Second chapter of A Boy Among Men! The Sandaime Hokage tells Jiraiya the story of Naruto Uzumaki, and missing puzzle pieces are suddenly found!
A Boy Among Men
By: Frozen Utopia
The only occupants in the dark hospital room were the young sleeping patient and the white-haired self-proclaimed super pervert Jiraiya. The man sat there in silence, his face buried in his hands as his world came crashing down around him.
He had missed so much, so much, because of single, freaking long-term mission.
Konoha was attacked by the Kyuubi.
He hadn't been there to help them fight, to help protect his home.
Minato died, self-sacrifice.
He hadn't been there for the one person who Jiraiya had sworn he would not allow to die! After all the years that Jiraiya had spent training the young prodigy, Minato Namikaze as his student, he had finally gathered the courage to tell the man the truth, a truth he had been running from for far too many years.
He had finally found the courage to tell the brilliant blonde the truth about his heritage, a truth he was ashamed that he had hidden. And it was all for naught, as now the man, his student, the Legendary Fourth Hokage, was gone.
It was too late; Jiraiya would never be able to call the boy his son.
'Well, maybe not all is for naught...'
The Sannin ran a hand through his thick white locks, gazing compassionately at the child sleeping peacefully, wrapped up safely in the pristine white sheets of the hospital bed. He remembered what his old sensei had told him after dropping the repeated bombshells of the Kyuubi attack and his stude- no, his son's death.
His wife, Kushina Uzumaki died as well, killed by the demon.
And it was in this sentence that Jiraiya found hope. Though he was a very sociable man by nature, he had not always been that way, and as a young child, he had cherished his last name as the ultimate treasure.
As an orphan, it was his, his alone, and no one else was allowed to have it. This mentality followed the man as he grew, and so Jiraiya simply went by Jiraiya, and nothing else.
His name, Namikaze, was his ultimate treasure. He had soiled that treasure by sharing the gift with his son, but never telling the man who had given the gift to him. He would redeem his treasure, remove that stain, by acting now, when he still could, when there was still hope.
Upon hearing the name Kushina Uzumaki, Jiraiya had connected the dots, solved the puzzle that the Sandaime didn't know was there.
This young child's name was Naruto Uzumaki, obviously given his mother's maiden name to protect him from the enemies of his father. Kushina, being the wife of Minato, who himself was the never-announced son of Jiraiya, made this young child, Naruto Uzumaki, his grandson.
And where he failed with Minato, he would learn from his mistakes.
Rising from his seated position, a look of pure unbridled determination burned its way into the Sannin's eyes, and a flame of passion ignited in his heart. He had made a decision that he knew would forever change his life, and this was one decision from which he would not back down.
With a long look at his four year old grandson, Jiraiya headed at a steady pace towards the Hokage's office.
He needed to ask his former sensei a few questions.
Sarutobi Hiruzen felt his jaw loosen and drop as he stared into the steady eyes of his only student to have remained in the village.
"You want to adopt him?"
Without missing a beat the white-haired Sannin nodded.
"Yes"
The Hokage raised a thin eyebrow.
"Is there any particular reason as to why you spontaneously want to adopt a young four year old boy?"
Jiraiya's eyes narrowed at the lame attempt of a joke his former sensei was attempting, a frown creasing his features. Honestly, he was trying to be serious and his sensei was making jokes about him being a pedophile?
"He's my student's son, I'm his godfather, and I haven't been there for him because I wasn't in the village. I'm here now, and I'll take every chance that I can get to help Naruto, old man."
That seemed to satisfy the aging Hokage enough, and he dug through some files in one of his drawers, coming up with an adoption form. Because Naruto had no caretaker or guardian, the Sandaime had been the one to take over that role as best as he could. Now that Jiraiya would be adopting Naruto, Sarutobi wouldn't have to worry about the boy as much as before, constantly having ANBU supervising the boy. As much as the grandfatherly man liked the boy, it was a weight off of his shoulders to have someone else watching over him.
Jiraiya finished signing off the adoption forms just as a nurse walked in through the office door. Sarutobi gave her an expectant look, and the nurse blushed lightly, suddenly nervous of the attention she was receiving from their esteemed leader.
"The boy woke up not long ago Hokage-sama. He was asking for you."
The man nodded and dismissed her, slowly standing up from his specialized plush chair and facing his student.
"Well then Jiraiya. Would you like to come with me to meet your son?"
The two men headed through the door side-by-side, and Jiraiya grinned, throwing his thick arm over his much smaller sensei's shoulders.
"I think, age-wise I would be closer to the 'grandfather' moniker. And if my age gives me the title of grandfather, then what title does your age give you, sensei."
The shorter man bumped his fist on top of his students head, laughing humourlessly at the writer's jab at his age.
"Very amusing Jiraiya-kun,"
Naruto sat still as a statue in the blinding white hospital room, the standard hospital sheets covering his small legs. His chest, arms and lower face were covered by medical tape and gauze, and the four year olds eyes were glazed over.
The child was startled form his emotionless self-defensive state by two puffs of smoke suddenly appearing in the center of the room. His body stiffening instinctively, Naruto tried to peer through the unnaturally white smog.
The young boy relaxed his posture when he noticed the old man in the off-white Hokage's robe, his eyes watering up slightly.
"Jiji,"
The word came out as a whisper as a single tear found its way down the mentally and physically scarred boy's cheek. In a sudden blur of motion, the child dove forwards and off of the military-grade cot, flinging himself into the open arms of the aged village leader. The child broke out sobbing instantly upon contact with the only living thing to care for him in the entire populace of Konoha.
Jiraiya looked on, his eyes sad and nearly depressed as he watched the broken and spiritually injured child seek comfort in the form of his old sensei.
It took a while to calm Naruto down, but Sarutobi eventually managed the difficult task. He slowly peeled the boy away from his now-soaked Kage-robes, lifting him to sit on his lap as the grandfatherly man sat himself down on the edge of the hospital cot.
"How are you feeling now Naruto, did the doctors bandage your wounds properly?"
The boy gave a simple nod, showing that his external pain was all but gone, and the only pain he held was the mountain of sorrow and responsibility that had been unceremoniously tossed on his tiny shoulders.
The Hokage gave him a small smile before shifting the child around slightly, allowing him to see the man standing behind him.
Naruto could only gaze in awe at the man who had blindingly white hair that was identical to his own messily spiky white locks. He had seen people with white hair before, but that was either because they were old, or the hair was a silvery-white, like that ANBU that sometimes protected him; Inu.
This man, however, had a hair that was so white it couldn't be anything but natural, just like Naruto's own. He had always known his hair was special, and it astonished him to finally meet someone who had a hair colour that was completely identical to his own. Naruto's attention shifted from the new man's hair to his self-proclaimed grandfather when the man spoke up again.
"Naruto-kun, I would like you to meet my old student, Jiraiya of the Sannin." Naruto's attention shifted from the incredibly long spiky white hair to the rest of the man's features.
The first thing that Naruto noticed was the bright red Kabuki paint lining the man's face.
The second was his astonishing height. The man was easily 6'2 to 6'3, his arms looked as thick as tree trunks, and his hands looked big enough to snap him in two, like a twig!
Remembering what the Sandaime had told him about respecting his superiors, Naruto bowed his head slightly in respect for the powerful man.
"H-hello Jiraiya-sama. I-it i-is an ho-onour to meet y-you." Naruto blushed lightly at the Sannin's attention, before his eyes turned to the man whose lap he was sitting in.
"Naruto, Jiraiya is one of the few men whom I trust implicitly, and I know he has a kind heart. He was out on a super important mission, and has been gone for over nine years," Naruto's eyes went wide, that was a long time to be away from the village, "and he arrived back to the village early this morning. He saw you were injured and immediately sought to help you. He saved your life Naruto-kun."
Naruto's eyes grew even wider, and pure innocent blue met softened pure black. His life was saved by the strongest of the Legendary Sannin.
And suddenly, Naruto found his world, his life, taking a turn for the better.
"Jiraiya felt a connection to you Naruto, and he asked me if he could adopt you."
Jiraiya finally stepped in, kneeling down before the shivering child.
"Would like to come live with me Naruto? Would you like to be my son?"
Naruto looked down at his tiny hands with tears in his eyes, hardly believing everything that was happening. It was all coming so quickly, he could hardly keep up.
But he clung to that single word that was uttered so caringly, and unknown to Naruto, affectionately.
'Son'
The one thing he had always wanted was a family, and now he was being offered a father in someone who was debatably the strongest man in the village, a man who could protect him.
Looking up with innocent blue eyes that had seen too much for their young, pure age, Naruto found he needed one last assurance that this man would protect him, the man who he could see in his mind's eye being his father.
"Will you love me?"
Jiraiya's eyes went wide as a tear slipped over the edge of his eyelid, rolling slowly across his cheek. All was silent as Jiraiya knelt there before the four year old child and the wizened Hokage.
Moving forward, Jiraiya pulled Naruto from Hiruzen's lap and into a firm hug, holding the boy tightly to his chest.
And a single whispered word rang through the air of the silent hospital room, spoken so quietly, but heard so loudly.
And Naruto, for the first time in his life, felt safe.
"Always."
AN:/ I can't help but laugh as I finish writing this up, this chapter is exactly 1900 words long. Lulz! Anywho, I hope the touching moment between Naruto and Jiraiya was conveyed properly! Tell me if what I wrote was good, it helps motivate me! Quick shout out to EbonPurlight, MetallicMilitia and mermend for reviewing! Thanks guys or girls, you motivated me to finish this chapter! It's 12:48 and I'm leaving for two weeks to go to an overnight camp for diabetics in the morning! Diabetics for days! Anyways, don't expect any updates for the next three weeks, after I get back, I'll need at least a week to put out a chapter that's longer than these two.
Thanks again to everyone who's read, reviewed, followed and favorite my story! Don't forget to review!
Frozen Utopia, signing out!