Toad Sannin Rising.
Prologue.
Souther Hi no Kuni
"Jiraiya, what the fuck."
"Hey, Tsunade. Still drinking yourself to sleep, I see."
"How did you track me down?"
Jiraiya laughed.
"Pfft, spymaster, remember?"
Tsunade just shook her head.
"Why are you here?"
"What, I can't just drop by for a chat?"
"Get to the point, Jiraiya."
"Fine. Minato and Kushina are dead."
Tsunade's eyes widened.
"What, how?!"
"You know she was due a week ago. We called you to help us. You didn't show up."
"You didn't need me."
"The Kyuubi escaped when their child was delivered."
Silence.
"Minato died sealing the kyuubi into his own son. Kushina died helping him. Naruto is with sensei right now. Much of the village is destroyed."
"Well, fuck."
"Yes, Tsunade, fuck. Fuck it all. This could have been prevented if you had been there. Why weren't you?"
"I told you I'm never going back to the village."
"I DON'T WANT TO LISTEN TO THE SAME OLD SHIT, TSUNADE!"
Tsunade recoiled. She had never seen Jiraiya this angry.
He was angry. He was hurt. He was not going to take it out on her.
"Don't presume I'm just going to sit here while you blame your mistakes on me. You were supposed to protect your godson. Not me. You weren't in the village either."
Jiraiya looked up, and she was alarmed by the expression on his face. To think that Jiraiya, the person who loved her always, could look at her with such hatred, she had never thought it possible.
"Yes, I wasn't. There's a reason I wasn't. But trying to reason with a coward like you is useless. You're a useless drunk who can't get past her mistakes, Tsunade."
Tsunade got up. She cocked her hand faster than most shinobi could see.
Jiraiya was not most shinobi.
He caught that punch.
Tsunade's eyes were wider than saucers.
"This is goodbye, Tsunade. I don't care anymore. Fuck you. I'm not going to give up like you did. I'm not going to shit on the memory of the people who loved me. I'm going to make sure my godson lives the life he deserved to."
He pushed her back and she slammed into the wall.
He was gone the next second.
He was going to give Naruto a good life.
He was his godfather.
He was going to protect him, any way he could.
. . . . . . .
4 months later
Myobokuzan
"You're here after a long time, Jiraiya-Chan. What brings you to Myobokuzan?"
"Things in the village have been getting better. They're stable enough that they don't need me to be on high alert all the time. Naruto is safe at Sarutobi-sensei's house. Biwako, praise the gods, survived the attack. She'll take care of him. She and sensei will wholeheartedly take care of him. They loved Minato as much as I did."
"That's good to hear. When are you going to bring little Naru-chan here?"
"No idea. Probably when he has grown a bit. I, whoever, will be here for some time."
"Oh? Why is that, Jiraiya-chan?"
"I'm going to complete my Sage Mode."
The frogs smiled widely.
"Finally. I thought you were going to rely on us forever."
Jiraiya looked away, and closed his eyes.
"Orochimaru is still out there, and who knows how many other threats? I'm going to grow strong enough to protect Naruto. Tsunade has given up. She isn't what she once was. If you can, please ask Katsuyu to talk to her. She always had a soft spot for that damn slug."
"Are you going to go chase Oro-baka to the ends of the earth again?"
"No. It's time for me to stop regretting past actions, and do what is right. Orochimaru was my responsibility, and he still is. It's past time to put an end to my old friend."
"Well then, to the Toad Oil reservoir, I assume?"
Jiraiya nodded.
. . . . . . .
Well, that's the prologue done. This story is going to basically be a Jiraiya Resurgence novel. Very heavy espionage and mature themes. Jiraiya is a spy. That part of his job is always underused in fanfiction. Hell, it was underused in the original series.
With that, I'll take my leave. Please Review!
Cheesecake out.