"I'm going to stay behind and train these three." Jiraiya announced unexpectedly, "Just until they're able to take care of themselves in these troublesome times."
Jiraiya and his team were in the middle of a raging war between the Great Nations, and were just named the Three Legendary Sannin of the Leaf after surviving their battle with Hanzō of the Salamander. They were in the Rain Village, a minor nation that was unfortunately used as a battleground for the war. The Sannin stumbled upon three orphaned children belonging to the Rain Village, who were seeking food but were now following them. The boldest of the three, a young boy with orange hair requested that Jiraiya and his companions train them to become ninjas. Orochimaru and Tsunade thought the entire situation to be absurd. They were in the middle of a war after all, but Jiraiya felt sorry for the orphans and made the decision to stay behind and help those kids in anyway he could.
Tsunade looked at Jiraiya as if he were crazy. What could a highly ranked ninja from one of the Great Nations possibly be doing training the likes of three weak, orphaned children from a minor land? She couldn't simply stand by and allow Jiraiya to make such a reckless decision, "Jiraiya can I talk to you for a second?" She asked and walked away from everyone else in order to have a private conversation with her teammate.
"What is it Tsunade?" Jiraiya asked, joining her away from the others and knowing exactly where this conversation was headed.
"Have you lost your mind?" She said, still finding it hard to believe that Jiraiya was so willing to stay behind in the Rain Village to train three children who probably would never become great ninjas, "How can you make such as rash decision?! What would Sarutobi Sensei say?"
Jiraiya rubbed his temples in frustration, not understanding why Tsunade did not see his reasoning. In his mind, he owed it to those children to help them become ninjas who could defend themselves. Their home was used as a trampling ground for the Great Nations. As a result, many casualties occurred on a daily basis; casualties that left them without parents. As a ninja from a major land, he felt obligated to lend a helping hand to those who desperately needed it.
"How can you be so selfish Tsunade?" He asked and further angered his teammate, "Those kids need help."
"We need help too Jiraiya!" She yelled, "We're in the middle of a war we need you! You can't just stay here for years and years! You have to come back to the village with us!"
"Why do you care anyway?!" Jiraiya asked, feeling the need to put their conversation to an end. His mind was already made up so there was no changing it now.
She looked at him dumbfounded, "I beg your pardon?"
"You have Dan. You don't need me to go back to the village with you." He stated, making it abundantly clear that there was nothing she could do or say to make him rethink his decision.
"Dan has nothing to do with this idiot!" She shouted and felt the urge to punch him but refrained from doing so.
"You're with him and he's all you need remember." He expressed, "So you shouldn't care whether I stay behind or not."
She was so angry with him, angry that he brought up her boyfriend in a situation that had nothing to do with him, and angry that he was not returning to the village with their team, "Do whatever the hell you want!" She shouted before turning her back to him and walking towards her other teammate, "Come on Orochimaru, let's get out of here."
"Farewell Jiraiya." Orochimaru said and started to walk off with Tsunade on their journey back to the village.
She walked away from him feeling as if she could punch the very air out his lungs in an attempt to knock some common sense and rational thinking into him. However, as much as she was angry with him, she couldn't help but yearn for him to be walking right beside her back to the village. She wasn't sure when she was going to see her friend again, but hoped that he would be safe and return to the Leaf Village sooner rather than later.
Jiraiya stood there, directly facing two of the students he trained so many years ago and couldn't help but feel pain. Konan, the caring, gentle young girl was now a disheveled mess and quiet Nagato was a few moments away from joining Yahiko in death.The three years he spent with those children gave him a sense of purpose in troublesome times, and he could say with honesty that he enjoyed the short time he had spent with them. Konan was the responsible one among the three, always ensuring that the boys were not acting too recklessly. She even prepared most of their meals. Nagato on the other hand was quiet due to the trauma he endured when he watched as his parents were slaughtered, but everyone could tell that he cared deeply for his newly developed family. Then there was Yahiko, the bravest of them all and the one who helped them all to survive before they met Jiraiya. They were a team. Jiraiya watched those orphaned children became strong Shinobi with their own unique abilities. Yahiko had his strength and water style jutsu along with his fine leadership skills. Konan incorporated paper techniques into her jutsu, and of course Nagato possessed the rinnegan. Jiraiya was satisfied with their growth and after three years, he left them to fend for themselves, feeling confident that they could survive on their own. It wasn't too long after that when Jiraiya was told that those three had died. However, that was far from the truth.
As Jiraiya stood there, looking at the condition that Nagato was in, he couldn't help but wonder how those children ended up the way they did. What exactly happened after Jiraiya left them?
"Nagato." Jiraiya said as he stepped closer to his former student, "What happened to you guys?"
"Why do you even care?!" Konan shouted, speaking on behalf of an ailing Nagato, "After you left you didn't contact us, you just went about your life! So why are you so curious now?!"
"I didn't contact you because I was told you three had died." Jiraiya said, remembering the moment he learned of the fates of the three children he took care of. It was almost the conclusion of the war when Jiraiya rejoined his team. They were resting after enduring yet another battle when a messenger toad appeared before Jiraiya with a note revealing the demise of Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan. Jiraiya was crushed when he received the terrible news for he was certain that Nagato would be the one to bring peace to their war torn world.
Nagato coughed up some blood which prompted Konan to grab hold of his arm, "Nagato!" She said with worry in her voice.
"I can assure you we did not die Jiraiya Sensei." Nagato said with shallow breaths, "We were trying to put an end to the war."
"Why are we conversing with the likes of this guy?" Shikamaru wondered out loud and reached for a kunai out his pocket, "Let's just end this."
"It'll be easy due to his weakened state." Kakashi said while looking at Jiraiya and Naruto who were simply staring at their opponent.
Konan moved in front of Nagato in an attempt to protect him from a potential attack. She was about to use what little chakra she had left to form a counter attack, but stopped when she heard Naruto's voice.
"I want to hear what Nagato has to say." Naruto spoke up, "I know we are all angry. In fact, nobody is angrier than me or the Pervy Sage. But this guy is my sibling student. I want to know what happened to him to make him turn against Pervy Sage."
"Nagato." Jiraiya said, "Tell me what happened after I left."
"Very well." He said, "I will tell you of our pain."
Nagato started to tell them of the pain he endured in his life. The first pain he lived through was the death of his parents. He was a young boy who lived a poor but happy life with his parents on the outskirts of the Rain Village. They were living through the war and though times were tough, they kept up good spirits by being with each other. It was just after they sat down to a measly dinner when two ninja from the Leaf Village invaded their home. Nagato's parents tried to fight their intruders, viewing them as a threat to the safety of their son. The Leaf ninja killed them, without realizing that they were civilians. Nagato witnessed the murder of his parents and awakened his rinnegan. He killed the Leaf ninja without even knowing what he did.
Now an orphan, Nagato wandered the wet, unforgiving streets of the Rain Village. He hadn't eaten in days and did not have the strength to continue on. When he was sure he was about to draw his last breath and join his parents in the afterlife, a young girl offered him some bread. He ate the bread, trying his best to savor every piece of it. Afterwards, the girl told him her name was Konan and brought him to the hideaway she shared with her fellow orphaned friend Yahiko. The three of them kept each other alive and soon developed an unbreakable bond.
The trio witnessed a battle between three ninja from the Leaf Village and Hanzo, the leader of the Rain Village. Yahiko quickly realized that the only way for them to truly survive in a world of ninja was to become ninja themselves. They sought out to follow the Leaf ninja and were successful when they became aware of their presence. The female member of the team, Tsunade and the black haired man, Orochimaru were not willing to share what little they had with the orphans, but the white haired man Jiraiya was. Jiraiya stayed behind and trained the children to become ninjas and when he figured they were competent enough to be on their own, he left them to return to his village.
After Jiraiya left, they worked on refining their techniques and soon became full-fledged Rain Village Shinobi. They formed an organization in order to put an end to the war that terrorized so many. They gained quite an impressive following, but this did nothing but anger Hanzo who was still the leader of the Rain Village. He saw it as a threat to his rule and schemed with the Leaf Village's Root organization to eliminate Nagato, Yahiko, Konan, and the rest of their followers. Hanzo sent word to Yahiko that he wanted to discuss achieving peace. Unaware of his plot, the trio met up with Hanzo only to be ambushed by Hanzo loyalists. Hanzo tried to force Nagato to choose between killing Yahiko or Konan. Not wanting Nagato to have to make such a choice, Yahiko ran into the kunai Nagato was holding, killing himself in the process. This was the second great pain in Nagato's life. He reactivated his rinnegan and killed everyone in sight except for Hanzo who managed to escape.
Some time after that occurred, Nagato and Konan overthrew Hanzo's government and assassinated him, taking full control of the Rain Village and then collaborated with a masked man who had a plan of bringing a never ending peace to the world by collecting all the tailed beasts. However, after enduring such tragedy, Nagato was certain that there would never be such a thing as peace.
"Now that I have told you my story, can you say with all honesty that there will ever be peace?" Nagato asked Naruto specifically.
"I understand where you're coming from, but I can't forgive you." Naruto stated and looked at Jiraiya, "But Pervy Sage believes that peace can be found, and he believes in me. So I know that there can and will be peace in this world."
"Do you expect us to wait until you make this world a peaceful place?" Nagato asked, finding Naruto's way of thinking to be absolutely immature and ridiculous, "Don't play with me! It's far too late for me to believe in Jiraiya Sensei's words. There is no such thing as true peace. As long as we live in this cursed world peace is impossible!"
"Then I'll break that curse! If there is such a thing as peace, I will achieve it! I'll never give up!" Naruto said with determination.
"But that's!" Nagato gasped.
"Nagato, what's wrong?" Konan asked, concerned as to why Naruto's words had such an affect on her friend."
"Those words." Nagato said, remembering when he read those words out the pages of Jiraiya's book."
"That's right Nagato." Jiraiya nodded, "They were taken from my very first novel. I was trying to change the world with that book, the book that you gave me the inspiration to write."
Tsunade arrived at the scene where the battle was supposed to be taking place, but found nothing but Hinashi Hyuga's lifeless body and an unconscious Pain.
"What the hell happened here?" She wondered out loud.
She was expecting to walk into a grueling battle, but that was far from what the reality of the situation she found herself in was. The sight of the two bodies laying in a pool of blood was unnerving and grotesque to see, but other than that, it was eerily quiet.
"Over here!" One of the members of the ANBU called out as he pointed to footprints leading into the woods.
Tsunade walked over to the footprints and even though she could not discern who they belonged to, she felt the need to follow them, "Perhaps they moved the battle elsewhere."
"Lady Hokage look at this." The other ANBU ninja said. He was crouching down next to Pain's body and pointed at his bloodied face.
Tsunade analyzed what she was looking at. Due to the accuracy of the carvings on Pain's face, she could tell that a chakra scalpel was used, "It seems as if Sakura used medical ninjutsu to remove one of the black metal rods from Pain's face."
"Why would she do that Lady Hokage?"
Tsunade thought about the fact that the Pain she was standing before was not actually Pain. He was just the corpse of Yahiko, which meant that Nagato was somehow controlling him as if the corpse was a puppet and Nagato the puppet master. She eyed the remaining black rods protruding from Pain's face. Surely they were not there as mere fashion statements, they had to serve a specific purpose. Concentrating her chakra to her pointing finger, she created a chakra scalpel similar to the one Sakura created, but more refined. She carefully carved a black rod from Pain's face and once it was free, held it in her hand. As she was holding the rod, she felt it pulling her in the direction of the footsteps. She smiled to herself upon realizing that she just figured everything out.
"Lady Hokage?"
"Let's go you two." Tsunade said, moving towards the direction of the footprints, "It's time we meet up with Jiraiya and the others."
"I inspired you to write that book?" Nagato asked his former teacher, "I don't believe you."
"You should believe me Nagato." Jiraiya said, "Your will to protect Konan and Yahiko, the strength you had. I had faith in you from the moment I met you that you could somehow bring about peace to the world. I just wish you harnessed your power to bring about peace in a better way instead of trying to show your opponents what pain feels like."
"We've all had our fair share of pain." Naruto said, "I've experienced pain growing up without parents, being ostracized by everyone in my village, being targeted because of what I carry within me, and when I thought I lost my master. But if I stop believing that there can be peace in the world because of everything I've been through, then that would be me changing the narrative. I wouldn't be Naruto. No matter how great the pain is, I'll keep going because that is who Naruto Uzumaki is. Someone who never gives up."
Nagato was finding it hard to believe that he served as the inspiration for Jiraiya's first book. Jiraiya wanted a world that was not filled with hatred, but one where people could truly understand each other and live in harmony regardless of the nation they came from. He wanted Nagato to be the driving force for change, but he failed him on every accord. Looking back at his life, Nagato could no longer count the lives he had taken for the sake of showing them what pain felt like. He thought that if he had to endure such tragedy, then everyone else should. But seeing Naruto, his sibling student, and hearing him speak with such determination, did Nagato realize that his way of thinking was flawed in so many ways.
He thought back to the child he once was. He remembered how gentle he was, and how he did not have the heart to even harm a fly. When did he become the type of person who could not even put a count on the people he had killed in his lifetime? How could he possibly right his wrongs?
"It's not too late for you Nagato." Jiraiya said, "You, me, and Naruto. We can work together to bring about peace. All you have to do is say yes."
Nagato shook his head, "Naruto, you and I are sibling students. We ought to be able to understand each other. You remind me of how I was once. I wasn't able to believe in Jiraiya Sensei, nor was I able to believe in myself. However, I have a feeling that unlike me, you will walk towards a different future. I think I shall believe in you Naruto Uzumaki, the way in which Jiraiya Sensei believes in you."
Nagato proceeded to weave a few hand signs that were unfamiliar to everyone except for Konan. When she realized what he was doing, she burst into tears and tried to stop him, "Nagato no! Don't!"
"It's okay Konan." He said, "This is how I choose to make up for all the damage I've done. It will be alright."
"What is he doing?" Guy asked, feeling uneasy with the strange hand signs Nagato was weaving.
"He's sacrificing his life in order to bring back the life he took today." Konan said while wiping away tears.
"Nagato, there has to be another way." Jiraiya said and ran up to Nagato to try to stop him from completing his jutsu.
"Jiraiya Sensei." Nagato said, "I'm truly sorry for what I put you and the Hokage through." Nagato apologized, "Please don't try to stop me." He said, "You have a beautiful child. Make this world safe for her. Make this world peaceful."
Naruto ran up with join Jiraiya in front of Nagato, "Are you sure about this Nagato?"
"Yes Naruto. But beware, there are still people out there who will still try to put their plan for the tailed beasts into action. Do not let your guard down."
After completing the last hand sign, a bright light surrounded Nagato and shot up into the sky. After the light subsided, Nagato was lifeless. He gave his life in order to bring back the life he took. Konan took Nagato's body down from the throne he was on and laid him on the floor. She sat on the floor beside him and cradled his head in her arms, mourning the life of her close friend.
Suddenly, Tsunade appeared with the two members of the ANBU.
"Lady Tsunade, what are you doing here?" Sakura asked when she realized Tsunade was in their presence.
"Are you guys okay?" She asked and turned her attention to Konan and Nagato. She started to run towards them with the intent to attack but was held back by Jiraiya.
"Tsunade, it's okay." Jiraiya told her.
"What do you mean it's okay?" She asked, clearly confused, "What happened?"
"He sacrificed himself to bring the Hyuga ninja back to life." Jiraiya explained, "Naruto here helped him to understand the wrongs he did and he decided to put his trust in Naruto for a peaceful world."
Konan looked at Tsunade with tears still in her eyes. She carefully placed Nagato's head back on the floor and walked over to Tsunade who recoiled when she saw the other woman come close to her. Konan used her paper technique to create a bouquet of paper flowers and handed it to Tsunade, "I'm very sorry."
Tsunade looked at the bouquet and then looked at Konan and saw sincerity in her eyes. She then remembered when Konan was a little girl back in the Rain Village and presented Tsunade with a single paper flower when they first met. Could it be that that girl was still in there somewhere?
"What's all this?" Tsunade asked her.
"Nagato's ideals were my ideals. Before he drew his last breath he decided to trust in Naruto. I've decided to do the same. I'm sorry for all that I've done."
As the Hokage, Tsunade should have had her ANBU members seize Konan and take her into captivity, but somehow, irrationally, she felt sorry for the woman. She had nobody in her corner. Nagato was the one and only person she had in her life. She accepted the flowers from her, "You may leave the village but you can never come back."
"Understood, but can I collect the body of Yahiko before I depart? I wish to bury them together."
"Tsunade, are you certain that she can't come back here?" Jiraiya asked, "She is still my student."
"Jiraiya, you know the damage she's done. I'm doing her a favor." She said and turned her attention back to Konan, "You are allowed to get your friend's body, but after that you have to leave."
Konan nodded her head and wrapped Nagato's body up in a paper cast with a justu she developed and left the scene to do the same to Yahiko's body. Once she was gone, Tsunade wrapped her arms around both Jiraiya and Naruto, "I'm so glad you two are alight. I was worried sick."
"I'm sorry you had to worry Tsunade, but like Sakura said what are you doing here?" Jiraiya said.
"How did you even find us Granny?" Naruto asked.
"I found you with one of the black rods I retrieved from Pain's body." She said while showing them the metal rod, "As for why I'm here, I couldn't stand by while you guys were out here fighting."
"Not to fear Lady Tsunade, mission accomplished!" Guy said with a smile and a thumbs up.
Even though, the mission was successful, Naruto and Jiraiya couldn't help but feel somber. Nagato lived a tragic life. He was the product of his circumstances. He warned them of other threats that would no doubt soon come for Naruto to extract the nine tailed fox from him. If Nagato was so strong one could only imagine the strength of the others who posed as a threat to the ninja world. They just had to prepare themselves for the likelihood of another attack. For now, everything was alright. Everyone was alive and the village was safe.
Jiraiya was finally able to let his guard down and when he did, he winced in pain. The injury he sustained was not fully healed.
"Lady Tsunade, the injury to Master Jiraiya's thigh needs follow up treatments." Sakura explained when she saw Jiraiya in pain.
Tsunade wrapped one of Jiraiya's arms around her shoulders and Naruto did the same to his other arm. Together they steadied Jiraiya and proceeded their journey back to the village.
"Come on everyone, let's get back to the village." Tsunade announced. While she knew Jiraiya was somewhat emotional over the death of his student and the exile of his other student, she was happy he was alright and only had a thigh injury that she could easily heal. She also knew that she had to act as emotional support for him and help him get past this difficult time. She placed a kiss on his cheek, thankful that her child still had both her parents alive and well and proceeded on home to inform the village that for now, they were in the clear.
Thank you for reading!