Author's note: Yes, another story. This one I actually have a plan for! Exciting stuff! Oh, and don't worry, the chapters will get longer. Let me know what you think! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and made up characters! :D

Warnings: Nothing really, maybe just language.

Word Count: 3,628

Hiruzen Sarutobi paints quietly in his office. The room is silent, the paper work on his desk is in a neat pile on the side designated as "finished". The ANBU in the ceiling watch the Hokage with never wavering gazes. The room reeks of smoke, but it filters out the many opens windows. Hiruzen grasps the pipe and pulls it from his lips to let out another whoosh of smoke. In his right hand, he holds a paintbrush steadily. Staring at the abstract painting before him. The old man coughs softly before sticking the pipe back into his mouth.

Birds can be heard chirping outside the window, mingling with the sounds of city life. A single blue bird rests on the window sill closest to the old man. Chirps a few times before expanding its wings and flying off. A loud scream of glee from children just outside the gates surrounding the Hokage Tower gives the old man pause. He listens for a moment to see if those shouts of glee turn into ones of horror.

A moment later, the screams return but further away and still filled with joy. The weather outside is warm, normal for being in the fire country. It's not blistering hot year 'round like Sunagakure no Sato. Nor is it always blistering cold like it is in the Land of Iron. Konoha is one of the few places that has all four seasons clearly. Sometimes their winters are longer than they'd like, or their falls are colder than they'd like, but for the most part, they have all of the seasons.

The kids are out enjoying the temperate summer they are in the middle of. It has stuck between the mid to high 70's and low to mid 80's thus far. Good weather for the joyous younglings, in Hiruzen's opinion. And his shinobi are enjoying the good weather too. Hiruzen glances out the window and sees the bright blue of the sky and the sun shining down on the world signaling high noon.

Turning back to his abstract drawing, he brings down the blue coated paint brush onto the paper with a sloppy, yet satisfying slap. He moves the brush robotically, letting his hand make the art, not his mind. A cool breeze ruffles his thinning hair, the faint sound of papers rustling behind him before settling back into place.

A swift knock at the door stops Hiruzen's mindlessly moving hand. He blinks a few times slowly, wondering if he had actually heard the knock or if it was just in his head. Hopefully it was just in his head, and not Shikaku with arms full of more paperwork. Rarely did that man every make his presents known without bringing something that Hiruzen didn't want to hear or see.

Another knock.

"Come in," Hiruzen calls, voice crackling more and more with age.

The door opens, but Hiruzen doesn't turn to see who's there. A heart beat later the door closes and soft footsteps make their way over to the old man, standing respectfully a few feet behind the Hokage, waiting to be acknowledged. Settling the paint brush onto a napkin, Kiruzen turns on his pillow to see the ever stern faced Fugaku Uchiha.

Mildly surprised, and a bit worried, by the visit the old man nods. "Good afternoon, Lord Uchiha."

Fugaku nods. "My lord. I hope you're having a good day so far."

Hiruzen settles back onto his pillow and stares at the man hard. More often than not does Shikaku come in with bad news, but as far back as Hiruzen can remember, Fugaku never was one for good news. Which in and of itself is bad enough.

"I am," Hiruzen says smoothly, letting out another lungful of smoke, "but you've come to change that, haven't you?"

Fugaku shifts slightly, looking almost sad about that, before the emotion falls away to indifference. "My apologies, my lord."

The third hokage waves away the apology. "No need. What can I do for you, Fugaku?"

Fugaku sighs, looking almost as old as the third hokage. "You'll never guess who I found scrounging around in our garbage."

Hiruzen slumps in his seat, feeling like twenty extra years have been added onto his life. He interlaces his fingers on his lap and looks up at Fugaku sadly. "Naruto, I persume?" Fugaku nods. "Why was he doing that?"

Fugaku crosses his arms, glaring at the floor. "He wouldn't tell me right away, but when I finally got him to talk, he told me that he wasn't allowed back in the orphanage for the next two weeks."

Hiruzen's mouth drops in shock, barely able to catch his pipe before it spills on his lap. Taking a moment to regain his composure, he says, long and drawn out, "And why is Naruto not allowed to go back to the orphanage for two weeks?"

As soon as the words leave his mouth, he knows the answer. "The demon hunt," he and Fugaku say together.

Each year around the day of the nine tails attack, corresponding with Naruto's birthday, the civilians would ban together to chase the poor boy through the city, or even outright attack him. More often than not, Naruto is the topic of conversation in the council chambers. Everyone having a different say on the matter of what to do with the boy. Kick him out of the village, put him to death, give him to Donzo and let him deal with the boy as he sees fit, so on and so forth.

Hiruzen presses his lips together tightly. "Fugaku..."

"Lord Hokage, I have held my tongue since that boy has been born. Minato would be positively livid if he found out that his child is being treated like dirt by the people of this village," Fugaku says chillingly, eyes narrowing.

Hiruzen sighs. "I understand, really I do. But if I want to keep protecting him, no matter how minute it is, I have to keep my job as Hokage. One wrong move and I'll get kicked out of office because I'm getting old and senile. Or at least that's what they'll say. I still don't have anyone in minds as a successor. Without one, I won't be able to take all the needed steps."

"I know we have to protect the boy from Minato's copious amounts of enemies, but let the Uchiha clan look out for him. Let him stay with us, it's no problem at all. In fact, Mikoto would be practically jumping with joy if we can get that boy into our care," Fugaku says, rolling his shoulders slightly.

"I want to, Fugaku, believe me I do. I want Naruto to get into a home where he will be well taken care of, but people fear that if I give Naruto to one family or another, they would somehow be able to tip the delicate balance of the families. If no one spoke up about it, I would have no qualms about letting you take care of him, but people have expressed their concerns. And trust me, if it wasn't the Uchihas, it would've been the Aburames or the Akimichis. Even Tsume Inuzuka has offered to care for the boy but I can't Fugaku, can you understand that? I can't." Hiruzen looks up at the Uchiha leader steadily. His eyes narrowed like a hawk's.

The heat, the anger simmering in those depthless black eyes cools down with understanding. "Yes, my lord. Somebody far worse could be at the helm of Konohagakure. I'm sorry if I made it sound like I am ungrateful for all you have done to help Minato's child."

"Naruto, Fugaku. His name is Naruto. The official story is that Minato sealed the nine tails into an orphan boy, not his own child. Never forget that. The shinobi side of the council that really knew Minato could see that boy as his splitting image but not many really knew the fourth hokage. And even less understood him," Hiruzen says softly, eyes distant. Remembering the young man with bright, wild blond hair and cunning blue eyes. And the young boy, Minato's mirrored image as a child.

Fugaku shakes his head, walking around aimlessly for a moment before turning back to the hokage. "Fine, but at least let him stay with us for the next few days. Minato's... Naruto, deserves to be treated like he's human. Can we at least do that?"

Hiruzen nods. "That would be fine."

Fugaku makes a strange, indescribable gesture before nodding. "Alright. Thank you, my lord. I'll be going, then."

Hiruzen nods, watching as the man goes to the door, shutting it firmly behind him. The old man sits there in silence for a long time, pulling the pipe from his lips. He stares at the wall across from himself, blankly. Hiruzen rises his eyes to the ceiling. "Captain."

A panel on the ceiling moves aside and a man draped in a white cloak falls to the floor in an effortless crouch. He raises his head slightly, revealing a white porcelain mask with red and blue stripes along with a black 1 on the center of the forehead. "You summoned me, my lord?"

"Yes," Hiruzen says, turning around to face his painting once more. "Bring the Orphanage owners to me, at once. Leave someone there to watch over the children."

The captain bows his head before flickering away with a quiet, "As you wish, my lord."

"Naruto, this is my oldest son, Itachi, and this is my youngest, Sasuke. Sasuke is your age," Mikoto was saying, smiling down at the small boy. The little blond boy turns to look between the two boy in front of him. A shy look on his face and a pink tinge on his cheeks.

"Hi," Naruto says softly. He waves his hands a little.

Itachi, settling his hands on his little brother's shoulders, nods politely at the younger boy. "It's nice to meet you."

"Hi," Sasuke waves back, face red from exertion. Just moments before his mother pulled him and his brother away, they were playing ninja, chasing each other around in the yard. Or at least, Sasuke was chasing Itachi around. The older boy isn't even out of breath. Not in the slightest.

"Sasuke? Itachi?" Naruto tests the names on his own lips, like they were strange.

Sasuke grins up at his brother, than back to Naruto. "Call him Itachi-nii. I do!"

Naruto's eyes, cobalt blue, flicker toward a glowing Mikoto. She nods like a proud mother. Naruto looks a little uncomfortable at the appeasing gaze of the older woman, not seeing in himself what she sees. Her best friend. A woman with firy red hair and cobalt blue eyes. She has to rapidly blink the image away for fear of sadness and tears coming to her at remembrance of her lost friend.

"Can I call you Itachi-nii too, Itachi-nii?" Naruto asks, a tentative smile crossing his lips.

Itachi, a little confused, nods. "If you want." His voice is light, airy almost. Whether he wants to question it or not, his face doesn't reveal it. But he does give his mother a look, like he's trying to see something. Like he's given up, he lowers his gaze back to the little blond haired boy. "Do you want to play ninja with us? Sasuke is slowing down."

The raven haired boy glares up at his brother. "No, I'm not! You're just really fast."

Itachi holds out a hand to Naruto with a blank expression. "Would you like to join us?"

Naruto nods, smiling brightly. "Yes! I would love to! How do you play?"

"Before that," Mikoto interrupts when Itachi opens his mouth to explain. "Are you boys getting hungry? I'll be making lunch soon. Naruto?"

The little boy nods. "Yes, please!"

Mikoto smiles lightly. "Anything in particular?"

Naruto shakes his head. "I'll eat anything, Mrs. Uchiha!"

"Mikoto, Naruto. Call me Mikoto. Now you boys go off and play." She smiles brightly.

The three boys nod and run off. Mikoto turns and makes her way toward the house, her dress swaying at her ankles in the breeze. Itachi watches as she disappears into the house before turning turning back to the two boys as Sasuke finishes explaining how to play with Naruto. The two boys turn toward the eldest of them with identical mischievous looks on their faces.

Itachi looks between the two of them, rising a delicate eyebrow and bracing himself for attack.

Jiraiya stares over at a collection of tadpoles swimming around in the pool in front of him. Gamabunta rests beside the white haired man, also watching the tadpoles in silence. The air up top Mount Myoboku is chilling this time of year and thin. But Jiraiya is already used to it and his thick clothes keep his body warm and protected. He watches silently as the tadpoles swim around in the pound, too young to fear the outside world but old enough to know to stay close to Gamabunta.

Jiraiya's eyes slip closed, his heart beat thumping loudly and rhythmically in his ears.

"No! No! Not my baby! Not my son!" Her screams echo in his head. In his mind's eye he sees her, dishevelled with wild hair and even wilder eyes. Tears streaking down her puffy, red face. Intermixing with the water and sweat. She becomes dead weight in his arms, unable to support herself. Brown eyes unable to open any wider as she screams unintelligible nonsense to the heavens.

She's shaking so violently he almost drops her. Nurses surround her, trying to calm her down. There is still wailing in the distance-alarms. The fire alarms. Screeching like a banshie over and over and over again. Never ending. And she slips from his grip, hitting the floor hard. She's bleeding again. She's opened her stitches. He tries to stop her, grabs her face to make her look at him, but it's too late. Her eyes find the blood and horrible war flashbacks cloud her vision.

And she won't stop screaming.

Jiraiya is pushed out of the way by doctors. No, he's pulled away. By Orochimaru. By Sarutobi-sensei. They hold him tightly as she's sedated. They try and lift him up for some reason. No, they're holding him up. His knees have buckled. All he can do is stare at the woman he loves fall to pieces before his very eyes. Hear her screams of anguish and pain die as she loses conciousness. But before she slips away, those brown eyes settle on him, the eyes that he has stared longingly into many more times than he would ever admit.

And he knows that she hates him.

And he can't bring himself to blame her.

"Jiraiya," Gamabunta says, bringing the white haired man from his thoughts. He grips his hands together tightly, trying to stop the residual shaking, hoping the old toad didn't see it. But that's too much to hope for. The old toad chieftain has known Jiraiya since he learned how to summon toads. "It's been a long time, Jiraiya. I'm sure she isn't still angry at you."

"Perhaps," Jiraiya says, voice cracking slightly. He clears his throat, shifting a little on the rock he's currently sitting on.

Gamabunta grunts. "Not perhaps, Jiraiya. You do remember what you told me back then? There was only a single thread that held Tsunade to that village. Besides, who's to say that she was going to even stay in the village regardless of what happened? She never liked it there since her brother died and that boy toy of hers was the final straw."

"Maybe," Jiraiya says, pressing his thumb and forefinger into his eyes. "I just... I can't stop thinking about him. About the look on her face when she found out. It was horrible to witness, Gamabunta." A long pause. "I don't think she will ever fully recover."

"I never thought you would either, Jiraiya," Gamabunta says. "You were down in the dumps for a very long time. That is," two yellow eyes turn to the white haired man, "until that boy came into your life."

A faint smile crosses Jiraiya's lips, one of both affection and sadness. His hand drops onto his lap. "Yeah. Minato." Jiraiya shakes his head, white hair swaying with the movement. "That boy was something else, wasn't he?"

Gamabunta laughs. "Yeah, cute kid. A little strange, but nothing I couldn't handle."

Jiraiya's lips quirk even more at that. "Good lord was he a weird kid!" Jiraiya laughs. It sounds weird to his ears. He hasn't heard his own laugh in a long time. Not much to laugh about since his star pupil and possibly best friend passed away. "There was just something about that kid that was always off."

Gamabunta grunts, smiling a bit at the sound of his old friend's laughter. His eyes lower back to the pound to watch the tadpoles playing around in the water. "There sure was. That kid wouldn't stop summoning me until I agreed to battle him. What was he? Thirteen at the time?"

Jiraiya laughs again, shaking his head. "Fourteen. It was a birthday present from me to teach him how to summon. He was so excited." Jiraiya adopts a far away look, the smile still plastered to his face. "You beat him good."

The old toad snorts. "Yeah and then every year that followed he would summon me on his birthday to do battle until he could beat me."

Jiraiya nods. "Took him five years. But he did it." Gamabunta makes an indignant noise.

"Beaten by a runt."

Jiraiya shakes his head, blinking back into the present. "Not at all, 'Bunta. You were beaten by the future fourth hokage."

That gives Gamabunta pause. "Yeah," he says after a moment of silence, "I suppose I did."

The two sit in silence just looking around at all of the collection of toad statues and statuettes and all of the toads, big and small, hopping around and going about their daily lives. Gamabunta lets out a long drawn out sigh, releasing a lot of smoke from his pipe.

As if mustering up the courage to say anything, Jiraiya straightens. "He has a boy. Minato, I mean. He's be around six by now. I've wanted to go back to the village to see him. Him, Shibi and Choza. And their kids. I'd like to meet them. Old man Third, too, I suppose. But..."

Gamabunta looks back down at the toad sage, waiting for him to continue. When he doesn't look like he's able to without prompt, he says, "But what?"

Jiraiya grips his hands together again, so tightly the knuckles turn white. He focuses on the pain in his hands from the nails biting into the palms instead of the emotion coiling in his stomach and chest. Weighing on his heart heavily. "Sensei says he looks like Minato. Splitting image of him. I don't know if I'm strong enough yet to go back and meet him. Not while my raw pain for Minato still remains. It wouldn't be fair to the boy to be part of his life and then just leave when I can't deal with how much he reminds me of Minato. Right?"

Gamabunta stares at him with a tilted head. "Jiraiya, there is no need to rush to see the boy. You will meet him one day, it is inevitable. Just take your time."

Jiraiya jerks his head to face Gamabunta, eyes wide. "But, 'Bunta. This is Minato's son! I should have been there, day one! I just don't want to make the same mistakes that I made with Minato. Or with my own son..." his voice gets low and his eyes darken. "I was always going off for one reason or another and Minato would always wish me a good journey and to come back home soon." Jiraiya's eyes soften at the memory. "What if he hates me now? For not going back to see his son. Minato was always okay with you wronging him, but not those he loved."

Gamabunta, a little shocked, says, "Jiraiya, that boy could never hate you. He loved you an awful lot, you know that right? All that boy ever wanted to do was to please you. You were like an idol to him."

Jiraiya wilts a little, shoulders slumping. "I could do no wrong to Minato. That's what hurts the most. No matter what I did, Minato would forgive me. I have no doubts he would forgive me for this too."

Gamabunta grunts, shifting slightly. "I hate people like that. I feel like shit when I let them down. I hate feeling like shit."

Jiraiya's lips quirk slightly. "Yeah, 'Bunta. Me too. As for Naruto, Minato's son, I'll go see him one day. I'll tell him all about his mother and father and I'll stick by his side for as long as I can. Until that boy no longer needs me, or asks me to leave himself. I will. But I can't today. Maybe not this year. But one day."

Gamabunta nods. "And that's okay. If any of Minato's compassion passed on to his son, Naruto will forgive you too."