Rain: Like the last chapter, this chapter is setting up the Chūnin exam and trust me when I say, this is the arc I have been waiting for so sit back, relax and…Uh, Captain Falcon, what are you doing here?

Captain Falcon: Oh, I'm here to talk to you.

Rain:…Why?

Ron-Pool: Well, we are making a new Smash Brother's fic so I figure we invite someone from smash in our court.

Rain: Where have you been?!

Ron-Pool: Well if you recall, you had lent my uses out to a friend known as W. Block. I just got back.

Rain: Ah…So…Captain Falcon…

C. Falcon: No, what till the end of this chapter and I will explain.

Ron-Pool: Just enjoy the show guys!

Mario: Here we…Captain Falcon, what are you doing here?


Reaper's Blood: Reincarnated

Chapter Fifty-One

"Iruka…Thank you for protecting my godson in his time of need. While you sacrificed yourself, he was able to live and no matter how long it takes us to meet again, not even Kami himself could stop me from thanking you until the end of time," The Gama-Sannin whispered as clapped his hands together before the memorial stone, his white hair blowing in the wind as he gave a deep, respectful bow to the man who had saved his godson.

"Paying your respects, Jiraiya?"

Turning his head, Jiraiya felt a frown form on his face as he stood across from his teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi aka the Sandaime Hokage. "Iruka was a good man, if anyone deserves it, it was him," Jiraiya responded with tense tone, his eyes staring into his teacher's.

The last time he had looked at his teacher in the eyes, it was after the sannin punched the older male in the face in a rather heated argument, straining their relationship until it snapped. "That is something we both agree with, Jiraiya," Sarutobi responded before saying "But I am here to speak to you about your scroll."

"I covered everything in the scroll. What else am I needing to tell you?" Jiraiya said with a frown on his face, not exactly thrilled in speaking with the man right now. He had to get started on "Operation: Reunite" and this was slowing him down greatly.

Wordlessly, Sarutobi pulled out the scroll and tossed it to Jiraiya, who caught it and opened it to read the contents and as he did, Sarutobi said "I understand that he is your godson but he is not to leave the village with you. He has duties here that he must accomplish."

The scroll in question had permission to train his godson, Uzumaki Naruto within the scroll but it was clearly denied by the Hokage once again.

And that was what had caused their bridges to burn so many years ago. A week after he found out of Minato and Kushina's fate, Jiraiya had dropped everything to get back to the village and adopt both Tayuya and Naruto and take care of them but when he got there, Sarutobi had placed Naruto in an orphanage and Tayuya was long gone, already being adopted by some nice family.

Jiraiya then formally asked his teacher, the man he looked up to, to adopted the small Uzumaki but was point blank denied. When asked why, Sarutobi had stated that his spy network should take precedence over the child and stated that Naruto would be safe with the village.

Jiraiya refused to see that reason and kept pressuring to adopt Naruto but his teacher continued with the same answer each and every time until the Hokage forbade him to getting into the boy's life and even threatened Jiraiya with treason if he ever tried.

Leading for Jiraiya to punch his former teacher before leaving the village in disgust. Yes, as a shinobi for Konoha, he would still have to send in his findings to the leader but all the warmth and respect for the Hokage had died but while he was leaving, he had decided that maybe he had gone too far and decided to at least give his former teacher a shot.

He would regret this choice for the rest of his life.

Five years after his blow up, Jiraiya's messenger toad was checking up on Naruto when the toad saw group of Chūnin attacking the small child in an alleyway. The toad of course stopped this by attacking them and quickly rushed Naruto the Hokage's office before dispersing and telling Jiraiya the news.

Jiraiya was beyond infuriated.

So for the next few days, Jiraiya had sent several toads to examine how Naruto lived and after watching how the blond lived by his toads and being thoroughly disgusted by the lack of care his godson was being shown, Jiraiya had taken different steps in making sure his godson was safe.

The first was Kakashi.

Jiraiya knew Kakashi was already watching over Naruto because it was the ANBU captain's mission as well as his own personal promise for not being their when his teacher and his wife died so he instructed Kakashi to do very specific things in helping Naruto since when Kakashi, on his own, tried to adopt Naruto, the Hokage refused it as well.

So Jiraiya instructed Kakashi to bring him fresh food and clothes every night so he wouldn't be starving any longer and would have nice, warm clothes to not only help him during the more chillier nights but to help him look nice as well.

The next one had been Iruka.

Iruka had initially distrusted the blond boy like the other villagers but had come around after seeing the small Uzumaki begging for food in the streets (before Kakashi would start his own mission that very night) and being turned down by some and being outright ignored by others, prompting Iruka to take Naruto out for Ramen.

One of Jiraiya's toads had been watching so later that night, Jiraiya had written a note that told Iruka to watch out for Naruto and do everything he could to help him and was pleasantly surprised when Iruka only response was "Trust me, he will no longer be alone," in the scroll.

And from how happy and healthy Naruto looked, he was proud of both Kakashi and Iruka for doing what he was unable to do due to his own teacher. When Jiraiya had found out about Naruto becoming an shinobi, he knew that he had to at least get him as an apprentice, so since then, he had requested several times for Naruto to formally become his apprentice but was shot down each and every time.

But this time was the last straw.

Jiraiya took a deep, shuddered breath and said "He needs to be trained. There is no telling what he learned here. If I act in time, I will be able to undo any damages his instructors have caused."

"I believe his sensei is training him in the right way. He is perfectly fine where he is for his training," Sarutobi said with a stern tone in his voice, causing Jiraiya's temper to slowly rise.

"Look, Hokage-sama, while they are good teachers in their own right, there are some things that Anko-san nor Hayate-san can train him in. I am the sole person that knew both Kushina and Minato's fight styles well as well as their weapon styles. The normal academy style as well as any other style will not work for Naruto. At best, he would be mediocre in them," Jiraiya explained as best as he could without anger in his voice.

"Jiraiya…I do not want him learning about them. He has been doing well without those styles thus far. If he were to learn them now, it could cause distress among the villagers," Sarutobi stated with a hint of edge in his voice.

"The villagers are distress about everything Naruto does. Hell, they are distressed about Naruto breathing right now," Jiraiya countered with a sarcastic tone in his voice.

Sarutobi let out a tired sigh and said "Jiraiya….How many times are we going to argue about this? About him? I'm not going to budge on this subject, nor will I grant anything on your behalf. Naruto needs to learn that this village takes priority above himself, not the other way around."

"So the lonely boy, already a pariah to his village, wanting to know who his sister and parents are is him putting himself above the village?" Jiraiya asked, sarcasm still strong in his voice. "Naruto is making a huge sacrifice holding the Kyūbi at bay as it is. Why can't you just give him what he wants in return?"

"Because he doesn't need to know. Not from you, not from me, not from anyone. I do not need our village being wiped out by Iwa and Kumo just to help a child discover his roots. Besides, this is helping Naruto become more loyal to our village. The more hardships that are put in his way, the more he will rise up and strive to gain everyone's respect." Sarutobi explained calmly.

"How many times can you use that excuse?!" Jiraiya shouted, his anger finally hitting the point of no return. "Naruto isn't just some child! He is far more than that and he needs to protect himself, both inside this village and outside of it. Your methods doesn't, hasn't, and never will work so enough of trying to make his life hard just to make a loyal shinobi. Haven't you ever thought that maybe he is loyal already? That he is gaining people's respect by his actions and personality instead of your hardships. I understand you believe in the "Will of the Fire" but it isn't a tried and true method. All you are doing is planting distrust in his mind and I bet that sooner or later, someone will try and capitalize on this!"

Sarutobi looked to the ground in thought as Jiraiya said "If you don't want that, if you don't want Naruto to fall to someone like that, let me train the boy…"

Sarutobi let out a small sigh and said "Fine…but only until the Chūnin Exam tournament in three months…"


Konoha General Hospital

Uzumaki Naruto

"Naruto-kun…These words are for both you and your sister. I love you both with all of my heart and please be careful and stick to those you know you can trust…Goodbye, my Naruto-kun…"

With a gasp, Naruto's body lurched up from the mattress beneath him, his sweat drenching his entire body, causing his blond hair to stick to his face and his clothes to stick to his body.

Even with the lights off, Naruto knew he was in Konoha General Hospital so that didn't surprise him but what did surprise him was a unfamiliar voice from the shadows of the corner on the other side of the room say "Welcome back to the living world Uzumaki Naruto. You have been missed."

Almost immediately, Naruto swiftly grabbed a kunai from his kunai pouch that was thankfully still on his person and threw it quickly but the mysterious figure blocked it with his wooden cane.

"Now, now Naruto-san," The figure said with a small chuckle which made Naruto's eyes narrow before the figure added "No sense in attacking an ally…Especially one bearing gifts." Naruto gritted his teeth and took a small breath before laughing a bit.

"Ally? So far, one of the few people I trusted with my life has betrayed me time and again…What makes you think I trust you, a mere stranger as my ally?" Naruto asked with an edge in his voice as the grandfatherly image of the Sandaime within his mind but he immediately forced him out of his mind.

"But trust me Naruto-san, you will want me as an ally when the time comes…Until that time…" The stranger tossed a small scroll to Naruto, who caught it glanced down at it as the man continued "I figured I give you something you would want to have."

"What is this and why did you give it to me?" Naruto asked with confusion and suspicion in his voice.

The man in the shadows merely chuckled lowly and said "I have shinobi all around this village as my eyes and ears…I have heard very promising things about you…And considering firsthand accounts of your war with that unknown fighter…I figured this is what you deserve and as for what it within that scroll…Let's just say, this is your birthright the old monkey kept from you…."

"What else is new?" Naruto said with a bitter laugh but then he looked up at the shadow and said "Thank you for giving this to me. At least there are some people that want to see me happy I suppose…Even if they are complete strangers…"

"It is no problem, Naruto-san…Learn all you can within the scroll because it will grant you more power than anyone could achieve. I cannot wait to see what you learn from within it. Now all you have to do is write the seal "Open" with your blood and it shall reveal all that is within it…" The man said with a small chuckle.

Naruto stared at the man a few moments longer and asked "Tell me something…who are you?"

"Me? I am just a hawk soaring in the wind…Looking for promising shinobi for my glorious purpose…And I believe I found someone who will lead them…Until we meet again, Uzumaki Naruto." And with those words, figure seemed to melt into the shadows and a few seconds later, the lights came on, illuminating the entire room, leaving Naruto alone with the mysterious scroll.

"I don't trust him one damn bit…" Kyūbi said with heat in her voice, distrust glowing in her crimson eyes.

'I don't either but this scroll…I have to see what is within it…' Naruto responded with narrowed eyes. And why shouldn't he? If what the man said was true, this was his birthright and he deserved to see what was within it and when he did, a smile overcame his face.

Perhaps…He could trust this guy after all.


Rain: And that is the end of this chapter. By now, we all know the guy is Danzō but what did he give Naruto that was so important that made Naruto smile? Find out in the next chapter of… Reaper's Blood: Reincarnated! But Now Captain Falcon, what are you doing here?

Captain Falcon: Captain Falcon is here to talk to you all about our brand new show…SUPER SMASH BROTHERS FEDERATION! It is an exciting new story where every Smasher from every game is bought back to claim the Smash Championship Titles. It'll have tons of wise-cracking commentary, jealousy, intense battles, heartbreak, team-ups, betrayals and even romance for all the girls out there. It is only two chapters in but the first official episode is tonight! So unless people want Captain Falcon to…FALCON PAWNCH them in the face, go on down and check it out! *Hops into ship and drives off* Until the next chapter!

Mario: See you next time!