Thrsssssssss!

It was raining out, though no one seemed to really care. Everything seemed numb, almost apathetic to the existence to such a thing as rain, after the recent events that had scarred the nearby forests.

'That rain... probably due to the immense heat released by that beast,' though an aged man, absentmindedly, trying not to think of what that heat had done to his comrades. That... creature, was horrific. No other word summed it up as much as that one, it made the versions in it's tales look friendly in comparison.

Glancing down at the small child, the only other occupant in the room, he sighed. Hiruzen had a bad feeling, he was starting to question the wisdom of his... former predecessor. "As great as this village is, its people still are shortsighted, and superficial. If they know who you are, it would take more than it should to gain their respect, Naruto." Sighing again, he walked forward, and picked up the strangely calm child. 'I guess being born, and having the strongest beast known to man sealed into you, all in one night, could tire you out. Eh, Naruto?'

Leaving the room where the child in his arms' seal was applied, he crept through the Hokage tower silently. 'This child,' he mused, 'should not have to suffer due to the ignorance of others. I'm sorry, Minato, but I cannot tell the Village of who was sealed. They may be strong-willed, but that can very easily be put to negative use, that of prejudice against an innocent. He must be the one that tells others of what he is, if he's anything like you, he'd hate having that choice made for him anyway.'

Almost passing a symbol-less door, in an unmarked hallway, he suddenly pauses, and opens it. Walking in, he examined the contents of the small room: a small crib, complete with blanket and pillows, he thanked Kakashi silently. The kid understood the meaning of, 'unassuming.' Placing the child into the crib, and wrapping him with the blanket, he stepped silently back. Though, almost as soon as he removed his arms, the child began to stir.

Wrapping the child a bit tighter in his blankets, he spoke soothingly, "Shh, it's okay Naruto. Relax, everything's gonna be okay, trust me." When the child had calmed, and fell presumably back asleep, the old man crept out of the room as silently as he entered.

After checking the Genjutsu placed on the door, he sulked back to his once-former office. He still had at least one more task for the night.

Tiredly sitting down into the well-worn chair, he absentmindedly thought about how the younger generations had found a way to get him back working again, after he thought he'd retired. Sighing again, he set upon his last assumed task of the night, a letter. After contemplation about how to word it to his previous student, he began writing his request.

Finishing rather quickly, all things considered, he signed and sealed it. Summoning one of the few available AnBu, he explained his instructions regarding this letter. It was to be delivered to one, Jiraiya of the Denketsu no Sannin, upon his arrival to the village. It was not to be read by anyone but him, and it was to be delivered immediately, with high consequences upon failure to comply to these rules.

After making sure that the masked nin understood, the agent was dismissed. Thinking about how tired he was again, Sarutobi made his way back to the newborn's room. Unfortunately for him, the child needed to be monitored, and he couldn't very well make someone else do it without raising unneeded suspicions.

Settling down in the chair he set out for himself, he mused upon the possible future of the child. Maybe he would be like his father, determined and with a good sense of right and wrong. There was even a very good chance he would be the Hokage someday, what with his lineage, and who would be raising him.

Though what the tired man could not have known, was that even his most grandiose visions for the sleeping child, paled in comparison to what his Destiny would bring...

AN: Hello all FFnet people, I'm DemonKingSamael! This is my first fic - hell, it's my first piece of real fiction writing - so excuse any shoddy-ness encountered. Or better yet, tell me about it, I'd love to improve.

This story is basically a Jiraiya-adopted Naruto. What makes it different about other fics of this nature is a few key aspects. One, it's gonna be realistic. Jiraiya's not gonna train some little kid to be a god by the time he's 16, it's just not right to force that kinda power on a little kid. Two, a big part of raising Naruto is the land of his summons, Myobokuzan. Three, I'm going to stick pretty close to canon not affected by the differences encurred already. Some stuff will have to be non-canon though, but I'm gonna try to keep in as minimum as possible.

Here is where I have to give a HUGE shout-out to PeinsDisciple. He pretty much inspired my to try a fanfic with his awesome writing, and gave me this story concept when we were bouncing ideas off each other. I HIGHLY recommend reading his stories, they're REALLY good. I honestly can't thank him enough, because I feel this story will be very enjoyable to me, and a good break from canon when it seems like Kishi is personally trying to troll me. The first actual chapter isn't done, but I'm hoping to finish very soon, and actually posting this will hopefully 'put a fire under my ass' and make me actually work. Anyway, read PD's stories, enjoy mine as it comes out, and have a generally good day. Bai-Bai!

.