Year 2 B.K.
Anko is a sweet enough child beyond the bloodlust Orochimaru is breeding in her like some strange horticulturist. She is a bright ten year old girl with some degree of talent, but still Kakashi can't figure out why his uncle's friend much less his uncle Jiraiya would take such an interest in her. Even so she'd be a better teammate then that crybaby Obito. Still pissed at being reprimand by cousin Arashi when the whole situation was obviously Obito's fault he tosses another shuriken into his target imaging goggles and smirking faces. Why does he need a team anyway? He should be on solo training with Arashi-san like Anko is with Orochimaru.
As twelve-year-old Kakashi continues a very Sasuke-like inner monologue his 'uncle' is watching his former teammate begin to turn. He watches the corruption of an innocent child and knows he is damned because he will not intervene until after the perversion is solidly set - the timeline must be preserved as closely as possible after all. Holding himself motionless he comforts himself with the vow that at 'least' she will not know the curse mark, nor the death of her eventual teammates. She will still be warped by hatred - this time for him, but at least the curse seal will not pick at her mind and sanity always accompanied by the sting of betrayal.
Months past like formless dreams and as the body count mounts higher Jiraiya can't be bothered to recount where he lays his head. Nights of long, white fingers tangled maddeningly in his crown of white hair alternate with torchlight meetings spent training tattooed men and children. The moon seems to constantly be in motion as he treads the line between duty and suspicion. He can never get the stench of blood and dying out of his clothes, his hair, his skin as he lies in trenches, sits in tree, appearing like a phantom amongst the meat grinder battlefields. He wades through corpses - friend and foe and stranger as he attempts to hold the time stream to his demands. It seems his hands are constantly shaded red and black with the blood of strangers and the seals he makes. All eyes are on him as he continues to excel, to evolve and not all of them are filled with admiration. Yellow eyes lust, grey eyes hush, blue eyes war for his attention. He can no longer look into his sensei's tired, violet eyes. His student becomes the Yellow Flash of Konoha and he the legendary sannin, the Toad sennin, the ninja Jiraiya earns the title of Poltergeist. It is two years before the Kyuubi attacks.
It is two months before Dan will lose his head on a sad little battlefield west of 'here' and Jiraiya impales himself again on the effeminate man beneath him. As they near their peaks Jiraiya begins a conscious unraveling of his semi-permanent hedge. The fluxing chakra manages to gain the pale man's attention his eyes opening a mere crack glazed with lust. As the illusion melts away his eyes widen and he comes staring with undisguised disbelief into the fifteen-year-old face of his lover.
For a time he doesn't move his white hair trailing in the cooling blood as his unfocused eyes stare into the fixed pair below him. The pupils are dilated so wide the golden irises are merely a suggestion. The strangest thing is that they are located in an unfamiliar face. "How long Orochi?" The pretty-boy beneath him doesn't answer. Perhaps it's the knife in his throat or the fact he's dead. His legs are cramping badly enough to make him move. He needs to be out of here by morning. He leaves his scratched protector on the naked body.
One year until the Kyuubi.
The missing-nin Jiraiya wearing his 'quiet' face and long, straight chocolate brown hair moves quickly through the market to meet his Konoha contact. He notices the looks he gets and isn't surprised considering his quiet face is a mix of Orochi and Tsuande overlaid his own unaged face. The long, white sundress he wears barely flutters in the fitful breeze. Wave is such a beautiful country. Cross-dressing is a sure way of confusing the enemy a fact Orochimaru was quite fond of…gay bastard. A frown wrinkles his pretty face - it's still really odd, Orochi being dead… All the trouble they'd had last time and all they had to do was lower their morals. Well, all he had to do was lower his morals… and his pants.
Feeling a twinge in his Master seal Jiraiya stretches his senses out to the men shadowing him. They sense others tracking him. They want to move. Raising a slender hand to brush back his hair he gracefully flashes a signal off so quickly it's barely subliminal. Still his men calm down. From the corner of his eye he sees a flash of silver the chance glancing of light off of metal. Either the old man has caught on to his game or Danzo has decided to play.
Switching the basket he carries from one hand to another he rubs the master seal engraved between his shoulders. Only aching at times of trouble it's slow, deep throb is not a good sign. The market stalls grow larger and sparser in number as he enters the shop district heading toward a well-regarded café. Amon's is an airy little place composed of great, wide windows and private little coves made of ivy and off-beat artwork. Walking in he is greeted by Kuchiko and Aizen. "Your 'friend' is over by the pond." Trust Kuchiko to be so annoying, "We're just business partners." "Of course', the smirk Aizen tries to hide by pushing up his glasses is not appreciated. "Hmph', with a toss of now black hair the cross-dressing ninja walks away toward the pond. It's just as well they were meeting outside, if worse came to worse Aizen and Kuchiko wouldn't have as much to clean up later.
"Jali." The skinny, little nephew of Fuguku turns with a start ever the consummate actor. With his eyes perpetually hidden by shaggy bangs and the physique of an underdeveloped adolescent the boy was a forgettable figure which is what made him so useful. Slowly sinking to his knees beside the staring youth Jiraiya continues in a hard voice, "Are you aware you've been followed? And what have I told you about staring? I'm a boy you friggin' idiot. A boy!" Jali blushes one hand behind his head, the other casually lying a top his hidden blades. "I can't help it, you're just so pretty." A narrowing of the eyes earns a lowering of lashes and a tilt of the head to the right. "Only 'pretty'?" The Master seal burns. "Surely our watchers think I'm more then pretty. Don't you Kakashi-kun, Anko-chan?"
There are more, nameless shinobi destined to die unremembered and unnamed today. It's only these two who matter betrayed and angry. "Pleased you remembered me jiji-san. Now if you could just drop that disguise and follow us back to Konoha? Your trial awaits." 'Kakashi you never change.' Barely turning his head Jiraiya gazes into one bright, blue eye as a tilted forehead protector covers where the other should be. "Oh, did kashi-kun have an accident?" The sugary-sweet venom in his voice is enough to make himself ill. A low growl sounds from the two children before him causing him to raise one slender eyebrow. Turning golden eyes onto the previously ignored girl he smirks like the snake he favors, and decides to strike lower.
"Anko-chan', and the voice isn't quite his "you really shouldn't frown like that it'll give you wrinkles." Faster then either of the teenagers can react he drops his disguise revealing his unaged face. "What da hell kind of shit are you trying to pull old man?!" Twelve year olds should be seen not heard. "It's not a trick, not unless it's one that can fool the Sharingan." A glowing red eye stares dispassionately at him from Kakashi's wary face. "It's to be expected considering what we found in his 'house'." Asuma Sarutobi, one of the most unsentimental Konoha nin outside of the Nara and Abrume clans. Lovely. Grinning like a skull he is in Asuma's face before he can blink smacking a glowing palm into the boy's chest. The jack-of-all-trades screams and collapses eyes rolling into the back of his head. "Asuma!" "You bastard!" The other 'hidden' nins appear; all of them are foolishly focused on him.
Jali as unimpressive as he looks isn't one to ignore. Two of the newly revealed nin suddenly fall face forward rapidly expanding holes in their backs. A sizzling sound accompanied by the smell of cooking meat is the only activity for a moment before the sun is blotted from the sky leaving the combatants in darkness. When it finally clears Jiraiya, Jali, and the two corpses are gone. 'Fuck!" The little, white basket lies on its side flowers scattered across the ground among them is a single, thick letter addressed to no one. Jumping away as fast as his men can keep up with Jiraiya turns to his previous informant, red eyes stare back at him - "You know you'll have to stay with me now, right? Besides which I'll need a new method of communication with Fuguku." With his red eyes and that smirk on his face Jali doesn't look so unimpressive anymore. "Use snakes."
It turns out to be an excellent suggestion, since he owns the snake contract now having defeated Orochimaru and the Uchiha have long held sway with serpents. The missives continue building an ever larger stance against the Uchiha clan. This will be the store he draws from later on in regards to Itachi. In the meanwhile he learns of Arashi's reign as Hokage, learns the plans the clan has for the prodigy Itachi, hears of the Hyuuga clan's prodigies and how well the information he gives the Hokage is utilized. Most importantly he learns that the Anbu agent Windfall a.k.a the Lesser Phantom steadily gains stock in Konoha for his aid in the current Great War. That will be important come time for his return to Konoha.
OAK - September 14th, less then a month 'til the Kyuubi attack.
The mountains are truly majestic this spring morning. The scent of fresh soil and growing things is almost enough to overcome the stench of freshly slaughtered villagers. The Master seal throbs faintly between his shoulders as it should. The danger of summoning any demon is great; the danger of summoning the Kyuubi is astronomical. 'You are a fool' whispers the voice he shouldn't hear. 'And you are a monster who died now go away.' The baby he holds will not live beyond the next month when he transfers the demon to Naruto. Calm green eyes stare up at him as he rubs its fuzzy little cap of golden-rod hair. "You're a hero of Konoha little one - thank you for your sacrifice."
Staring down a demon while performing complicated hand signs was never a subject covered in the academy. The child is wailing, the ground is quaking and soon dozens of shinobi will be making their way here because you cannot, cannot hide this much power. He feels a burning, a tugging at his soul and clamps down on the desire to yield to forces he doesn't understand. Having forced time to yield, having forced death once before to yield he will not lose now. From miles away in Kumo, in Konoha, in Ame a beacon is seen piercing the sky as Jiraiya the Last screams his defiant soul to the heavens. Drained and barely conscious the white-haired boy draws the infant to him cursing the lost of his hedge as his deputy Jali begins barking orders.
October 9th, the day before the original Kyuubi attack.
Wearing the older face of a child he killed years ago Jiraiya walks into Konoha holding a swaddled baby amidst the swaggering caravan. Hours later he jumps over the northwest wall carrying a swaddled baby its mother brutally butchered a strangled babe by her side red blood standing out starkly against the bleach-white floor. The baby he carries sleeps fitfully struggling to breathe having arrived prematurely though not so much as to make a real difference. Three hours of travel see the man entering a devastated village one of many now. His snake summons are razing countless stretches of land his own men atop their darting heads in order to give truth to the lie he'll spin tomorrow night. The lie he'll spin with help from the young men on his right, ill-gotten bastards of the Kurama clan with all the strength, skill, and ability without any of the moral hang-ups. Just as he raised them. 'Should they call you Orochi-sama?'
"I've never seen you without whisker-marks." A sweet, normal baby… "Jali is it finished?" The whippet-thin sharingan holder nods briefly, "Hai, Jiraiya-sama." A man who could easily be Jiraiya's exact twin steps forward. His eyes are clouded though he walks with purpose, his hands steady as he reaches for the infant held by Jiraiya. Jali lays the older whelp whom they've been calling Taiyu down on the ground within the great blood seal. Quick as a whip he draws out a kunai and stabs it downward into a tender throat. The sleeping babe's eyes fly open even as a dark red begins to bleed into them. The changing stops as the eyes dilate into a solid wet black.
A sound like the world being torn asunder heralds the escape of Kyuubi. Even as the area becomes saturated with malevolent, red light that burns all who stand too near the false Jiraiya performs the Fourth's jutsu before calling out it's name. There is a sound too terrible to describe and then Naruto is screaming as the false Jiraiya falls jointlessly to the ground his visage returning to that of a non-descript jounin from cloud. Taking up the child who burns with chakra and youki the time-displaced shinobi barely notices the body being taken for modification. Instead Konoha's Phantom traces the newly appeared whisker-scars with a smile, "There you are Naruto, I've been looking for you." The baby continues to scream while the evidence of this rite are destroyed and preparations are made to relocate.
OAK October 10th, day of the Kyuubi attack
Four am on a Thursday morning with dawn two hours away, the city is in mourning for the wife and child of the Hokage. A single whistle from the bank of trees low and piercing cuts through the air. Suddenly a feeling like panic blankets the city as a false dawn appears on the horizon. The aurora of red draws closer and close still the killing intent it radiates blanking knife-edge minds of all techniques and stragems, overriding all training. Sirens sound and efforts are made for an orderly removal of women, children, and all unable civilians. All medic-nins, doctors, and nurses head toward the hospital for orders of placement and the orphanage locks down, it's wards led down the granite stairs to it's bunker like basement.
Jiraiya carries the Yondaime on his shoulders toward the border and a rendezvous with Sakumo. The Kurama brats can handle the simulation it's all they've been trained in for the last four years after all. People will die, buildings will fall, the Yondaime will ride to the rescue and die leaving the infant Naruto as his legacy. Behind him a particularly large explosion lets him know that Jali and the summons are having entirely too much fun. Hopefully they'll stick closely to the script. Ah, but snakes are difficult to control especially around blood and fear. Sensing fast-moving signals heading in the direction of Konoha from Suna he pulls the hood higher over Arashi's blonde head and summons three large toads to kill the nins least they ruin the genjutsu.
October 11th 5:34 a.m.
The Yondaime is dead his life-less body found by the Anbu agent Windfall. In his arms was found the infant Naruto Uzumaki whom no one save Jiraiya knows is the son of the Fourth. The Sandaime, speaking from a conviction born of a conversation that never occurred, foolishly informs the populous that the nine-tails resides in the belly of this infant. They are understandably upset and move to attack and kill the child. As a result of this incident the Third's law is passed preventing mention of Naruto's jinnchiruki status to him or anyone of his generation. Still the boy's life will be hard, as seen when it is from Windfall's arms across the way that the boy is taken to watch his 'father's' funeral. 'Ero-sennin, I've never liked chrysanthemums.' The purple flowers float away down the river as the child watches preternaturally still. His eyes are a lovely shade of lilac. Hiashi's wife lays a gentle hand on her swollen belly a line of worry upon her brow.
End Chapter Three
Yeah that's a funny place to end it, but I had to stop somewhere. This is the point where things will slow down. What would have been one chapter might now end up being three or more chapters. More over chapter size will most likely increase, but the chapters themselves will not jump around as much time wise as these prior chapters have. Expect huge plot twists and some out of characterness. Jiraiya isn't evil, but he's not a good guy like say Gai or Lee. The Jiraiya of this story is morally ambiguous. That's all I've got to say except the story will most likely only get darker from here on in.
Next time in Chapter Four:
A Kage arises, Akatuski arrives, Wars blaze