A/N: Welcome back to the second installment of Fate Incarnate! Thanks for all of the positive feedback so far, it really inspires me to write more! As I'm sure you have noticed, I've chosen to create a post-UBW Shirou who eventually ascended to the Throne of Heroes after his final journey in life. In this alternate fate, Shirou's character has diverged from the servant EMIYA though elements of that incarnation still definitely exist if you dig a bit deeper...
oOoOoOo
Onoki inspected the report that his agents from the Land of Grass had delivered back to Iwagakure. He had sent a team of his most trusted Jounin to meet with Orochimaru of the Sannin who claimed to have information directly pertinent to Iwa's interests.
He unfurled the scroll checking the unbroken wax seal. Pushing some of his ever-accumulating paperwork off of his desk, he broke the seal and opened the scroll.
The message contained one hastily scribbled sentence.
Konoha has hidden the son of Namikaze Minato from us for twelve years – the child is the current vessel of the Nine-Tailed Fox.
Attached to the message were a string of photographs depicting a boy who looked to be a carbon copy of the reviled Namikaze.
Onoki could only rub his eyes as he could feel the headache building behind his eyes. Quelling the bitter feelings in his heart, he struggled to remain calm as he stared into the hauntingly familiar visage of his greatest enemy.
Namikaze Minato had single-handedly turned the war on the Iwa-Konoha front in the Third Shinobi War. As the only shinobi to ever receive the Rank SS designation, he had carved his name into history on the flesh of Iwa shinobi. With a body-count in the thousands, there was not a single family in Iwa who had not lost someone to Konoha's Yellow Flash.
Onoki himself had lost his eldest son in the Battle of Kannabi Bridge which was the pivotal battle in breaking Iwa's hold on their western border. At Kannabi Bridge, Namikaze Minato had single-handedly slaughtered every active shinobi wearing an Iwa headband without exception. At the time of his death, Onoki's son had just celebrated his fourteenth birthday at home two weeks prior.
Onoki turned to look at the sole framed photograph he had on his desk. It was the last picture he had of his smiling family, his wife and two sons, before the war had torn them apart. He could feel the bitter feelings from old wounds re-open as he looked into the faded photograph where he was proudly ruffling his elder son's hair while wrapping his arms around the younger's shoulders.
Konoha had praised Namikaze as a hero for his actions… They had memorialized him into history as a selfless leader who had brought peace to the Great Nations by ending the Third Shinobi War. They had elected him to their highest station as they draped honor after honor on the man for his war crimes.
Onoki crushed the message into his hand unconsciously grinding it to dust with his bloodline limit. He had come to his decision finally.
Summoning his secretary, he quietly commanded,
"Assemble the Council of War; tell them there is some new information that must be brought to their attention."
oOoOoOo
Shirou knocked on the door of the Hokage's office as he clasped a summons message in his left hand,
"Come in" came the muffled voice of the Sandaime from behind the door.
The office was ovular in shape, though it was difficult for Shirou to ascertain with amount of paperwork piled against the walls. Sitting behind a magnificent mahogany desk was the Hokage himself who was dressed in his traditional ceremonial outfit.
"You asked for me?" began Shirou.
Hiruzen raised his head from the scroll he was reading and locked eyes with Shirou. No longer was this the elderly grandfather that Shirou had shared breakfast with earlier, no, the man in front of Shirou was now Konoha's Sandaime Hokage who had commanded the most powerful military force in the Elemental Nations for nigh five decades.
"I have a request for you. While you are not a formal shinobi of Konoha, I've decided to have you serve as an independent contractor for the Hokage office. Naturally, you're free to accept or decline any request at your own discretion."
Shirou nodded his understanding.
"Earlier this morning, my scouts have sent a report confirming that Yakushi Kabuto, a known affiliate of Orochimaru, has been sighted in the city of Tanzaku Gai just north of Konoha. My resources are stretched too thin right now to investigate Kabuto's activity so I was hoping to send you there instead. If you accept the mission, I have a small team of shinobi who can take you to Tanzaku Gai, although their objective concerns a separate matter."
Shirou indicated his agreement by nodding once again.
At that moment, a tall white-haired man barged into the room waving to the Hokage with grin on his face.
"Heya Sensei! You wouldn't believe who I saw at the hot springs today…", began the strangely dressed newcomer as he smiled lecherously.
He paused as he noticed Shirou's presence in the room dropping his expression to a contemplative frown.
"So is this the elusive red swordsman that you've been telling me about?" he asked as his eyes evaluated Shirou's form.
Shirou bowed his head and introduced himself, "Emiya Shirou at your service, a pleasure to make your acquaintance. And you would be?"
The white-haired man only stared quizzically at the bowing red-head as if shocked that he had to introduce himself. Suddenly, he grinned once again as he began hopping on one foot while waving his arms in manner reminiscent to Kabuki theatre.
"Allow me to regale you of my true identity… I am the man who is known around the elemental nations for his gallant charm! The man who has won the hearts of women from beyond the seven seas and back again! The man who protects Konoha's lofty gates and guards her elderly Hokage! I AM JIRAIYAAA"
Shirou could only deadpan at the now introduced Jiraiya who continued hopping around the office on one foot grinning like an idiot.
In the background, Hiruzen sunk into his chair as he rubbed his temples at the middle-aged man's antics, all sense of decorum having evaporated instantly.
"Shirou, meet my last loyal student, Jiraiya of the Sannin."
oOoOoOo
Shirou trailed behind Jiraiya as the two strolled through Konoha's streets. For such a supposed legendary ninja, the Toad Sannin had quite a childish demeanor the majority of the time.
"So I'm supposed to take you to Tanzaku Gai, eh?", asked Jiraiya, "Is the old man afraid that you're going to get lost or something – it's literally a short walk north of here."
"Let's just say I'm not really from around these parts", hummed Shirou.
Jiraiya stopped and turned to look at Shirou more curiously.
"Then where exactly are you from?"
Shirou smiled at the white-haired man, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you anyways."
Jiraiya pouted as he turned around and continued walking in his previously determined direction.
Shirou took advantage of the leisurely stroll to look around and absorb the general ambience of life in Konoha.
The street had a lively sort of atmosphere as rowdy children ran in between shouting street vendors who were selling everything ranging from fine silks to fresh pineapples. To the sides of the road, pedestrians frequently struck up conversations with one another as they went about their afternoon activities. From above, the afternoon sun gently reflected off of the well-maintained sidewalks basking the marketplace in a warm glow.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" asked Jiraiya with a serious expression, snapping Shirou out of his thoughts.
Shirou only nodded in agreement as he gave a small smile at the bustling street around them.
"Sometimes when I lose sight of the path I'm walking, I think back to moments like this to remember what it is that I'm fighting for. Being a mercenary isn't half the glamor and glory that civilians think it to be – more often than not, we are the necessary shadows that shield mankind from the monsters who prowl the night. In our profession, the strongest ones always walk a fine line between shadow and darkness."
The two men came to a stop at a large multi-story building at the end of the street.
Painted onto the front of the enormous double doors was a red cross denoting the facility's purpose. Emblazoned across the front of the building were the words:
Konoha General Hospital
Shirou followed Jiraiya into the building as they made their way to the receptionist's desk.
"What room is Uzumaki Naruto in?" Jiraiya asked the clerk.
"Room 117, just go down the hallway and it'll be on your left."
The hallway was painted a drab color of grey that added to the sanitary atmosphere of the hospital. The hallway was silent except for the faint beeping sounds from machinery in adjacent rooms that were draped with curtains affording the patients privacy from people walking past.
"So why are we here", asked the redhead as he turned to Jiraiya.
"We're here to collect the last member of our little team of three. Then, it's off to Tanzaku Gai!" responded Jiraiya.
Ducking the curtain into Room 117, Shirou was greeted with a young teen swaddled in bandages with a grumpy expression on his face. Poking out of his dressing were tufts of blonde hair that spiked upwards as if constantly in a state of static shock.
When Jiraiya entered the room, the blonde instantly sprang to life.
"Pervy Sage, you've gotta get me outta here, please! I swear I'm already all healed 'ttebayo!" yelped the bandaged teen as he latched onto Jiraiya's leg in desperation.
Gripping the kid by his forehead, Jiraiya plucked his new attachment off of his leg and nonchalantly tossed the blonde back onto his hospital bed.
"Naruto, meet Shirou. Shirou, meet Naruto", introduced the Toad Sannin.
Turning to Shirou, he continued, "This kid here is probably the most hyperactive brat you'll meet in your entire life. I'd pawn him off on you, but I'm kinda stuck with him."
Naruto poked his tongue out at Jiraiya, "Yeah, well I think Shirou over there looks way cooler than you anyways. At least, he would probably teach me something instead of perving on women all day."
"HEY! Take that back, you ungrateful brat, I taught you the Summoning Jutsu, didn't I?" whined Jiraiya childishly as he stuck his finger in front of Naruto's face.
Naruto ignored his sensei in favor of scampering up to Shirou eyeing him curiously.
"Gee, that's some really cool mesh armor! Where can I get some in the color orange? What type of weapons do you use? Are we going on a mission together? Can you teach me a new Jutsu? How do –" the blonde was only cutoff as Jiraiya bopped him on the top of his head.
Shirou laughed as he knelt down to smile at Naruto.
"How about I tell you on the way to Tanzaku Gai? It looks like we'll be going on a little adventure."
oOoOoOo
The gravel crunched under Shirou's sandals, the weight of his camping equipment weighing heavily on the redhead's shoulders.
The Merchant's Road was a north-winding trade path that stretched across the Land of Fire connecting Konoha with the capital city of Mashiyama City. Located a leisurely two-day travel from Konoha was the city of Tanzaku Gai, the trio's current destination.
Around them, the lush forests sprawled for miles in every direction housing small fauna who nested in the foliage of the enormous trees that provided shade from the harsh afternoon sun. Shirou grimaced as he swatted at the last in a long line of many mosquitoes that had visited him today. In a last ditch effort, he briefly flared his magic circuits to reinforce his skin making himself immune to the pesky annoyances.
"WHOA, what was that when your skin glowed slightly?" shouted Naruto as he bounded up to fall in line with Shirou.
They had been on the road for a full day now, yet Naruto was still just as energetic as the minute they had set out from Konoha.
"I can't use chakra like you and Jiraiya. Instead, I have to fight with a different energy form called prana, which seems to be a distant cousin of the chakra that shinobi use."
"That's so cool!" replied Naruto with stars in his eyes. "What can you do with prana?"
"Well, as a third-rate magus, I'm really only able to cast two types of spells: Reinforcement and Projection. For Reinforcement, it's literally as simple as it sounds – I can infuse prana into external objects or my own body to make them more durable. Meanwhile, Projection is a little more complicated – in essence, it's a form of gradiation air that lets you materialize any object you can visualize in your mind's eye."
"That's SO COOOL!" exclaimed Naruto, "You gotta teach me how to do this projection thingy too, like–"
His sentence was cut off as Jiraiya bopped the excitable blonde on the head.
"Weren't you listening to anything Shirou was saying, ya brat? It won't work with chakra since his techniques depend on only prana."
"Though this Projection ability sounds remarkably similar to the legendary Sage of Six Path's Creation of All Things technique", mused Jiraiya to himself.
Seeing Naruto's disappointed expression, Jiraiya waved his hand in front of the blonde.
"I guess I could teach you a new jutsu though… if you ask me nicely", sniggered Jiyaiya.
Naruto instantly perked up and dived onto the middle-aged man clinging to his leg.
"Please, please, please, please Pervy Sage, teach me something new!" begged the blonde.
Jiraiya grumbled something about stupid nicknames before tossing the blonde into a nearby bush.
"Alright kid, you asked for it. You're lucky that the legendary Jiraiya himself has deigned to teach you a technique! Maybe this will teach you to show some respect to your Sensei…"
Shirou could only stare at the two children in front of him; even if the white-haired one just happened to be fifty years older than the blonde.
Meanwhile, Jiraiya had led the trio over to a clearing on the side of the road. Flattening the grass beneath him as he sat, Jiraiya crouched onto the ground before raising an empty hand, palm turned upwards.
"Before we begin, I figured a little demonstration is in order since kids like you seem to like this sort of thing."
Naruto stared wide-eyed at Jiraiya's previously empty palm where a bright blue ball of compressed chakra had swirled into existence humming quietly.
Rasengan!
The white-haired man slammed the blue sphere into the ground beneath him tossing layers of dirt and rock into the air. The blue sphere emitted a metallic noise as it grinded against the sediment pulverizing rock into dust. Satisfied with the demonstration, Jiraiya dismissed the technique leaving Shirou to marvel at the counter-clockwise spiral impression left in the bedrock.
"ALL RIGHT, I'm all fire up 'ttebayo!" crowed Naruto. "How do I blow up rocks too?"
Jiraiya smirked and took out a package of water balloons from his pocket.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here, kid. The first step is to fill these up with water and learn to control your chakra into a spinning movement within the balloon."
Naruto scampered forward and began preparing the balloons for practice while Jiraiya patted out a flat portion of grass where he proceeded to plop down for a mid-afternoon nap.
Shirou gave an amused smile at their antics before reaching into his bag to unpack some camping supplies for the night.
"I'll be around looking for firewood and some small game if you need me, Naruto", called Shirou before he also squatted down to begin preparing a fire pit from a stack of stones that Jiraiya had upturned during his demonstration.
The blonde was already too busy stubbornly staring at his balloon to give a response.
oOoOoOo
The next morning, the well-rested trio packed up their camping supplies before stamping out their campfire and continuing onwards to their last stretch of travel.
As the walls of Tanzaku Gai came into view, Shirou couldn't help but marvel the sight of the sprawling city. Enormous stone walls stretched as far as the eye could see while the tops of beautiful pagodas peeked over the top of the stone structures.
Naruto was a bit more vocal in his amazement as he ran forwards to the newly sighted city.
"I've never seen anything like this before! Tanzaku Gai is so huge!"
As they neared the entrance gates, a relaxed pair of guards nodded the group through upon seeing Jiraiya. Walked through the whitewashed stone gates, Shirou was hit by a myriad of color as he entered the city proper.
Jiraiya chuckled at Shirou's stupefied expression, "Tanzaku Gai makes a majority of its annual revenue off of the tourism industry. It's the most popular gambling den in the entire Land of Fire. Anyways, now that we're here, I'll leave you to your little mission; Naruto and I here will be otherwise occupied trying to track down my old teammate Tsunade."
Shirou bowed goodbye to the colorful duo before pulling a cloak over his face and disappearing into the crowd. He removed the mission scroll he received back in Konoha and reread the details memorizing the attached photo of Yakushi Kabuto.
Emiya Shirou had a rat to catch, one that seemed to be hiding in the city's casino district if the reports were to believed. He double-checked the file committing the name of the building that Kabuto was last sighted in before setting off to make preparations for the coming night.
oOoOoOo
Later that evening, Shirou arrived at his target location – The Oriental Pearl. An opulent six-layer pagoda, The Oriental Pearl had been originally been a religious shrine before the wealthy Hozuki Family had purchased the property renovating it into a casino. It was the perfect place for Shirou to start as the Hozuki's were notorious for being mobbed up to their necks in underworld contacts and mercenaries to protect their gambling establishments.
Dressed in a well-fitted tuxedo, Shirou had opted to forego his usual red-mesh armor in favor for more formal attire. After being ushered into the casino by a pair of bouncers at the door, he took a cursory glance at the first floor of the pagoda taking in his surroundings.
The room's vaulted ceilings gave the place a spacious feeling even though hundreds of people were crowded around various tables and games around the room. The walls were decorated in gold leafing which accentuated the polished mahogany base that caught the glimmer of the enormous diamond chandelier hanging in the center of the room.
"Well, they've certainly spared no expense", mused Shirou to himself.
His attention was drawn to the other side of the room where he glimpsed a familiar duo of white and orange talking to a buxom blonde woman dressed in a dark green overcoat. He watched as the conversation seemed to grow heated as Naruto jumped on the table in front of the woman while Jiraiya attempted to hold the thirteen year-old back from clobbering her.
Shirou laughed at Naruto's antics quietly before tearing his attention away from the group and refocusing on his own task at hand.
Based on his information, Yakushi Kabuto was last sighted on the sixth floor of the pagoda dining with the Kozuki family's eldest son, Kyoshiro.
Having memorized the interior structure of the building, Shirou exited the casino back into the busy streets of Tanzaku Gai. He began walking around the pagoda assessing the structure as an idea began to form in his head.
At the back of the building, the night was quiet as Shirou silently sidled against the wall out of sight of the passing pedestrians on the opposite side of the pagoda. Tracing his favored twin blades, he reinforced his arms before stabbing Kanshou into the building's wall at a point a few feet above his head.
Taking a deep breath, he gripped Kanshou tightly as he lifted himself off the ground by using the blade as a handhold. He gently began rocking back and forth generating further momentum as he hung onto Kanshou. In a feat of acrobatic dexterity, Shirou pulled himself upwards towards Kanshou and used his free hand to sink his other blade, Bakuya, into the wall a few feet above Kanshou. Now gripping Bakuya, he wiggled Kanshou free and began to repeat the process as he slowly scaled the building wall.
For a reinforced magus, it was easy work scaling the six floors of the pagoda. Reaching the end of the climb, Shirou sidled against the outside of a window on the sixth floor. Bracing himself for combat, he swept into the room through the window holding his twin blades in a defensive position.
Inside the room, two guards startled at their sudden intruder attempting to draw their blades. Without missing a beat, Shirou sped forwards planting a foot into the first guard using him as a springboard to deliver a backhanded blow to the second's guards head using the blunt handle of Bakuya.
The second guard dropped unconscious as Shirou turned back to the first guard who was on the floor groaning. With a blunt kick to the head, Shirou quickly silenced the first guard too.
Dragging the two unconscious men to the corner of the room, Shirou listened quietly for other enemy movement. Satisfied that he hadn't been discovered yet, he began removing the uniform from the guard more similar to him in size. Donning the unconscious man's uniform, Shirou walked out into the hallway with his new disguise.
Activating his magic circuits, Shirou reached out with his prana to sense the location of people around him using a basic tracking spell. Sensing a civilian presence in the central room, he briskly walked towards the area while keeping his guard visor low as he passed other patrolling guards.
Forgoing any pretense of disguise, Shirou marched into the room locking the door behind him which startled a portly civilian man inside who was finishing the last of what looked to be a lavish three-course meal.
Shirou eyed the slowly reddening man whose finely tailored silks had the green crest of the Kozuki family boldly emblazoned across the front.
The portly noble opened his mouth in anger, "I don't remember hiring a guard impudent enough to interrupt me inside of my own private quarters, why I ought to have you-."
His tirade was interrupted as Shirou crossed the room grabbing the blustering man by his neck pinning him against the wall.
"Look, I don't want to hurt anyone here, so let's make this easy for everyone", began Shirou as he stared into the eyes of the slowly purpling man.
He wrinkled his nose in disgust as the characteristic stench of urine wafted from the man who had soiled himself in terror.
Loosening the pressure on the man's throat to allow him to speak, Shirou asked his first question.
"What do you know of Yakushi Kabuto?"
"N-n-nothing, sir" wheezed the portly man.
Shirou delivered a sharp punch into the man's generous gut.
The man cried out in pain as he burst into tears.
"O-ok, please enough!" he cried, "I had a meeting with him yesterday. It was just a meeting, I swear!"
Shirou nodded and continued, "Why were you meeting with Kabuto?"
The groveling man whimpered as Shirou raised his fist again.
"H-he asked me to smuggle some contraband poisons into the Land of Grass using my family's contacts. He requested me to transport a particularly nasty category of nerve toxins for him – the type that the Great Nations had outlawed due to their applications in human torture."
Shirou narrowed his eyes at the lavishly dressed noble.
"What else do you smuggle for Yakushi Kabuto?"
His captive's eyes grew even wider as he began to struggle against Shirou's hold uselessly.
Shirou repeated his question enunciating each word with a bruising blow to the man's ribcage.
"H-h-humans usually", wheezed the sobbing noble, "the slave trade while illegal in the Land of Fire is permitted in the Land of Grass…"
Shirou's eyed the crying man in disgust.
"Where can I find Yakushi Kabuto now?"
"I-I-I don't know… All he mentioned was that he would be in town for another few days for a meeting with The Merchant."
Perking up at the new information, Shirou queried, "The Merchant?"
"Yes, sir. No one around here knows his real name, so everyone just calls him by his moniker. He's the principal backer of organized crime in the area although he rarely stops by in town personally. His networks spans the entire Elemental Nations, and everyone knows that with enough money, you can buy almost anything you want from The Merchant, whether it be weapons, drugs, or even human flesh."
Shirou dropped his captive to the floor giving the man a disgusted look. Out of questions for the noble, he rammed Kanshou and Bakuya into the man's chest giving him a painless death.
Wiping the blood off of his blades, Shirou left the room pondering the new information he had received.
"The Merchant… it seems like things are getting more complicated by the moment."
oOoOoOo
Jiraiya ducked into the small bar spotting Tsunade's signature green coat immediately.
Taking a seat next to her, he gestured to the bartender for a bottle of sake and some saucers.
"You're awfully difficult to find, you know?" mused Jiraiya.
"Like I told you earlier, I'm not coming back to that damned village", grumbled Tsunade.
"Konoha needs you Tsunade. Every time you're out here drinking your life away, it's Konoha that pays the bill."
The bartender returned with the requested bottle prompting Jiraiya to tip the man while pouring out two saucers of sake.
Tsunade moodily sipped her drink.
"There's nothing left for me there, Jiraiya. Everyone I've cared about has died, and everything I've cared about has died with them."
Jiraiya shook his head sadly, "Then why not protect Konoha in their memory? What would Dan and Nawaki think if they saw you now?"
Tsunade flushed angrily, "Don't presume to lecture me on this, Jiraiya. Don't pretend to know what Dan and Nawaki cherished most."
"You're not the only person to have ever lost people, Tsunade." growled Jiraiya, "You're just the only one who has cast off the chains of duty and run away from responsibility."
Tsunade made a move to get up and leave, but Jiraiya gave a heavy sigh and gently grasped her wrist before she turned to leave.
"I understand what it's like to lose the people who you love too. And I understand how it feels to despise the village that they gave their lives for – probably more than anyone else – I understand."
Jiraiya swirled his sake cup with a haunted look before continuing.
"The man who inspired me to become a shinobi was actually my father. You see, back then, Konoha's shinobi core was even more dominated by its major clans than it is today – my father was one of the first civilian-born shinobi to join the core.
As a warrior, he never was the strongest – a career chunnin at best – not that it mattered to me back then. Above everything else, I looked up to him for chasing his dream in a profession that people believed to be impossible for him.
Those 'noble' clans never let him forget it either. He was mocked by his own comrades, often by the ones who he trained with, ate with, and lived with every day. They ridiculed his training efforts and the arduous hours that he put in just to learn basics that are spoon-fed clan born shinobi from the day that they can walk. Yet my father never complained – he told me that their attitudes would change in time, that they would one day put aside their differences to defend the Land of Fire together as fellow Konoha shinobi.
That day came sooner than anyone expected with the outbreak of the First Shinobi War. Konoha needed every able-bodied soldier she could field, so my father was promoted to the rank of Chunnin and deployed to the western border where fighting with Iwa was the fiercest. He fought loyally for Konoha for fourteen months surviving countless battles with his battalion who quickly became famous back at home for their exploits.
Apparently, they were also famous enough for Iwa to start taking notice too which led to the team being surrounded and ambushed at Takigawa Castle, a key stronghold on the western front. Overwhelmed by superior numbers, they sieged the stronghold trapping the Konoha battalion inside. As supplies had started to run low, my father's team began to get more and more desperate which led to their final gambit for freedom – a midnight break across the border back to safety.
To protect the battalion's chain of command, my father was ordered to switch uniforms with a squadron captain a few ranks his senior in hopes of misleading the enemy. As for the retreat itself, their team actually made it just in sight of the Konoha border before they were spotted and pursued by enemy forces.
With the team so close to the border, Iwa's forces only had time to capture a few members before they crossed the border. Naturally, they targeted the squadron captains first which meant my father was first in the line of fire. In the subsequent scramble, his capture bought the time the rest of his team needed to cross the western border back into safety. Fortunately, Iwa kept my father alive as it was standard procedure to ransom officers back then; the Konoha Shinobi Core had received a requested sum for my father's safe return a few days later.
Yet my father's battalion simply laughed at the demand refusing to provide the named sum. They wasted no time informing Iwa that their 'highly-important' prisoner of war was nothing more than a measly chunnin. Humiliated and embarrassed, the Tsuchikage promptly executed my father in retaliation.
Even in death, his own teammates still mocked him. The man had given his life for them, and in return, my father was given nothing more than an empty coffin and an unmarked tombstone. His battalion had refused to nominate a civilian-born shinobi to be buried with the military honors traditionally afforded to shinobi who had distinguished themselves in service to their country. His own squad captain had been the one to spread the tale of the silly civilian who got himself killed while pretending to be a real shinobi."
Tsunade was quiet as Jiraiya finished his recollection. The duo sat silently, in stark contrast to the busy bar around them, bustling with the activity of customers and serving staff.
Shifting uncomfortably in her chair, Tsunade turned to look Jiraiya in the eye.
"Then why do you still protect the people who had turned their back on you so long ago?"
Jiraiya finished the remainder of his sake cup, relishing the smooth burn of the alcohol as it went down.
He called to the bartender to bring another bottle before addressing Tsunade.
"Because I fight for an ideal – it isn't something that can just fade away and die like you or me – I fight for something much more enduring. Fifty years ago, my father too fought for his ideals. And fifty years ago, my father died for his ideals.
Every day of my youth, I spent training to prove my father didn't die for an empty cause. I trained until my hands bled to prove that a person's birth doesn't determine their worth as a shinobi. I trained until my muscles tore to challenge the beliefs of the Konoha people, to open their minds to the future that my father envisioned.
When I was placed on a team with the Senju Princess and the genius Orochimaru, I was actually ecstatic, believe it or not. To me, it was my chance to prove that I could stand as equals to such naturally-gifted shinobi and kunoichi. And more important than anything else, I had a squad leader in Sarutobi Hiruzen, who always held me to the same standard as my prodigious teammates – he was the first to believe in me at a time when no one else did.
And with time, while more and more people began to recognize me, it was Sensei's initial push that always meant the most to me. You know, on the day that he was coroneted as Hokage, he took me to Konoha's Memorial Stone. And his first official act as the Sandaime Hokage of Konoha was to carve my father's name into the Stone recognizing his act of valor posthumously. He told me that he believed in Konoha's capacity to change, that it was already beginning to change as a new generation of shinobi grew up on stories of Konoha's legendary Sannin: the Senju Princess Tsunade, the natural genius Orochimaru, and the Toad Sage Jiraiya."
Tsunade smiled fondly at the old memories. She set down her sake cup and gently admitted, "But it wasn't the celebrated Senju princess nor the mad genius that the people still remember today – no – it was the Toad Sage Jiraiya whose story resonated in their hearts the most; a man who had pulled himself up from nothing to become one of Konoha's greatest soldiers in her hour of need."
Tsunade's expression turned melancholic as she offered some self-introspection.
"And look at the rest of the Sannin now. With their vaunted genius having spiraled into madness, and their beloved Princess having abandoned them without word, the only one who has protected them all of these years is the same kid they made fun of so many decades ago…"
Jiraiya shook his head sadly, "It doesn't have to be that way, Tsunade, you can come back – there will always be a home for you in Konoha."
The duo settled into another silence as Tsunade finished the last of the sake between them.
"I'll think about it… And Jiraiya – thank you – I've honestly really missed seeing you after all of this time", she replied softly.
Tsunade fished some ryo out of her pockets, placed it on the counter, and gave Jiraiya's shoulder gentle squeeze before getting up from her chair.
Bidding her goodbye, Jiraiya gave a nostalgic smile as her silhouette slowly disappeared into the night-time crowds of Tanzaku Gai.
oOoOoOo
Unspecified Location, Tanzaku Gai
A nervous servant delivered a neatly packaged messenger scroll to her master who was currently seated at the head of a polished mahogany desk.
Wary of her master's temperament, the servant quickly backed away trying to make herself as small as possible against the wall of the room.
The man at the desk slowly unraveled the message, his emerald-green eyes scanning the writing.
Hozuki Kyoshiro is dead. Our deal is off until I find a new smuggler.
-Kabuto
Cold, unadulterated rage coursed through the cloaked man as he smashed his fist through the vintage table in front of him.
Who would dare interfere with his business in Tanzaku Gai?
He was distracted from his thoughts as the servant girl in the corner of the room let out a whimper of fear.
Anger clouding his mind, he let loose a knot of black sinewy tendrils upon the servant, spearing her through the chest and rending her flesh apart.
Sighing in release, the man felt a wave of calm wash over him as he watched the dying girl take her last breaths while she bled out on the floor.
In his now more controlled state of mind, he noticed a photograph clipped to the back of the message he had received. He curiously eyed the image of his client's murderer.
A man he had never seen before; Red of hair, roughly six feet tall, and bronze colored eyes, he was holding a set of twin set of black and white blades loosely.
Bloodlust resurging, the emerald-eyed man smiled as he came to a decision.
Yes, he would make a fine example out of his newfound prey.
End of Chapter 2.
