Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction based on the Naruto world, created by Masashi Kishimoto. Except few of my own created characters like Hiro Utagawa all of the characters belong to Kishimoto. I am not profiting financially from the creation and publication of this story.
Readers are suggested to read the author's note at the end of the chapter.
Chapter 1: The Legendary Toad Sannin!
In the Village Hidden in the Leaves, there once lived a little boy called Hiro.
Dreams are important for every human being, and few dreams are as exciting and huge as those of little children. Hiro himself had his own dream, and it was as large as the toad boss Gamabunta!
Still, in the end Hiro was actually a very ordinary boy. He lived with his parents in a nice house. His father's name was Kunisada Utagawa and he was the best painter in the land of fire. Hiro's mother was a shinobi, a jonin named Konomi Mimura. Their family was pretty well-off, so if you ignore the indispensable dangers coming with living inside a ninja village, Hiro Utagawa was member of a happy family.
Konomi was one of the jonins responsible for Konoha shinobi archives, and she loved her work. Few people in the village knew as much about legendary ninjas as her. She knew the family tree of Hashirama Senju, name of the taijutsu styles created by Madara Uchiha. She could tell you the full story of Sasuke Sarutobi and how he went as high as 100 meters in one jump.
Before going to sleep, Hiro asked her, "Mama, tell me a story." So she told him the tales of the all-knowing professor, white fang, legendary sannins and yellow flash. Hiro loved them. Just like every other kids he was extremely curious and asked questions after question, "Mama, how can monkey king Enma turn into a staff?", "Mama, do you think the white fang knew the language of dogs?" "Mama, who was the best sannin?"
Konomi always tried to answer, "Hmm, that's a good question. Everyone has their own opinion, and all of the sannins were super powerful. But I think the best of them is Jiraiya."
"The toad sage? Why?"
So Konomi continued her story, and Hiro swallowed it like candy. Jiraiya was the dead last of his class, the least talented shinobi of them all. He was part of the team consisting of a genius like Orochimaru and princess Tsunade Senju. At first Jiraiya couldn't even dream to compete with the likes of them. But he never gave up. He tried his hardest and started to catch up. Jiraiya somehow managed to sign a contract with the toads, learned fuinjutsu, and turned into a powerhouse. He took a group of genins as student and one of them became the yellow flash. Eventually the princess Tsunade left Konoha out of depression. The genius Orochimaru turned into a traitor. But Jiraiya the dead last never abandoned his home. Till this day he protects Konoha from outside.
Hiro had stars in his eyes, "Wah! Jiraiya is so cool! Mama, do you think I will be a super ultra shinobi like him oneday?"
"For sure!", Konomi shouted, "I believe you can become a great shinobi just like Jiraiya."
Hiro suddenly jumped out of his bed and took a pose, "Huh! Beware evil shinobis and enemies of Konoha! You are nothing before me. Because I am hiro, the legendary sannin!"
His mother just laughed at his antics. At this age every kid wants to become a legendary ninja. How many can actually accomplish this?
Suddenly she realized the number is a lot less then what she first assumed.
Life goes on. The village keep losing members everyday, but new life is also born. This world is still a bleak place. A shinobi cuts his enemie's throat and hopes someday someone will change everything. A hero will emerge.
Who knows where that hero is. Maybe in a forest training his skills. Maybe on a roof just watching clouds. Maybe he is sitting on a bench at the side of a park, looking at the other children with sad lonely eyes because no one will let him play. Or maybe that hero is actually among those children, playing and laughing with everyone else.
And one day, a group of possible heroes (or villains, who knows) are admitted in the Konoha Ninja Academy.
Future shinobi or not, kids are kids. They don't listen to instructions properly, give no attention in class, read manga instead of memorizing the shinobi rules. All the teachers get mad now and then, but they still try to treat everyone as equally as possible.
Hiro is also in that group. He likes to think that he is as important as everyone else, but even he knows that's not completely true. This class consists of a huge number of clan heirs, and all the teachers know clan children usually show more potential than regular ones.
Still, Hiro is happy. It's not so bad. After all, he is not someone like that kid Naruto with whisker marks. Not even teachers like him. That boy is kind of loud, and not really sharp. Whenever he does something wrong everyone starts to laugh at him. He even gets really bad marks at tests.
Hiro is also fairly calm. Konomi's stories have turned him into a good listener and rare speaker. He is one of few students who stay attentive during the class lectures. And Hiro even made some friends.
Although there is one thing that separates Hiro from everyone else, which is not anything of great significance like prodigious intellect or a bloodline, in fact for a shinobi this trait can turn into a hindrance. Hiro is a very kind person. Maybe too kind to be a proper shinobi. Konomi understand this, but she doesn't have the heart to kill his child's innocence.
Sometimes he feels sad for Naruto. If he could he would try to help him. But he fears associating with Naruto might ostracize himself from everyone else. He tries not to laugh at him much, but it gets difficult to not do something everyone else is doing.
Hiro is a smart kid. He likes to read and Iruka said he even pays attention in the class. So Konomi knew something fishy was going on after looking at his latest test score, "Okay, what is this? You scored the least in class? I thought you were one of the top scorers in the last written exam. How can your marks possibly come here from there!"
"It's obvious isn't it?" Hiro said in a very serious voice, "I need to become the dead last."
"What kind of reason is that? Have you hit you head somewhere recently?"
"Of course not. But as you know, my dream is to become just like Jiraiya. How can I accomplish my dream if I am not the dead last just like him?"
Konomi smacked the back of his head, "You idiot, dead last is just a position, it doesn't make you unique. Idolizing someone means to achieve that person's good traits. If you want to make Jiraiya your idol then I have nothing against it, but that doesn't mean you have to imitate him like a monkey."
So Hiro promised to try his best from now on. Still, he was happy. Because next day, everyone ignored him. But for once, no one made fun of Naruto for getting lowest marks in class.
A detailed narration of Hiro's life before the graduation exam can be given, but that would probably turn into a boring humorless description of everyday activities. He was an attentive student and probably knew more about the ninja world than most of his peers. He trained regularly and had a good grasp of the three basic ninjutsus. Other than theoretical subjects he was average in everything else.
So Hiro Utagawa graduated from the Konohagakure Ninja Academy at the age of 12. The night before team assignment, he listed his next plans on a piece of paper:
The steps to Jiraiya:
1. Become part of a team.
2. Have a successful career.
3. Start writing a popular novel series.
4. Train a future hokage.
5. Become a sage (what does it mean actually?).
6. Get strong enough to be considered for the position of hokage.
7. Become legendary!
Known Taijutsu Skills:
Jiraiya is supposedly a tall and strong person. Nothing much is known about his taijutsu styles, but I think it has something to do with toads.
So only thing I can do is to become proficient in taijutsu by myself.
Known Genjutsu Skills:
Nothing much.
Only learn the basics then.
Known Ninjutsu Skills:
1. Summoning Jutsu (Toads) (Source: Common Knowledge)
2. Swamp of the Underworld (Source: Mother)
3. Flame Bullet (Source: Mother)
Other possible jutsu:
1. Shadow Clone, Shadow Shuriken (Source: According to mother they were techniques of 3rd Hokage, his sensei).
2. Rasengan (Source: According to Iruaka Sensei, technique belonged to the yellow flash, his student).
Earth/fire affinity.
Probably a ninjutsu specialist. So I have to become one too.
Known Fuinjutsu Skills:
Known master. I have zero knowledge. Have to start right away.
This looks like a good way to start. So Hiro folded the paper, put it in his pocket, and went to sleep.
The story we are going to tell starts now. Story of a young shinobi whose dream was to be Jiraiya the second.
Author's Note: The name Hiro was taken from Hiro Nakamura, a character from the TV show Heroes. Utagawa has an interesting source. In Naruto, the name of the three sannins and their speciality was actually taken from a popular Japanese folk-tale called The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya. Utagawa Kunisada was one of the wood-block illustrators of it's first novel version. He was considered the best ukiyo-e artist of his time. Hiro's father was named after him. As we are not following Japanese naming convention in this story, here he is called Kunisada Utagawa.
In Naruto there is no reference of Sasuke Sarutobi (father of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the 3rd Hokage. Sasuke Uchiha was named after him) being able to perform a 100 meter jump. The name Sasuke Sarutobi was taken from Kodan stories. In those stories Sasuke was a ninja who was known for his monkey-like agility and quickness. He was raised by monkeys. We can say Tarzan is the English version of Sasuke Sarutobi.