Chapter 1: Forest Encounter
"Man... Cathy, Cathy, you sure can make me happy."
An old figure stumbled down the crowded streets of Konoha, leaving the home of one of his ... "research partners." His stench of whiskey and ladies perfume (among other things) would cause an Inuzuka to tuck tail and run. The crowd was parted to give the man all the room he needed. He ignored all of the looks he was given, considering it was the middle of the day.
To some, this would be an unacceptable behavior. He would be labeled as a simple drunk or womanizer. To the members of this village however, they knew that this was one of the most powerful men to grace this village.
"Oi! Good afternoon Jiraiya-sama!"
The old man, now identified as Jiraiya, waved at a passing couple. When they passed, he peeked back to view the assets of the female in the duo.
"Eh, I've seen better," he said as he turned back straight, narrowly avoiding bumping into another person.
Jiraiya let out a huge yawn while cleaning his ear with his pinky. "Man where am I going to crash tonight..." he thought while scratching his chin. His face then brightened up with an idea. "Oh yeah, Ryuka's in town! I heard she has a room... Hehehe..." He rubbed his hands together as he made a very disturbing look. Passing people looked at him awkwardly, most already knowing what was going through his perverted mind.
"Crap..." he mumbled as he face palmed. He just realized that he wasn't clean. He sniffed himself for emphasis and nearly gagged. If he approached her like this, he would definitely be punched back to the day the Nine-Tales attacked.
Jiraiya's face drooped at the memory. He let loose a long sigh and a silent prayer. He missed his student, immensely. The Fourth Hokage was one of the greatest men he had the pleasure to meet. He always put others first, no matter the circumstances. The man even died to protect his village, sealing the beast inside he and his wife's only child.
"Minato... Kushina..." he mumbled while looking towards the Hokage Monument. Just seeing the stone face of the man brought back happy yet painful memories. "I wonder how my god kids doi-"
Jiraiya was suddenly struck by pain. He grimaced as he fell to one knee, groaning and gripping his head. "Man, I told my shadow clones not to disperse when I'm dru-"
The old man's face tensed as the knowledge from the clone was transferred to him. He could tell the it was defeated by genjutsu, and a very powerful one at that. He also could remember a pair of glowing red eyes just before the Jutsu was cast.
The old sage quickly created a shadow clone and they each ran in different directions.
"What the hell is the Akatsuki doing here?" he mused. Although be asked, however, he already knew the answer.
'I'll be there in a second, kid!'
XxxoxxX
The Third Hokage sat in his office, slowly puffing on his pipe. He was currently looking at the files on the participating genin, mainly the ones from Konoha at the moment. They were pretty good, and they were currently entering stage two of the chunnin exams.
The most unique and possibly strongest team was led by his elite Jonin, Might Guy. Guy is one of the greatest shinobi in the village. The most interesting thing about that statement is that he does it without any ninjutsu or genjutsu. He was a taijutsu specialist, one that he was sure would beat him in a purely physical fight in his prime.
His star student was Neji Hyūga. Neji was a very cold guy, to be honest. He never smiled or betrayed any emotion other than annoyance. His skills are very advanced for a genin. Being so talented only caused Neji to further himself from others.
Rock Lee was the dead last of his class, and in only a year he is among the best. He has no aptitude for ninjutsu or genjutsu, making him a perfect disciple of Guy. The orphan is one of the fastest and physically strongest shinobi in the village already, a testament to his incredible work ethic.
Tenten is a kunoichi that is all about her business, she's a master at any weapon she touches, and even owns her own shop where she fixes and sells weapons. Being an orphan never deterred her from her dream of becoming a kunoichi on par with Tsunade Senju.
He placed the files to the side and grabbed another stack. He was instantly staring in the face of an annoyed teen. He chuckled as he began reading the file on Shikamaru.
Shikamaru was a Nara. Even though his test scores were average, the Hokage knew that it was a front. His numbers were... 'too' average, to put it simply. He did exactly what was needed to pass, nothing less nothing more. The old man knew that he enjoyed sitting on the rooftops of the village and gaze at the sky for some unknown reason. He chuckled at the thought for it reminded him of another Nara that just so happened to be his father.
His best friend was on his team as well, a Choji Akimichi. The boy wasn't anything exceptional at the moment. He had a very large heart, and a stomach to match. From what his files said, he didn't have any skills that stood out from his clan. His greatest ability was his kindness, which could also be a weakness.
And then there was Ino Yamanaka. Ino was the self proclaimed leader of the Sasuke Uchiha fan club. No, really. She put it on her exam application to let the world know. From his reports on the girl, she had no stand out skills neither. To him, this group could possibly be the weakest out of Konoha. That is, if they weren't being led by his son Asuma.
His son Asuma was one of the best Jonin in the village, possibly number three in his opinion behind Guy and Kakashi, but that could be him being biased. The man and he were not that close anymore for they had different views. His son even left the village to become one of the Daimyo's personal guards. This taught him many more skills, or at least the Hokage thought. Since he and the man didn't really speak he was uncertain.
Then there was Team Kurenai. The Hyūga heiress Hinata was a member. Although she was shy, she had taijutsu skills that exceeded some chunin. If she wasn't so down on herself, he was sure that she would become great. He was also aware of her crush on Naruto, just as many of the others had picked up on. He was curious to see how that would pan out, especially while dealing with her father.
The Inuzuka kid Kiba was aggressive. The Hokage believed that that would benefit Hinata and hopefully rub off onto her. Although he lost his father at a young age, he wasn't particularly upset. It only made him take being a shinobi more seriously. Skill wise he was the second best member of his class, but unfortunately for him his academics were pretty low.
Shino Aburame was also pretty good, he had potential as well. His clan kept most of their training secret, but it was brought to the Hokage's attention on a monthly basis. The young Aburame was a tactician that always thought before he act, a fine trait for a shinobi indeed.
Their leader was Kurenai Yūhi. Kurenai was one of the most beautiful woman that Hiruzen had ever seen. He knew better than to tell her that, however. Her attitude towards vulgar men is known to be deadly. Her genjutsu was tops in the village, hands down.
Team 7 was ... odd to say the least. They had the rookie of the year Sasuke Uchiha, with a newly awakened Sharingan in tow. Hiruzen could see great power in him.
He also saw great hatred, however. The boy was forced to watch his family be slaughtered in front of him by none other than his only brother. Since then, he became addicted to revenge. He silently wished that the boy didn't become consume by it.
Then there was Sakura. There wasn't anything too special about her, except her book smarts, which were top marks. She was ineffective in battle, or so he was told. She seemed to be much more interested in being pretty than strong, like most of the kunoichi of her generation.
And finally was the unofficial grandchild of his Naruto.
Naruto was a mystery. He never knew much about Naruto's power, but he always saw potential. He was amazed each time Kakashi briefed him with a report. Naruto seemed to improve quickly, and wasn't too many steps behind Sasuke now.
He was worried about the seal on his stomach though. If what Kakashi told him was true about their recent mission, then something needed to be done quickly. He didn't need a repeat of what happened twelve years ago.
Hiruzen chucked as he stroked his beard, thinking about the future of his village. He was sure that the Will of Fire burned brightly in each of the genin. This was the best class in a while, that was for sure. He was sure that he would be able to retire happily soon.
Hiruzen suddenly tensed. He felt like something was off. He looked out of his office window and saw his student Jiraiya sprinting at him, causing him to spring out of his seat. The man stepped back as Jiraiya jumped through the window, landing on one knee.
"What's the matter Jiraiya?" he questioned with urgency in his voice. His nose then crinkled. "And WHAT is that smell?"
"Never mind that," Jiraiya said swiftly. "The Akatsuki, they're here!"
The third's eyes narrowed at this piece of information. If what he was saying was true, then they could only be here for one reason
"Naruto..." he growled as he began to take off his robe. They actually had the gall to come into his village? They'd pay the price.
Jiraiya raised a calm hand. "I can handle it. I'm just warning you, just in case something bad happens."
"Who is it?"
Jiraiya sighed. He knew that this was going to hurt the old man. "It's a sharingan user, so I'm sure you can put two and two together."
Sarutobi stared at the ground for a moment. He knew immediately who the man was talking about. The boy had been his most loyal shinobi after all.
"And who else?"
"Don't know," Jiraiya sighed as he replied, "but there's always two." He smiled as he saw the older man look worried. "Hey, if I need help I'll send Kōsuke. Just trust me. I got this covered.
The old man growled once more. "If that were true, then why are you sitting here!?"
Jiraiya gave his teacher the biggest grin he could manage. "Shadow clone!" And with that, the clone was replaced by smoke.
Hiruzen sat back in his chair after a moment to rest his old nerves. He cupped his hands together and rested his chin on them.
He knew Jiraiya could easily handle it, he just was concerned for the child's safety. He sighed and put his pipe in his mouth and lit it with a small flame Jutsu.
"Naruto... Don't die."
XxxoxxX
Sakura sat weeping on the ground, holding onto her dear Sasuke. She was in tears from the state the boy was of her teammates were currently unable to fight. Sasuke occasionally groaned in pain, while Naruto was pinned to a tree like some sort of decoration. She rocked Sasuke back and forth, trying to help ease his pain.
Sakura had never felt more useless in her life. She could only watch as her two teammates tried to not only win the match, but also protect her. The snake man, or Orochimaru, was leagues ahead of the group in every aspect. The two boys fought valiantly, but they only delayed the inevitable.
Sasuke began to groan louder in pain, shocking her out of her thoughts. She softly began to rock his head once more. "It's going to be alright, Sasuke-kun. I won't let anybody hurt you."
"Give me the boy."
Sakura flinched as she heard the voice. It sounded cold... colder than Sasuke's. She slowly turned around and looked at the source.
"Sa... Sasuke," she whispered, looking from the boy in her hands to the man standing in front of her. He closely resembled Sasuke, with more defined cheekbones. He stood with his eyes held shut, his face showing no emotion. The man wore a black cloak with red clouds. His left arm was rest on the unbuttoned portion of the cloak, which was midway.
"No." was the simple answer she was given. The man stepped towards her, slowly opening his eyes. His sharingan gazed lazily towards the girl. He glared as he got a good look at the child in her arms. "Little brother, you still don't hate enough."
"Little brother..." Sakura whispered in thought. She didn't remember Sasuke speaking about a sibling. If he was somebody close to the boy, then maybe he was there to help.
"Please! He needs help, immediately!" She said loudly. Sakura wiped the tears that were sliding down with one wrist while she cradled the boy in the other.
The man stared at the boy for a few seconds. Sakura almost began to speak again, but was cut off as another pair of footsteps landed behind the Uchiha.
The first thing that caught Sakura's attention was the man's skin. It was blue, something that made her think he was sick. His eyes were beady and it looked like he had gills on his face. His grin was full of sharp white teeth and his hair was blue. His clothing was the same as his partners, except he had a large bandaged item on his back.
The blue skinned figure grinned at the Uchiha. "Hey, Itachi, what's taking so long? You should've had the brat by now."
Sakura froze at the statement. Her blood ran cold as the name echoed in her head. There was only one Itachi that she knew of, and he sure was an Uchiha.
The same Uchiha that slaughtered his family in cold blood.
"Y-y-you're..." Sakura gripped Sasuke even tighter, pulling his face into her chest. Sasuke grimaced and his breathing quickened. Beads of sweat fell down his face as he held his eyes shut in pain.
"I'm not here for your beloved Sasuke," the man said as he walked past the two.
His partner chuckled. "That's your kid brother, eh? Have to say I see the resemblance."
Sakura shut her eyes in fear. Tears fell down her face as his sandals slowly clicked on the forest floor. Each slow step made her heart hammer even more.
She whipped around as she heard him stop. He was standing under the limp body of Naruto pinned to the tree.
"Naruto..." Sakura whispered. Her body shook as tears streamed down her face. She wanted to help him, but what could she do? He killed all of the Uchiha alone!
Itachi looked up at Naruto. His bright orange clothing was a disgrace to all ninja. As he looked at his mop of blonde hair, it immediately made him think of the previous Hokage. The boys body was battered badly, and his eyes could see that something was interfering with his seal.
'He has whiskers? It seems the Fox has merged with his DNA.' He stared at the boy for a few more seconds, taking in every minute detail. The boy was rather bony, something that troubled him immensely. He should've been hailed as a hero, not a problem.
Ignoring that thought, the missing nin reached forward to grab the child. He ignored the sound of the pinkette screaming behind him. When his hand was an inch away, he froze.
Sakura looked at the man in confusion, as did his ally.
"Itachi, what's the mat- grgh! What the Hell?"
"Choji, it won't last long. Get Naruto!" Sakura glanced back towards the bushes that she heard the voices. She suddenly saw a large sphere burst through the trees and shoot at the Uchiha. When he struck him, the man burst into a flock of crows. The ball stopped changed courses and went straight for the grinning fish man. He crashed into him at a high speed, sending him flying backwards and into a tree.
As the momentum slowed down, Sakura smiled as she saw the grinning chubby face of one of her classmates.
"Ch-Choji!" Sakura yelled in relief. She wiped her tears with her left hand while her right still cradled the Uchiha. "I've never been so glad to see you!"
"Damn. We could've died just now." The lazy figure of Shikamaru walked out of the woods, accompanied by Ino. He gazed towards where the body of the blue shinobi was, noticing that it wasn't there.
"But we didn't. He ran off scared!" Ino yelled.
"Scared?" The group of four all looked in the direction of the voice and froze. Shikamaru gritted his teeth, while Ino and Choji looked terrified. The two shinobi were standing side by side without a single scratch. Itachi held his eyes closed with an impassive expression while his partner continued to smirk.
The sharp toothed shinobi grinned as he rubbed his nose. "Water clones sure come in handy, eh?"
Itachi ignored the man, choosing to end this little party. He opened his eyes and displayed his sharingan.
"Don't look in his eyes!" Shikamaru yelled while lowering his head. 'What a drag... We die before we even become Chunin.' He groaned once more. 'I knew I shouldn't have signed that damn application.'
"Kisame," Itachi said calmly as he glanced towards his partner. "Nobody dies here today. Got it?"
The fish man folded his arms. "Well, I guess that means you're doing all the fighting. I'm sorry, but I don't aim to maim."
Itachi nodded and turned back towards the group. This would only take a second, maybe two.
"Itachi Uchiha! Kisame Hoshigaki!"
The group of genin looked behind them, wondering if this new comer was a friend or a foe. They saw an old man with long white hair. He stood in front of Naruto, smiling at the ninja with his arms crossed across his chest. He had a large nose with warts and strange markings around his eyes.
The most weird thing about him were the two frogs perched on his shoulders. The two calmly gazed at the situation, taking every detail in.
He pointed a finger at the two missing shinobi. "It's your unlucky day!"
Itachi gazed at the newcomer. 'Jiraiya,' he thought. 'And he's already in sage mode. We may have to retreat.'
"I-Itachi…?"
Sakura jumped as she heard Sasuke mumbling. She turned to look at him and saw his eyes fluttering open.
"S-Sasuke-kun?" she whispered in curiosity.
Sasuke leaned his head forward and gazed at the surrounding shinobi. He could see most of his classmates around him. Before he could wonder what they were doing here, his eyes fell on a face that he hadn't seen in a long time, causing his eyes to widen. He grit his teeth and a gurgling growl escaped his throat.
"Itachi!"
All eyes fell on Sasuke as he struggled to his feet. He held one arm on his neck while he slowly took a step towards Itachi. A powerful wave of killing intent was flowing from him, making the surrounding genin nervous. The others looked unfazed.
Itachi closed his eyes. He could feel that something wasn't right with his brother. His chakra seemed erratic in a sense.
Sasuke kept slowly getting closer and closer to his brother. Jiraiya knew that he should get involved, but he glanced towards Kisame. The way the man was grinning at him, he knew that he was waiting on him to move. He wanted to get to Naruto as soon as possible it seemed.
Jiraiya was making a game plan in his head. His first objective was to recover the genin. In sage mode, he had plenty of power to create a number of clones. All he needed was the right sign, and he would make his move.
Sasuke was finally a few feet from Itachi. His face contorted in anger as he noticed his brother didn't even look at him. When the anger came, he could sense an unfamiliar power radiating through his form. He felt stronger, much stronger.
"Yes, Sasuke?" Itachi still held his eyes closed, not worried in the slightest. This only further aggravated the teen.
"I'm…" Sasuke balled his hands into fists at his side. When he stared at his brother, he could see everything that they went through. He remembered the training his brother gave him, and all the piggy back rides. He could see when he'd read him books at night and also the hunting trips they would make.
"I…" Sasuke reached a shaky hand into his kunai pouch. Images of the massacre began to replay in his head. The deaths of his uncles and cousins. His aunts and neighbors. His friends and neighbors.
His parents.
"I'll kill you!" A wave of power flooded out of Sasuke. Purple energy erupted from his being as he stabbed the kunai forth.
"Crap!" Jiraiya mumbled as he quickly went through hand signs. He saw Kisame running towards him with his sword drawn back to strike. The sage thrust his hand into the ground and a large cloud of smoke erupted, followed by the sound of metal hitting metal. As the smoke cleared, Kisame was seen in a test of strength with a toad a little shorter than him. The toad was a reddish brown tint with black lines going from above his eyes to the nub of his tail. The toad wore a camouflage jacket with a sword holster strapped to his back, which held the sword he was currently holding with his left hand. A shield was raised as well, which was blocking the large blade of Kisame.
The sword had a red handle with gold trimmings. The blade was long and thick, easily matching Kisame's strike.
The summon glanced at Jiraiya, whom was standing beside him. When he opened his mouth to speak, Jiraiya beat him to it.
"Listen, Gamaheishi." Jiraiya knew that this summon was about his business. When you were going to summon him, you needed to tell him ahead of time, in writing and person. The marine toad was all about promptness, something Jiraiya lacked. "Before you start croaking demands, I want you to look behind you."
The toad huffed. He was really tired of Jiraiya. The man had no sense of decency! He just called whenever he wanted!
The toad then noticed that Jiraiya was no longer beside him. In fact, from his peripheral vision he could see a couple of the old man running around.
But he knew that this was something serious. One look at the blade in his opponents hand told him that much.
Samehada was one of the Seven Swordsmen's Blades, the most dangerous in fact. It eats your chakra the longer you fight it and feeds it to its wielder, almost making them never tire.
The middle aged toad smirked. This was going to be fun.
Kisame chuckled. "Nice blade you got there. Can I have it?"
The toad narrowed his eyes, gripping the hilt tighter. "Negative, Maggot." The voice came out rough with a certain finality too it.
Kisame grinned as he applied more pressure to the blade. The toad matched his every move, keeping it at a deadlock.
"That's the Masamune, right?"
Gamaheishi ignored the missing nin. If he was asking, then he obviously already knew the answer.
"So the blonde?" the missing nin asked, changing the subject once more.. "Who's he too you?"
The toad didn't need to look behind him anymore. He already knew who was there.
And he already knew that he wasn't going to be harmed.
The toad pushed off of the blade, catching Kisame by surprise. The swordsman swung his bandaged blade at the toad once more, only for it to be blocked. The summon tried to counter attack, just for it too to be parried. The more this happened, the faster the battle became until there was a flurry of swings and parries.
The two jumped away as there was an explosion a few yards away. They both dashed in the opposite direction of the blast while still trading blows. When they reached a clearing in the woods, they jumped away once more. After the long exchange, neither seemed tired.
Kisame grinned as he rolled his neck and shoulders. "You know, I like you. I think I'll have to fight a little harder. Strictly sword play, no tricks. Are you in?"
The toad merely grunted. In his time, you never spoke to the enemy.
And with his partners son's life on the line, he would be damn if he lost to the enemy.
The two met up in the center again, exchanging blows quicker than before
XxxoxxX.
Minutes earlier…
Sasuke used all of his might, as well as some from his new source of power, to stab his brother in the abdomen. When he was a mere centimeters away, he stopped.
Itachi glanced down and sighed. Stopping Sasuke was not his doing at all. The boy simply didn't have it in him to stab his big brother. He would've let him do it. It is just a clone, after all..
"You are still too weak, Sasuke. Hate me." Itachi's eyes opened and his Sharingan stared back into Sasuke's.
XxxoxxX
Running.
That was all Sasuke could do. His little legs were pattering in the rain as he ran.
He didn't know why he was running. He just had this urge, and he couldn't stop it.
It was then that things began to get familiar.
Sasuke froze as he saw his brother standing in front of him. He had a blade to their mothers neck.
"N-neee-san, what are you d-"
SCHLIIIING
Sasuke's eyes widened as blood splattered on his face. His eyes were trained on the ground in shock.
And then his mothers head rolled into his view.
XxxoxxX
"Aaaaaaaaaaah!"Sasuke screamed, causing all wildlife to scatter. Sakura stared on in shock as the raven haired boy fell to the ground. The scream lasted for a total of four seconds, and then there was silence.
Itachi didn't have time to breath as he was suddenly being attacked.
Jiraiya was trying to land a hit on the Uchiha. Itachi was dodging and blocking with difficulty. Although he was good at taijutsu, his genjutsu was a specialty.
Jiraiya threw an enhanced kick which was blocked by Itachi. The missing nin grunted from the force of the kick and burst into crows a second later.
Everything was quiet on their end, save for the sound of blades clashing in the near distance.
"Can you find him Ma?"
The old female toad hmph'd at the question. "Is water wet?" She retorted as she opened her mouth wide. Her tongue slowly rose out of the maw. The tongue had eyes that were shut tight and a smiling mouth with razor sharp teeth. The more that it stretched out, the more bumps you could see littering the appendage.
After stretching out a few yards, the tongue paused and began to sniff.
"Found him!" Shima yelled. The tongue recoiled back like a whip and began to stretch towards a large tree. The tongue curled around the tree and began to release a green substance from all of the boils.
Itachi was already on the move. He jumped away from the pursuing tongue and continued to leap backwards. He couldn't help but noticed that the toxin was actually burning through the trees.
Before he could think any further on it, he immediately jumped again. To his surprise it was now a jet of water being shot at him now, courtesy of the other toad. When he moved the stream followed, nearly cutting his leg off.
As Itachi ran, he created a shadow clone. The two ran straight for Jiraiya, dodging the water with relative ease.
Jiraiya took this as his chance to join the fray once more. Both of the men went through seals. Luckily for Jiraiya, he finished first.
"Katon: Dai Endan!"
"Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu!"
When the two Jutsu connected, a large cloud of steam covered the area. Jiraiya kept his sage senses sharp, looking around for his opponent. He then heard a voice.
"I do not wish to fight you, Jiraiya-sama. This will be my retreat, for now."
With the last word, he could no longer sense Itachi. He looked to the left and could see that Gamaheishi was walking towards him, weapons still in hand.
Jiraiya grinned at the toad. "Thanks for your help, Gamaheishi. And you too, Ma, Pa."
Ma and Pa nodded in approval before dispersing. He called them right in the middle of dinner, so they were kind of grumpy at the moment.
Gamaheishi simply stared at Jiraiya. The old Sage was getting uncomfortable with the way the toad was glaring.
"Look, I'm sorry for calling you. I fully accept whatev-"
"Is that his child?"
Jiraiya froze at the question. He should've known that this was going to happen.
"Y-yeah… It is."
The toad turned away from Jiraiya, returning his weapons to their holders. "And why is this my first time meeting him, Grunt?"
Jiraiya began to sweat profusely. Whenever the toad called him Grunt, it was because he was angered. And he knew what an angered Gamaheishi could do.
"Well, it's just…"
"Save it." With those final words, the toad returned to his home land.
Jiraiya sighed. He knew that he had much explaining to do. But right now, his village was more important. In a dash of speed he took off back towards the village.
XxxoxxX
"It's no longer safe here for him." Jiraiya said sternly. He was sitting on the windowsill of his sensei. The two were having a heated debate about what to do for Naruto.
Jiraiya knew about the group that attacked. He just didn't expect them to come so soon. This really put a sting in his plans.
"They can find him anywhere they want." Hiruzen took a long pull from his pipe. He was so stressed out, no wonder there were so many wrinkles. "And I feel much more comfortable if I could watch him myself."
"They came straight in the village alone undetected. Imagine if I wasn't here? Naruto and maybe even Sasuke would've been dead."
Hiruzen hung his head. He knew he was right. The problem was that he couldn't let Naruto leave. Not yet, at least. When he was a stronger shinobi, sure, but right now he couldn't protect himself.
"Then maybe you can stay here? Protect your god child," he added with a soft voice. Jiraiya in the village would make everyone feel more safe.
Jiraiya shook his head. "I have to worry about the entire elemental countries, I can't just stay here." The two men were silent for a few seconds. Jiraiya suddenly had an idea. "What if..." he trailed off.
"Go on." Hiruzen looked at him interested. He paused from his pipe.
"I mean maybe he can train under my previous sensei..." Jiraiya said with a slight smile on his face while rubbing his chin.
Hiruzen looked at him confused. "I'm the Hokage, are you mad?" His voice showed a bit of irritation. "Where would I find time to train him? There's just too much paperwork."
Jiraiya shook his head. "Not you. I'm talking about... the turtle hermit."
Hiruzen stared at Jiraiya like he was from a different world. "The Turtle Hermit? Shouldn't he be dead? I mean, that would make him over a hundred."
Jiraiya grinned. "He is, actually. I don't know the details but he's kind of immortal. I have been training with him on and off since I was a child." Jiraiya's smile widened. "He's powerful... maybe even more so than you, no offense."
The Hokage glared at the smiling Jiraiya. "And what about him becoming a chunin?" he asked dangerously.
The Sannin raised his hands protectively. "I promise that he'll return for it! Stronger than before, might I add!"
Hiruzen slowly stood and walked to his window. He calmed his breathing as he stared. "Are you sure he'll take him in as a pupil? The legends say that he rarely takes in students." The Hokage quietly spoke.
Jiraiya's face twisted into a sick smile. "I have my ways..." he said. "Do I have your approval?"
Hiruzen sighed. Although he hated to admit it, this was a good idea. He nodded slightly, which was answered with a pop.
Hiruzen sighed. Of course he would send a shadow clone to do the talking. He must've expected a hostile rejection.
"Jiraiya... I hope you know what you're doing."
XxxoxxX
Helloooo! Thanks for reading the first chapter of this remake. My old story, the Z Shinobi was started when I wasn't that great of an author. Now I feel that I'm good enough to start over. There will be new scenes, more characters and character development, and better fight scenes. Thanks for bearing with me, I hope you enjoy the story!