!"

Then he yelped in pain when Tsunade hit him over the head again, harder this time.

OoOoO

They were in the middle of the compound twenty minutes after meeting outside Daisen. "Creepy," Jiraiya noted, eyeing the derelict buildings warily.

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "You don't still believe in ghosts, do you?" she asked.

"Of course not!" Jiraiya denied, chest puffed out. "It's just creepy here with the whole 'abandoned' feel, you know?"

Tsunade whacked him with the scroll, then handed it over to him. Jiraiya carefully opened it, then read quickly, but thoroughly, through it. "Hmm, well, looks like it's more of a summoning scroll than a time travel scroll," he said. "Though whatever's summoned with it will travel through time. You know what? This handwriting is familiar, but I can't place it…"

Tsunade snatched it back, eyes roaming over the kanji. "Tobi-ojisan," she said. "This is his handwriting."

"The Nidaime?" Jiraiya asked, brow rising and voice impressed. "Well in that case, I'm much less sceptical on whether or not this will work. He was a genius at researching and inventing jutsu, after all. So, are we really going to do this?"

"We're already here, aren't we?" Tsunade asked with a shrug. "Let's get it done."

She handed the scroll back to him, and Jiraiya carefully laid it out, biting his thumb and performing the hand signs. He activated the scroll and… Nothing happened.

"Arg!" he cried. "It didn't work!"

Tsunade leaned down and noticed something that Jiraiya had obviously overlooked. "Well, it was probably because you aren't a Senju," she said, pointing out the particular blood kanji that confirmed it.

"Oh, right, I wondered what that bit was for," he said, unabashed. "Well, hime, looks like it's up to you."

Tsunade glared at him, bit her thumb, then shakily and carefully ran through the hand signs. She activated the scroll, and it glowed brightly. The two of them stood back, watching as a two meter circumference around the scroll glowed, until it eventually faded away, and a young woman stood there. She stared at them with wide, green eyes, then those same eyes rolled up into the back of her head, and she collapsed. Jiraiya rushed forward and caught her before she hit the ground.

"It worked," he murmured, then gave a sharp laugh. "Ha! What d'ya know?!"

Tsunade reached over to the girl in Jiraiya's grasp, activating her healing chakra to check on her condition. "She's mildly injured," she noted as she healed. "Chakra exhaustion too. I have a feeling it's not because of the jutsu though."

"Her clothes are a mess, too," Jiraiya noted. "They're all torn and burned! Whoever she is, she's been through one hell of a wringer!"

Tsunade nodded in agreement. "There's just one thing," she said. "We didn't even think of this… How mad do you think she's gonna be when she wakes up?"

Jiraiya paled, then sighed. "Let's just get her back to your hotel room," he said, elaborating at her 'look', "You wanna leave her here? Or with me?"

Tsunade glared at him and all but snatched the girl from his arms. "Let's go!" she snapped. "And don't forget the scroll!"

They headed off back to Daisen.

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