Chapter 1: Forest Encouter
"Man... Cathy, Cathy, you sure can make me happy." Jiraiya 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. He ignored all of the looks he was given, considering it was the middle of the day.
Jiraiya let out a huge yawn. He then cleaned his ear with his pinky finger. "Man where am I going to crash tonight..." His face brightened up. "Oh yeah, Tsunade's in town! I heard she has a room... Hehehe..." He rubbed his hands together as he made a very disturbing look.
"Crap..." he face palmed. He just realized that he wasn't clean. She would punch him back to the day the Nine-Tales attacked.
Jiraiya's face drooped. He let loose a long sigh as he silently prayed. He missed his student. "Minato... Kushina..." he mumbled. He looked towards the Hokage Monument. "I wonder how my god kids doing..."
Jiraiya suddenly was struck by pain. He grimaced as he fell to one knee. "Man, I told my shadow clones not to disperse when I'm dru-" Jiraiya's face tensed. He quickly created two clones and they each ran in different directions.
"What the hell is the Akatsuki doing here?" He wondered aloud as he ran in the direction of them.
XxxoxxX
The Third Hokage sat slowly puffing on his pipe. He was currently looking at his new group of rookies files. They were pretty good, and they were currently entering stage two of the chunnin exams.
Shikamaru was a Nara. Even though his test scores were average, the Hokage knew it was a front. His numbers where... 'too' average. He did exactly what was needed to pass, nothing less nothing more. His friends teammates Choji and Ino weren't that spectacular, but he was sure that when they got their chemistry together, they would be great. Not to mention the fact that they were led by his son Asuma. He could see greatness in their future.
Then there was Team Kurenai. The Hyuuga 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. The Inuzuka kid Kiba was aggressive. The Hokage believed that that would benefit Hinata and hopefully rub off onto her. Shino Aburame was also pretty good, he had potential as well. He was more than positive that Kurenai would make them all great Shinobi.
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. He silently wished that the boy didn't become consume by it.
Then there was Sakura. There wasn't anything to special about her, except her book smarts. She was ineffective in battle, or so he was told. 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.
Hiruzen chucked as he stroked his beard. He was sure that the Will of Fire burned brightly in each of them. This was the best class in a while. 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.
"What's the matter Jiraiya?" he questioned with urgency in his voice.
"The Akatsuki, they're here!" Jiraiya said swiftly.
The third gritted his teeth together. "Naruto..." He growled as he swiftly put on his battle suit.
"I can handle it. I'm just warning you, just in case something bad happens." Jiraiya dispersed in a puff of smoke.
Hiruzen sat back in his chair. He cupped his hands together and rested his head on it. 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. Both of her teammates were currently unable to fight. Sasuke occasionally groaned in pain, while Naruto just lay there. She rocked Sasuke back and forth.
"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 yelled 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. 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. Her eyes shot wide as she realized whom she was currently seeing. "Y-y-your..." Sakura gripped Sasuke even tighter. She pulled 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 walked past Sakura.
Sakura continued staring straight in fear. Tears fell down her face as his sandals slowly clicked on the forest floor. 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!
He looked up at Naruto. His bright orange clothing was a disgrace to all ninja. 'He has whiskers? It seems the Fox has merged with his DNA.' He stared at the boy for a few seconds. He reached forward to grab him. When his hand was an inch away, he froze. Sakura looked at him confused.
"Choji, it won't last long. Get Naruto!" Sakura heard from the woods. She suddenly saw a large sphere burst through the trees and shoot at the man. When he struck him, he burst into a flock of crows. The ball stopped rolling and Sakura saw the fat boy from her class.
"Ch-Choji!" Sakura yelled in relief. She wiped her tears with her left hand while her right still cradled the Uchiha.
"Damn. We could've died just now." The lazy figure of Shikamaru walked out of the woods, accompanied by Ino.
"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.
"Don't look in his eyes!" Shikamaru yelled. 'What a drag... We die before we even become Chunin.'
"Itachi Uchiha!" The group looked behind them. They saw an old man with long white hair. He stood in front of Naruto, smiling at the ninja. The name caused Sasuke's eyes to jerk open. "It's your unlucky day!"
"Itachi!" All eyes fell on Sasuka as he struggled to his feet. He held one arm on his neck while he slowly took a step towards Itachi. Sasuke glared at the man with his Sharingan twirling madly.
Itachi closed his eyes. "You still are too weak, Sasuke. Hate me." Itachi's eye opened and his Sharingan stared back into Sasuke's.
Sasuke fell to the ground in pain. He let loose a blood curdling scream, causing all wildlife to run in opposite directions.
Jiraiya sprung to life. He quickly jumped forwards with a Rasengan in hand and thrust it at Itachi. The ninja jumped backwards and the Jutsu crashed into the ground causing a massive crater. "It's not time for me to die just yet." Itachi said as he turned to walk away.
"How could you kill your own people?" Sakura asked as she looked at Sasuke thrashing on the ground. "Why?"
Itachi stopped walking. Jiraiya noticed him tense up a bit. The ninja simply turned into crows that flew away.
XxxoxxX
"It's no longer safe here for him." Jiraiya said sternly. Jiraiya was sat in the Hokages office.
"They can find him anywhere they want." Hiruzen took a long pull from his pipe. He was so stressed out, no wonder there was so much 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.
"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?" He asked a bit irritated. "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? Isn't that a myth?"
"It's not. 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 eventually! Isn't his life more important than his rank?" he pleaded nervously.
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 student? 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 as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
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
Ok guys, I really have big ideas for this story. I know it's starting off kind of slow, but bear with me. I'm also typing this on an iPhone... It sucks:(. Anyway, read and review!