A Promise Kept
Chapter 1: A promise to a pupil
The stars shone high above Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, as screams of pain and fear were heard. The date was October 10 and it was this date that the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked the village. The shinobi of the village converged on the kitsune in an attempt to stall it until the Yondaime Hokage arrived. None knew why the Kyuubi had suddenly appeared or why it was attacking their village but many would lose their lives defending their village.
(Meanwhile at the Hokage tower)
"Minato isn't there another way?" asked the Sandaime.
"Sorry Sarutobi-sama but there isn't. Is Jiraiya-sensei here? I want to say good bye to him," enquired Minato also known as the Yondaime.
"No and they still haven't found Kushina either. I'm so…" but the former Hokage's response was cut off by Kakashi Hatake entering the room.
"Minato-sensei, the Kyuubi is getting closer. It's just about at the village wall," said Kakashi.
"Alright, Kakashi. Sarutobi-sama, give me Naruto, my son and I have some business to attend to. Give these scrolls to Jiraiya-sensei for Naruto when he is older. Tell Jiraiya give him his mother's clan's legacy whenever he feels it to be necessary," said Minato as he disappeared in a flash of yellow light.
"What do you want gaki?" yelled an old man with white hair and a strange spiked hitaite with the kanji for oil on it.
"Jiraiya you are too late, he already went to the front lines," replied Sarutobi.
"Damn it I found another way to beat Kyuubi, we have to stop him" yelled Jiraiya.
...
(At the front lines)
"Look it's the Hokage!"
"We're saved!"
"Thank Kami!"
"That bastard fox will finally fall!"
These were the things Minato heard as he appeared. He knew that his presence alone would inspire them to fight with renewed vigour. He knew it was futile though, as far as he knew there was only one way to stop a bijuu and that was to seal it into something. He quickly bit his thumb and preformed five seals ending on the ram seal. He smashed his hand on the ground with a cry of Kuchiyose no jutsu. In a giant plume of smoke he stood on top of the boss summons of the toads, Gamabunta. Wasting no time, he had Gamabunta distract the Kyuubi while he performed the seals for the shiki fujin to seal it away for good. As he performed the seals, he prayed that his son would one day be able to forgive him. He completed the seals and summoned the shinigami to seal the bijuu into his own son to save the village. Looking back at the Kyuubi, he saw the claw the kitsune had aimed at his son and quickly moved into the path. Just as he finished, Sandaime and Jiraiya arrived, to tell him of another way.
"Here sensei you know what to do," said Minato handing his son to Jiraiya as he fell over dead.
"What did he mean by that? Either way, we mourn the loss of a brave man and all our fallen comrades," said Sarutobi.
"I'll tell you what it means when we get back to his office," said Jiraiya as silent tears flowed down his face.
...
(In the Hokages office)
"Sensei I'm taking Naruto into my custody," proclaimed Jiraiya as soon as they entered into the office.
"And what makes you think you have the authority to do that?" asked Sarutobi.
"Simple, I'M HIS GODFATHER!" yelled Jiraiya scaring the old man out of his skin.
"The council won't like this one bit," said Sarutobi rubbing his temples.
"Damn the council! You will be reinstated as Hokage so you better not let them push you around. Show them the will of fire you preached about to us when we were genin. Show them why you are called the GOD OF SHINOBI!" said Jiraiya fiercely.
Just as Sarutobi was starting to feel his age, he remembered just why he took the position of Hokage at age seventeen. His memory ignited with a passion he forgot long ago, and his will of fire burned anew.
"You are right Jiraiya, I AM the Hokage now let us remind the council just who is in charge," said Sarutobi feeling younger by the minute.
"Yes sensei but my new son will stay by me the whole time" said Jiraiya.
"Fine, and Jiraiya you better not turn him into a pervert," warned Sandaime.
"No promises Sarutobi-sama" said Jiraiya smirking.
...
(The council chamber)
"We must kill the demon, while it is still weak!"
"No we could turn it into a weapon that listens only to us!"
"SILENCE, I WILL NOT HAVE THIS INNOCENT CHILD BE HARMED BY ANY OF YOU!" shouted Sarutobi making the council nearly shit themselves because they weren't expecting this. They had all seen the slow deterioration of the Sandaime into the fragile old man he was, but now before them stood the vaunted Shinobi No Kami.
"But Sandaime-sama, that boy is a demon in human form, he must be ki…" was all the council man got out before he started chocking on the killing intent coming from Sarutobi in waves.
"I'm only going to say this once so pay very close attention," said the elderly man in a deadly calm voice, "This child is not the Kyuubi, he is only the container. If I ever hear any of you speak of him otherwise your lives are forfeit. I will not let you kill or harm the Yondaime's son in any way. That includes turning him into a living weapon, Danzo," he said still in that eerily quiet voice glaring at said councilman.
"The demon has influenced the Sandaime we must k…" was all the same councilman could say before a kunai pierced right between his eyes.
"I warned him. Now is there any business that we need to conduct before we call it a night?" asked Sandaime with the old flame of passion burning in his eyes. This didn't go unnoticed by the elders of the council. They silently fumed because they saw he would not be pushed around like they hoped he would when they reinstated him.
"Fine but he will not be allowed to be a shinobi," said Koharu. Since Naruto was an orphan (as far as they knew) that meant that he was completely under their jurisdiction.
"That will be up to his adopted father actually," said Sarutobi with a smirk.
"And who is the boys' father?" asked Homura angrily.
"That would be me, you condescending prick," said Jiraiya as he emerged from the shadows with Naruto in his arms.
"Sandaime-sama you must not allow this, that…thing will corrupt Jiraiya-sama," said another council member.
"You're treading into very dangerous waters there. Now I'll rebuke you. I am first and foremost known as a master spy in this village. This is essential that ONLY our village knows this. However what every other village knows me as is both a ninjutsu type shinobi and a seal master. Minato was even better than I am at seals. Any seal that he used to contain a Bijuu means that that thing is not seeing the light of day for a very long time. Also I would probably be correct in assuming he put a failsafe into the seal," said Jiraiya.
"What would this possible failsafe be?" asked Sarutobi.
"Most likely it would be a release seal. If anything were to kill Naruto than the fox would be released," said Jiraiya smugly as the civilian council paled.
Sarutobi just smirked. "Now is there anything else we have to worry about tonight? No, any questions?"
"Sandaime-sama, I must ask when you regained your passion. I haven't seen you like this since the last shinobi war?" asked Hiashi Hyuuga.
"To answer your questions, Hiashi, I rekindled my will of fire tonight thanks to Jiraiya reminding me of what I lost when I was close to retiring," replied Sarutobi with the glint of someone who was still in their prime in his eye.
"May I also suggest we vamp up the security around the hot-springs? I can think of a number of women (like all of them) who would like to have privacy when they bath. If Jiraiya-sama is to remain in the village as Naruto's adopted father than we should at least make the spring's safer, if only marginally," said Hiashi.
"Sorry they are already over-budget and I can't lend them the money, especially so soon after the attack."
"Remind me to never have daughters Hokage-sama," said Hiashi shaking his head.
"That hurts Hiashi, I may be a super pervert but I'm no paedophile. In fact you should remember what happened to the last paedophile/rapist I came across," said Jiraiya with a pissed look on his face and an edge to his voice.
"I was never told of this so please enlighten me, did you sit down and have tea with him and chat while…" was all Hiashi could get out before he was sent flying through the concrete reinforced wall behind him.
"No Hiashi, when I got through with him there wasn't anything left that was big enough to identify him with. You should best remember that because I know that it is fairly common for fat lazy main branch Hyuugas to get it into their heads that they are invincible. They then think they can have their way with whomever they choose," said Jiraiya releasing so much killing intent that even Sarutobi was finding it hard to breath. He kept it up until Naruto started bawling in his arms, which was when he bid everyone good night (except Hiashi) and left.
"When you get to the right age I am going to train you just like I trained your father. I promise I will always protect you, my son," said Jiraiya to Naruto as he proceeded to one of his three homes.