Jiraiya - Names

Jiraiya picked up his cup of tea and took a careful sip, wary that Minato was the one who made it. As talented as his student was, Minato could never seem to make anything edible or drinkable. Jiraiya had found out the hard way. But the tea this time was nice and fragrant; Kushina's handiwork.

"I was thinking...," Minato said with a wide smile, his eyes crinkling shut. "We want to raise our children to be shinobi like the one in your book!" He patted his copy of The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi, slightly battered from multiple readings. "That's why we've decided to name our firstborn after the main character in your book. What do you think?"

Jiraiya stared at in Minato in shock, nearly dropping his cup. "A-are you about sure? It's just a random name. I came up with it while I was eating some ramen—"

Kushina chose that moment to leave the kitchen and join them. Cupping her rounded belly, she gave Jiraiya a small smile. (Dressed in a form-covering dress. Such a shame. Even pregnant, Kushina was a beauty. More so, because she was less likely to become violent, in fear of harming the babies.) Jiraiya hastily set the cup down.

"Naruto... It's a beautiful name."

"Kushina...," Jiraiya murmured.

They both glanced at her belly, where two small lives were growing. One day, they would grow to be great shinobi like their parents. For now, though...

Jiraiya gave a nervous laugh. "If I name him, that makes me his godfather, right? Both of their godfather? Are you sure you want that on your heads?"

Minato smiled, sharing a glance with Kushina, who moved to stand next to him. She gently placed her hand on his shoulder. Minato was the one who responded.

"Absolutely! You're a man with true skill," he said, conviction shining through his eyes. "An example we should all follow. I can't think of a finer shinobi than you."

Just by looking at them Jiraiya could tell that they really believed Minato's words. They really wanted him to be their sons' godfather. Jiraiya let out a heavy sigh, a smile twitching at his lips.

Well, who was he to deny the Fourth Hokage and his wife? That would only lead to a beating from Kushina, heavily pregnant or not.

But that begged the question of—

"What about your other boy? What are you going to name him?"

Minato and Kushina shared another look, this time tinged with amusement. So what if Jiraiya sounded a bit nervous? He had reason to be! Being the godfather of one Namikaze-Uzumaki spawn would be hard enough, let alone two. And with one of them being named after a character from his book (named after a ramen topping)... Just how bad would the other one be?

"We want to name him Renge," Minato said.

Jiraiya looked at him sharply, but before he could say anything, Kushina continued where her husband left off.

"It's sad that two friends and teammates became enemies. By naming our sons Naruto and Renge, we hope that the two can reconcile in life."

"And you know Kushina won't let the two fight each other," Minato smiled sardonically.

"Damn right I won't!" said woman exclaimed, one hand clenched in a fist raised near her face, a fire in her eyes.

Both men grimaced.

"If anything happens to us, we want the twins to have someone looking out for them," Minato said, continuing their conversation. "That includes Kakashi."

"That boy? Are you sure?" Jiraiya was a bit dubious. Sure, Kakashi was Minato's student and a strong shinobi. But he was still a kid, and with so many issues, too. He could still remember what the brat was like a few years ago.

The blonde gave a half-smile. "Hopefully the twins will be a good influence on him."

And hopefully he'll mitigate your bad influence, went unsaid.

"Hm," Jiraiya gave a thoughtful hum. Well, at the least, they would terrorize the Hatake brat. After some of the things the brat accused him of, Kakashi deserved it. "And the godmother?"

"I chose her!" Kushina shouted, a wide smile splitting her face in two. "Mikoto-chan, of course. I'm already little Itachi-chan's godmother."

Jiraiya raised his eyebrows and glanced at Minato, but Minato was smiling, too. Hmm. Obviously Kushina chose the Uchiha woman because she's close to her, but Minato….

A political move?

If so, well played. At the least, his student's boys will grow up surrounded by dark-haired beauties.

But Kushina misread his expression as disbelief and launched into a loud fit.

"What's that look for! I'll have you know—"

...Which lasted for quite a while. No matter how much he pleaded for Minato to rescue him through his eyes, his traitorous student only smiled. After almost an hour's rant, Jiraiya finally cut in.

"Well, this is fun and all, but I have to go. Just one last thing: next time you get pregnant, I hope it's a girl. She'll definitely grow to be a looker!"

"Sensei!"

He was quick to make his retreat, the feel of Kushina's rage bubbling behind him.

A/N:

Italicized sentences are taken from the manga.

To clarify, Minato and Kushina thought they were going to have twin boys. It's an assumption all parties involved made when they went in for a check-up and the iryou-nin identified Naruto's gender but couldn't get a good enough view of Renge. Pretty much Renge just didn't much care to uncurl more than necessary, except when she and Naruto "explored" the womb (more like kicked and punched at whatever they could reach).

I've never read the official version of "The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi," so I don't actually know what happens in it. I do know that Naruto's main character and that Renge's the antagonist.