The Sage's Apprentice. Chapter 1: What's Ramen?
"You want to what?" Asked the old man to the aging man. Sarutobi Hiruzen was sat opposite his former pupil; Jiraiya of the Legendary Sanin. Both men were weary with age, and tired from the events of the past week. A tragedy had befallen their home, the village hidden in the leaves, Konoha. Hundreds were dead, the 4th Hokage, leader of the village, was among them, and Sarutobi, the 3rd, had retaken up his mantle. Destruction the likes the village had never seen, property damage which the villagers demanded compensation for, defences which made the village more vulnerable. With the possibility of war due to it's weakened state, Sarutobi had barely slept, and now this!
"You heard me Sensei. I want to train him. With both of them gone, the boy is vulnerable to whomever had a grudge against them. It's no secret the two were together. Giving him her last name isn't foolproof. He needs more than the hospitals, and eventually, the orphanages safety. Frankly, they aren't safe at all. There's a lot of angry people looking for a scapegoat out there. There's no telling exactly how this situation will play out. He might be seen as a hero, sure, but far more likely I believe he'll be treated as a pariah."
Sarutobi couldn't argue with Jiraiya's logic. But this was asking a lot. Jiraiya also had enemies. It was dangerous no matter which way he played it, and to add to Jiraiya's arguments, council members were already arguing over what to do with the boy. Some of the more militant ninja, Danzo in particular, had called for the child to be trained as a Ninja at the earliest opportunity. Some of the less smart members of the council, in particular, the civilian sect, had called for the Childs head. Nothing new. The civilians had always despised Kushina. Now they had a younger, weaker target. After everything had done, they had, in a way, been right. The beast Kushina, and now her son, imprisoned had broken it's chains. He had already enforced a law which forbade anyone from talking about it, in the hopes the children of his generation would not treat him the same as Kushina's generation had treated her.
"Suppose I let you do this, Jiraiya. Are you even sure you can look after a newborn?" Jiraiya was not what most would consider father material. He drank, he gambled, and had an Achilles heel for women. That had, however, lessened when Jiraiya had begun teaching. Hell, he practically became straight as a blade. Maybe this would be as good for the Child as it would be for him.
"I'm the kid's godfather, Sensei. I have to do something to help the kid. I owe it to him. To them. To him." His voice cracked at the end of the sentence. Jiraiya had taken the loss of his student hard. He'd drank constantly, hit on practically every woman in Konoha, and the look in his eyes whenever Sarutobi saw him was, broken. The 3rd Hokage had half expected Jiraiya to leave. Go back on his travels, securing Intel for the leaf village on any and all threats, trying to discern some kind of deeper meaning behind what had happened. He would not have been wrong. What neither of the two knew was exactly how orchestrated the attack had been. Jiraiya had very nearly done this, in fact, but that's another story for another time.
"I can't let you have him." Jiraiya was opening his mouth to protest when he was silenced by what came next. "Yet. You have absolutely no idea how to look after a baby. Getting up every night at god knows what time, looking after and watching him 24/7, having to deal with the crying and the pooping and the crying and the vomiting and the crying and the feeding and ALL THE DAMN CRYING." Tears poured down his face as Jiraiya realised that, after having three children, the old man knew what he was walking about. He could definitely not deal with crying.
"I'll let you take Naruto away, when he's 9 That'll give him 4 years with you before he has to come back for the Genin exam. After that, I'm assigning him to Kakashi. Kakashi will be a fine ninja, if not Kage material himself by then. He'll still be your apprentice, but I can't deny Kakashi the chance to train his Sensei's son. Until that time, I want you back out in the field, gathering Intel, and eliminating threats to the village. With Minato gone, and having just survived a major attack ourselves, we're probably appearing pretty vulnerable, especially to the Hidden Rock and Hidden Cloud. I need you to silence any threat to the village, or let us know of any threats you can not handle personally immediately. Assassinate if you must, but try to avoid giving them a reason to attack. We need a strong show of strength right now." As he pulled out his pipe and began stuffing it, Sarutobi thought about the reports he had read earlier. The rock had deployed it's strongest units to it's borders. Which did not bode well.
Across from him, his student crossed his arms and closed his eyes in thought. Probably thinking it through and agreeing that this was the best course of action. Jiraiya got to train the boy, as he had wanted, and knowing Jiraiya he would come back at a level far above his age, Naruto would be safe with Jiraiya, knowing exactly who, and what he was, and why he was, and the villagers would be happy in knowing their children wouldn't have to go to the academy with him. As he mused this, Jiraiya looked up.
"There's always Ma and Pa. They complain I'm never around, and looking after Naruto would be good for them. I can pop back to Mount Myouboku when between missions, he wouldn't have to worry about being treated badly, and it would protect him from assassination." Jiraiya suggested. To Sarutobi it was, an interesting alternative. Better than he had suggested at any rate.
"Hmmmmmmmmm. If I'm honest, I want to keep an eye on him myself. And from what I've heard, Shima's cooking leaves much to be desired." He was right. "But you raise a good point. I'll let him go with you. When he's 7. Around the time he would be starting the Academy. Let him be around other humans for a while, I'll see to him until then. That's my final offer. And if this is concluded, I believe you have work to do." Letting out a puff of smoke, Sarutobi stared directly at his former student, and the discussion was over. Sighing after about a minute or two, Jiraiya spoke again;
"Ok Sensei, it's a deal. I'll take him, train him, and bring him back for the Genin exams. I've already heard rumours upon rumours of some potentially hostile organisation being formed, Aka-something or whatever, so I'll look into that, and keep tabs on the other villages, and Orochimaru of course. Cya then Sensei, I'm off." And with a puff of smoke he was.
Left to himself, Sarutobi stood out of his chair, and walked towards the window of his office which overlooked the entire village. The moon shone upon his face and the 3rd wondered how late it really was, and how long him and his pupil had been talking. Taking a drag of his pipe, he stared up at the stars, contemplating the future of the child. He was by no means an ordinary case. True enough it is also not often your village gets attacked by the strongest of a mythical set of tailed beasts, the 9 Tailed Fox. And it is most certainly not often, that said Fox is sealed into the son of your successor, one of the strongest ninja in the world.
"Naruto Uzumaki….." Breathing out the smoke from his lungs, the Hokage stared out at his village.
"I'm too old for this shit."
4 YEARS LATER
Being Naruto Uzumaki, was definitely not fair, decided the child who's name was so. No one liked him. He could tell that much. All the other kids had friends. Naruto didn't. The other kids were allowed seconds at dinner. Naruto wasn't. The other kids got to play with all the best toys. Naruto wasn't allowed to play with them, they said. Only good boys are allowed to go to play outside, they said. Naruto Uzumaki, was not a good boy, they said. The other kids knew this. If a toy was broken, it was him. If one of the kids played a prank on one of the grown ups, it was him. Even if it wasn't him, if anyone, literally anyone, said it was him, then it was him. He took the punishment, the blame, and everyone played on it. He'd beaten up a kid for blaming him once. They'd broken a window playing football outside. They blamed him. Even though Naruto wasn't allowed outside, and the glass had broken inwards, the grown ups accepted this as the truth, and Naruto wasn't allowed dinner that night.
The only person who was nice to him was the old man. Naruto liked the old man. He was kind, and kept telling him that one day his godfather was going to come and take him away, and make him strong. Naruto liked the stories, held onto them. He didn't really believe, but the thought that there might someone out there who did love him, was enough to keep him in a good mood. He was happy right now because the old man was coming to see him! He had been sitting in the corner reading his favourite story book, Kage's lost kitty, when the Matron had all but dragged him into the waiting room. Full of chairs, and decorated a very plain, boring brown, Naruto hated this room. It was boring. He had dropped the book, when Matron had dragged him off, so with nothing to do he was simply sat swinging his legs.
He was soon bored, this was taking far too long. Usually he waited for simply a minute or so as the Hokage, was that was the grown-ups had called him?, came to get him. Usually they just sat in his office and talked while drinking tea, but Naruto liked it. One day the old man took him too the roof, and they ate lunch together. Home made rice balls, which Naruto thought were really tasty. It had been the old man who'd taught him how to read, the grown ups didn't want too, and given him his favourite book. When Matron came back into the room though, something was wrong. She was smiling. She never smiled. She looked as though she'd just won the jackpot. The half glare, half ecstatic face she was looking at Naruto with terrified him. Had he done something wrong? Was the old man going to send him far away like all the other kids kept saying he would. He began to panic, especially when she told him to get his things and mumbled something about 'Being out of her hair'. He went back into his dorm, and it was empty, all the other kids were probably playing outside. He picked up his book, put some of his clothes into the bag Matron had half thrown at him, and packed what little he had.
Walking through to the reception, standing there, wasn't the old man. This was someone new. He was very tall, Naruto thought, and old. Not quite as old as old man Hokage, but pretty old. He had long white hair, green gi with mesh underneath it, a red cloak on top, hand guards, and wooden sandals called 'Geta,' if Naruto remembered rightly. He also had a headband, but it was different to the ones the ninja's of the village wore, it had 2 horns, and said 'Oil' instead of having the leaf symbol on it. There were 2 red lines stretching down from his eyes to his jaw, and he had a little wart on his nose. Naruto stared for a while, with a very confused look on his face, until the man spoke.
"Hey there kid, my name's Jiraiya. Sure the old man has told you about me?" The old man put his hand on his head and laughed, Naruto thought he was a little weird, he'd never heard a grown up laugh before. And the name was familiar. Jiraiya, Jiraiya, where had he heard that name? Oh! Jiraiya! That was, his godfather right? The one the old man said would take him out of the orphanage! A huge smile popped erupted onto his face as he pointed and shouted.
"YOU'RE THE GROWN-UP THE OLD MAN TALKED ABOUT, WHO'S GONNA TAKE ME AWAY! YOU'RE MY GOD FA-" Instantly the mans hand was on his mouth. He whispered in Naruto's ear,
"Try not to tell too many people that eh kid? It's a secret for now." And he winked at the child in front of him, who shook his head feverously, the huge grin still on his face.
'He's the spitting image of his father…' Jiraiya said inwardly. The huge blonde eyes, and hair blonde as the sun. He was wearing a plain white shirt and black trousers and was scrawny, even for his age. and the whisker marks on his face were an obvious side effect to having the 9 tails inside of him. Probably didn't help him any with the adults of the village, he mused. Knowing how Minato's wish for him to be seen as a hero, had not happened.
"Thank you Lord Jiraiya, I think I've about had enough of his squawking. I'm surprised its taken the Hokage this long to have him dealt with. Good riddance." The Matron had a look of disgust on her face as she spoke down to the child in front of her.
"I think you're misunderstanding the situation. Sensei isn't having him 'dealt with', I'm taking him, to train him as a ninja." Replied the Sanin, a stern look on his face. Obviously she disapproved, judging by the fact if her jaw was any lower it'd be on the floor. Though a second later, it had been replaced by a very sinister one. Obviously she had misunderstood Jiraiya's meaning again.
"The Hokage is going to try and control it, as Danzo wished, my my, this is even better, if you can learn to control that thing then…" Jiraiya cut her off.
"Watch what you say. We're off, Naruto." Turning towards the exit, Jiraiya started walking away, his fists shaking. The amount of self restrain he'd shown in there was, for him, a miracle. He'd wanted so badly to punch that woman. He'd stepped out of the door when he heard a shout behind him and a pair of little feet running to catch up. He slowed down, and turned to the little bob of blonde hair at his side, smiling.
"I'm feeling hungry, how about I treat you to some ramen?" Ichiraku Ramen was close by, and he figured it would be good way to break the ice. A puzzled look crossed his face as he answered.
"What's Ramen?"
Jiraiya just laughed.
An hour and a half later, Jiraiya couldn't help but laugh at the kid who was running around in front of him screaming about how awesome ramen was, how it was the best food in the world, as they made their way to Hokage's tower. He'd completely demolished his bowl, and wanted a second, but as skinny as he was, Jiraiya was sure he'd throw up.
"Maybe we'll have another after we've seen the old man."
That had been fair enough, and the kid accepted it without complaint. The two walked on and that was that.
'Though I will probably have to get him another bowl.' Thought the ninja.
As they walked the road to Hokage tower and the academy, Jiraiya's suspicions were confirmed as he saw the looks the people gave him. Not just civilians, ninja too. Some of the ninja he recognised as being there that very night the 9 tails attacked. How could they not see him as a hero? It was what the 4th, his student, his friend, his legacy, had wanted. So much hate towards a child, he couldn't understand. What he could understand, was how to change this. He had to make Naruto into a strong ninja. He'd raised one Hokage, raising another, from an earlier age, raising another one should be no problem. He was wrong of course. Naruto would be all kinds of trouble for him. But he remained blissfully unaware of the future, and as they approached the tower, he called Naruto back to him, and they walked the stairs up to the old man's office together.
Being seen in by a young Chunin, Iruka, if he remembered rightly, who smiled at him, and looked away swiftly at Naruto, Jiraiya stood before his old Sensei, and nodded. Sarutobi nodded back, and turned his gaze to the child in front of him.
"Good morning Naruto, I trust you realise what Jiraiya being here means?" Asked the old man.
"You wasn't lying! He's my god father and he's gonna take me away and make me really strong and then when I come back everyone will like me!" His eyes lit up, and his hands made fists as he punched the air above him and then pointed to the old man.
"I'm gonna be stronger than you old man! I'm gonna be Hokage! Yeah!" He punched in front of himself a few more times then grinned his trademark grin and put his hands behind his head.
"A worth goal indeed. I don't doubt you could one day, if you try hard enough." Sarutobi replied. "Jiraiya here was the teacher of the 4th Hokage, who saved the village from the 9 tailed fox, he'll make you very strong one day. He's going to take you with him, you'll travel with him, he'll teach you what you need to know, and you'll come back here in 6 years. Then, you'll take the Genin test all ninja have to take. And if you pass, you'll work for me, as a ninja of the leaf village." He didn't doubt Naruto would pass. Jiraiya's last students had all passed the Chunin exam within 1 year of becoming Genin. Minato on the first try, the others on their next. Though both had long since passed away in the war which made Minato the legend he became, Minato had become Hokage in no small part thanks to Jiraiya's teachings. He had already expected big things from Naruto, but this, this would make him into a legend equalling his father.
The kid squealed so loudly both men lost their balance. Then laughed.
"OK sensei, you have the scroll I wanted?" To which the older of the two nodded, picked a sealed scroll from his drawer and threw it at Jiraiya, who caught it like it was second nature.
"Well, if that's that, we're gonna be off. Thanks again Sensei, goodbye." Jiraiya smiled at his old teacher, and put his hand on Naruto's shoulder, who beamed up at him, before running to the Hokage and jumping up at him, embracing the old man in a hug that was considerably tighter than he had expected. He returned it, and patted Naruto's head.
"Get strong, Naruto. I have high hopes for you." Naruto, who was already beaming, burst into tears and hugged the old man even harder.
"I'LL *sniff* MISS YOU *sniff* OLD MAN!" Cried Naruto through the Kage's robes. After a minute of just holding him, Naruto pulled away and wiped his eyes. Still smiling at him, the Hokage brushed Naruto off, and Naruto ran back over to Jiraiya.
"JUST WAIT OLD MAN. I'M GONNA BE SUPER STRONG WHEN I COME BACK!" Naruto shouted, turning around and stomping his way out. Laughing to himself, Jiraiya waved goodbye to his Sensei and turned to leave with him. After both had left his office, the old man took out his pipe once more, stuffed it full of tobacco, turned to face his beautiful village and lit it, and took a drag. Exhaling as he looked out a tear ran down his face.
"Goodbye for now, Naruto."
- Also, if you're thinking this is yaoi. Look elsewhere. JS. Peace.
Authors Note:
Holy Hellfire Batman! After what, 4 years? I'm writing fan fiction again! A complete whimsical thing, I haven't read any fan fiction in a long time, much less read any. But who cares! Certainly not me! Anyone who's here from having me on story alert on 'Art Explodes' then I'm sorry, but I'm not going to be updating that. I've grown a fair bit as a person and a writer, I mean I'm what, 21 now? That story isn't interesting to me any more, and the writing is way shoddy compared to this, I think. I'm not even sure I'll be able to stick to this for long, but I'll try my best! Anyway thanks for reading, hope you liked it! I'm gonna keep this as an 'M' rated story because while there probably won't be any for a while, there will be excessive violence and probably sex scenes later on.