Sealing Salientia - Chapter 29: 106 - Author: PenSmoke
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor make any profit from writing this.
Previously on Sealing Salientia: It was not too late to turn back, but Naruto was not a coward. "I'd like to learn about chakra from you." Naruto said to Kurama resolutely.
Konoha
Tuesday, October 13th, Year 71
Jiraiya had just left Naruto behind at the Ninja Academy for the boys' day of learning, watching how he practically ran inside. The older man smiled to himself, he knew that bringing Naruto back to Konoha to attend the Academy was the best option for the lad, now that enough time had passed that few should be suspicious of his origins. The change to the white hair had especially helped, as had the recent outfit change. While the boy had always had a penchant for a black and orange theme to his clothing, Jiraiya had managed to get him to accept a new wardrobe of much more neutral colors. Dressing the boy more as a miniature of himself, Naruto now wore a dull red jacket with faded olive patches on the shoulders, and a gray collar, the primary colors of his toad allies. The pants were the same Gamabunta red, accompanied by a belt that matched the upper green area.
The boy had even asked how to apply the red markings like Jiraiya wore, fully going into the look. Apparently, one of his classmates, an Inuzuka, had some red markings in a similar fashion, and the boy thought it might help him fit in. Jiraiya had started with the small lines under the eyes for now, just like he had when he was a boy. Explaining to Naruto that the lines we symbolic of his level, he would expand them after he became a genin, and then again each time he graduated, advanced or did something note-worthy.
The change in look completed, nobody would even think twice about the boy being his. It was if he had been cloned and reverse aged about 30 years. There was almost no visible relation to Minato left, and Jiraiya did feel slightly saddened by that. His former student shouldn't be forgotten, but there was little chance of that overall.
Jiraiya smiled fondly at the mental image of his tiny clone hopping about a battlefield on a toad, tossing out crazy ninja techniques and defeating kage level shinobi. He did have business to attend to, and that business was not going to be pleasant, so he allowed himself the little daydreaming that presented itself while he continued towards the tower in the distance.
Upon arriving at his destination, he shook his head clear of the pleasant distraction, bringing his mind to bear on the task at hand. Jiraiya had 6 years of intelligence that he had to go over with the Fifth Hokage. Add to that, he had not actually interacted with the man face-to-face since he had been coronated. Lastly, this was the man that had sliced off his arm that fateful day. He smiled at that though. If it wasn't for the bloody intervention, he may never have bothered mastering one-handed seals and then no-handed seals, getting the blueprints tattooed right on his body. He possibly never would have gone back to Mount Myoboku to finish his sage training, letting that skill rot and mildew over the years. Who knows, it may have even prevented his death, as he may have just wandered the world spying on women and letting his skills get rusty.
Instead, the man he was about to meet had inadvertently changed the entirety of his life for the better. If it wasn't for Fugaku trying to wrest control of the Hokage position from Sarutobi, Jiraiya probably never would have been a father figure to Naruto, entrusting Hiruzen to handle it. That meant he never would have become the person he was now.
He thought about thanking the man, just to see his reaction, but realized that he was still angry at the newest Hokage. Yes, he had caused a series of life-improving events, but the man hadn't done it out of any sense of virtue or purpose. He had done it simply for the sake of power.
Getting back in his mindset of opposition to the man, he approached the desk in the waiting area outside of the office. The ANBU on detail there looked up at him and spoke. "Jiraiya-sama, please take a seat, Hokage-sama will be done with his current meeting shortly. He has another appointment directly following that one, which should not take long. You will meet with him after the second one has concluded."
Jiraiya accepted this at face value, the position of Hokage was a busy one. The fact that he was slated to meet with the man for hours was probably somewhat unusual, so getting in other appointments quickly seemed logical. He turned to the waiting room area and looked at the two rows of plain black chairs. A figure leaned against the far wall, a face he recognized from a long ago past.
"Danzo. Good morning."
The elderly man looked up at him. The face was wrapped in bandages aside from his chin and left eye, headband tilted down across the wrappings to hold them in place. One arm was carried in a sling, also completely covered and wrapped up. The other hand was holding the handle to a wooden cane that helped him to maintain balance while he walked. Even though the man had been a ninja once, it seemed that age and wounds had caught up him, the old war hawk seemingly weary and tired. "Jiraiya. Nice to see you again. Finally back in town after so many years, I hear."
"Indeed." Jiraiya did not wish to continue idle chit-chat with the man. Danzo had been an adversary to Hiruzen dozens of times and the toad sage had heard plenty of stories from his old sensei to be well aware of who he was dealing with. Danzo was another spy-master for Konoha, though his information was born from inside the village, whereas Jiraiya birthed from outside. Sharing any more words than absolutely necessary was potentially dangerous to such a man, just as it was with most people to Jiraiya.
Thankfully, the wish for cessation of conversation with the bandaged ninja was granted. The door opened to reveal a much more welcome figure. This was yet another instantaneously recognizable figure from his past, one that instantly got his mind racing and mouth slightly drooling.
"A hundred and six." He breathlessly whispered.
The figure turned into the main room, waving her hand behind her while saying "Yes, Hokage-sama." Changing from backlit silhouette to detailed person, Tsunade cast an imposing presence on the waiting area.
Danzo moved forward, apparently, he was the meeting in between now and Jiraiya's, which meant that Jiraiya had a little bit of time to try and catch up with his old teammate.
The gaze of the female swept over Danzo first, small mouth turning from neutral to frowning as her eyes took in the countenance of the aged man. As her eyes continued towards his direction, he subconsciously stuck out his chest a bit and tried to suck in his gut, holdovers from long ago reactions. Her honey colored irises landed on his form, and the small frown instantly widened into a smile.
"Jiraiya! I had heard you were back in town. With a little brat no less!" Her voice was exactly as he remembered it, soft and lilting, with an undercurrent of strength and indomitable will. Her blonde hair cascaded down the sides of her face, tied back into two pigtails, coming to a rest slightly below the shoulders. A small purple diamond shape adorned her forehead, the result of a seal that Tsunade herself had earned through her own summoning contract, the slugs. Wearing a simple green haori robe with a grey shirt underneath held together by a dark blue obi, she looked pretty much the same as he last had seen her years ago. In fact, he thought that she looked even a little younger.
"Tsunade-chan!" He was honestly surprised that she was greeting him so warmly, their last meeting had been a little less than amicable, but decided to roll with it for now. He would have killed for this much friendliness years ago. "It's so good to see you again! What are you doing at the Tower today?"
The slug princess kept the smile on her face as she responded, "Just bureaucratic upkeep. Updating the Hokage on the medical school, expense reports, personnel requests, all that wonderful paperwork." She seemed at ease, talking naturally about the goings on as to what was happening.
Jiriaya had heard about the changes a while ago, but hadn't had any chance to catch up with his former teammate about the newest development for the medical profession in Konoha. "I knew you had been put in charge of the new medical school, Hiruzen told me about it in a letter. Who would have thought that Fugaku would have approved it?"
Tsunade shook her head. "It's been startling to see the differences that he has created in the town. Between approving the medical school, putting Orochimaru in charge of tech development, Hiruzen in charge of the Academy, a total revamp of the ANBU and some of the political weight he has tossed around, the man has really made Konoha a better place."
Jiraiya still didn't care to acknowledge that the man had been good for Konoha, but he had to admit, seeing Tsunade so easily give tacit approval of all the things that had happened, he couldn't really argue against it. It wasn't as if everything she said was a lie, quite the opposite. Konoha had prospered and flourished in the past six years. The changes starting from the Uchiha Hokage had improved many aspects of the village and even fire country as a whole. He decided to change conversation topics. "Do you have a few minutes? I'd love to hear about the medical school."
Tsunade looked up at the clock on the wall, and let loose a sigh. "Sadly, I really don't right now. Perhaps we could catch up sometime this evening?"
Jiraiya's heart skipped a beat. He knew that Tsunade wasn't inviting him on a date, per se, but the juvenile crush that he had had on his teammate had never faded as the years went on. Even the thought of such things made him feel a little light-headed and dizzy. He readily agreed, "I've just got to pick up Naruto from the Academy, otherwise, my evening is clear. I still have the old apartment if you'd like to meet me there?"
His brain almost broke as she contemplated it for a moment, then nodded her head. "Sounds like a deal. You still have the good stuff?"
Jiraiya's throat had closed up for the moment, but he managed to nod as well.
"Bring some, would you?" She turned to walk away, raising a delicate hand in a parting gesture. "See you later, then."
Jiraiya's hand limply rose up and waved at her retreating form, even though she was unable to see it. His mental-self had reverted to the 12-year-old boy inside and was jumping up and down, cheering at the top of his lungs. While his outward façade remained mostly frozen in a calm expression, he was feeling a million different emotions that he thought long buried.
The Hokage's door swung open, a loud huff emanating from the chamber inside as Danzo exited briskly. The older man shot a quick glare at Jiraiya as he limped past him as fast as possible on damaged legs and a cane. The presence fading down the hallway, he heard a voice call from within the chamber.
"Jiraiya, please. Come on in."
Jiraiya quickly schooled his mental state as best as he could, though his inner persona was still hopping up and down excitedly. This was no time for such feelings, those could be expressed later. Reminding himself that this man had had no qualms with violently murdering a defenseless infant from his own village in cold blood, he steeled the mental barriers up to create what he felt was the proper atmosphere. Guarded, defensive and ready to pounce on any slip-ups.
Jiraiya could see the man sitting behind the desk that sat at the back edge of the office, farthest away from the door. A pipe similar to Hiruzen's hung out of the corner of his mouth, a lazy trail of smoke emitting from the end. The Hokage's hat rested on a stand next to the desk, leaving his black hair to fall freely past his ears. The somewhat harsh looking face was contrasted by what looked to be a genuine smile, however small. A white robe obscured the rest of the body as it disappeared behind the cluttered mahogany desk of the office of Hokage. Fugaku Uchiha made both an imposing and approachable figure at the same time.
"Hokage-sama." Jiraiya greeted curtly with a short bow, as he entered the room. He had yet to deal with Fugaku in the official capacity he was not going to make the first slip-up.
"Thank you for coming, Jiraiya. If you would mind closing the door behind you?" Jiraiya laid one hand on the large wooden door, and swung it closed, the heavy piece closing smoothly on well-oiled hinges. Once the door had latched and clicked into place, the voice of the Uchiha continued. "I am sure you understand if I put up the privacy seals for the matters we are about to discuss?" A head motion in the affirmative by the toad sage preceded the activation of the barrier seals.
"Good. Now, as you are no doubt aware, I need the complete information that you have gathered from your travels. I would also like to get right down to business and discuss several sensitive topics with you."
Jiraiya started to unpack his scroll cases. While he may not respect the man in the Hokage's chair, he was nothing if not a loyal ninja of Konoha's forces. He would obey the orders to turn over his information as requested without any sort of backtalk. At least, until he was certain that he could get away with it. The repartee that he had with both of the previous Hokage had been a privilege that he had taken for granted, and now sorely missed. "Yes, Hokage-sama." Jiraiya responded, hating the formality of it.
"Thank you. Getting straight to business, I'd like to ask about Naruto. How much control does he have over the chakra of the Kyuubi, if any?"
Jiraiya froze. He didn't dare even breathe for that moment. His brain whirled in immediate defensive thoughts, calculating the distance that he would need to push through to reach the Academy before an ANBU could catch him. While he would not prefer to harm comrades, he would cut down anyone in his path if they tried to assassinate Naruto. He hands changed positions inside the bag of scrolls, getting ready to start a battle if he needed to that moment. He breathed slowly out, the tension in everything relaxing as he mentally prepared for the next sentence. "What are you talking about, Hokage-sama?"
He was expecting Fugaku to launch a trap. Perhaps even a direct assault. Maybe even have ANBU ready to crash through into the room. What he wasn't expecting was the belly laugh that followed.
"Ah-hahaha. I KNEW it. I knew it had to be you."
Jiraiya was still slightly off-put by what had just transpired, but hadn't let off the defensive posture yet. He didn't respond, just awaited the potential attack.
"That pause. It gave you away. You see, I knew that Hiruzen had done something with the boy right from the council meeting. He would never tell me what though, even after years. After a couple days of looking into it, I realized that you had been here and then disappeared right after. I checked with the gate guards, and they said you left by yourself, but that just didn't feel right. Hiruzen only had a few options. Who would he trust more than you to protect the boy?" Fugaku carried on, small chuckles still interspersed into his speech.
Jiraiya was completely in shock now, but also quite curious. If the Hokage knew of the deceit, and that he didn't kill the jinchuriki in front of the council, why hadn't he tried tracking them down before now? Or better yet, when they returned to the city? It didn't make sense.
Fugaku stared at him, eyes flashing red for just a moment before they reverted back to black. "Ah, I understand. You can stop molding the chakra now, Jiraiya. I promise you that I am not attempting to harm the boy."
The words did nothing to dissuade Jiraiya from having his planned technique ready in case of an issue, however.
At the continued stare, Fugaku responded again. "If that will make you feel better, I suppose you can keep it up, though I am being honest. I am not trying to hurt Naruto. I understand your desire to protect him. You basically see him as your own son by this point, right? I know that I would feel the same way if someone endangered one of my boys like that."
Jiraiya finally opened his mouth to speak. "That doesn't make sense. You wanted to kill the boy in front of the council years ago, somehow knew that you hadn't done so, and even though you knew where he was, never bothered to mop up your unfinished business. How did you know Hiruzen did something anyway?"
Fugaku raised a hand, and Jiraiya tensed anew, ready to react. But the fingers just tapped lightly on his right temple as he activated his bloodline limit in both eyes. The toad sage understood then. He had known at the time that it might be possible for the Sharingan or the Byakugan to uncover the illusion of the seal, though he hadn't been certain.
"When Hiruzen walked in, I saw the baby, just like everyone else did. Then, by a stroke of luck, I activated the Sharingan for the sake of intimidation of the civilians. As I did so, I watched the baby morph into an arm. From that point, I was able to capitalize on the issue." Fugaku held an arm for emphasis, though he paused. "I never did figure out who the arm belonged to though."
Jiraiya replied in a monotone manner. "It was mine."
That one seemed to startle the man across from him, as the eyes flickered between his face and both of his arms. "Yours? But… How is that possible?" The Uchiha looked genuinely curious.
"Seals." He kept his answers as short as possible on purpose. The man sitting in the Hokage chair was still aggravating to him, there had been six years of tension on Jiraiya's end that would not dissipate easily.
"Well… In that case, I would like to formally apologize for slicing your arm off. It would appear that through some manner, it did not affect your abilities. For that, I am grateful." Fugaku actually stood up and bowed to him, which confused the toad summoner. This was not how he was expecting the meeting to start. Fugaku continued, "Back to the previous topic, I had this exact conversation before, with Hiruzen over a large bottle of special Uchiha vintage wine. If you would like, I can get another bottle."
Jiraiya shook his head. It was too early for wine, and being drunk wouldn't help in this situation. He still wasn't sure if he could trust the man.
"You are starting from a position of error. I did not WANT to kill a child. I exploited the fears of civilians and agreed to it in order to claim the office of Hokage. It was a necessary price to pay. Konoha had survived for years before then without a jinchuriki protecting it and endured all threats."
Jiraiya bit his tongue that there had actually been a jinchuriki in the ranks, as Kushina had never wanted to make that news public. Even if she were dead, he didn't want to risk her ire if it ever came back to her in the afterlife that he had spilled her secret. She was vengeful like that and it wouldn't surprise him if she figured some way to return to the mortal plane just to kick his ass.
"I was told that the child was an orphan, so that there were no parents to anger. There was a chance that killing the container could have released the Kyuubi again, but that could have been prepared for. It was not optimal, but it was necessary." The Uchiha Hokage continued, sitting back down in his chair, motioning for the still-standing Jiraiya to take a seat as well.
The toad sage declined a seat and hurled back a retort at his leader. "So, it was necessary to your power grab then? The murder of an innocent child is an acceptable loss to you to gain position and status?" Jiraiya was feeling hot under the collar, now letting the anger get the better of him.
Surprisingly, Fugaku lowered his eyes, looking pensive. "We sacrifice things every day. Each mission is a potential sacrifice of a life. Many of them involve the taking of lives. If the mission was to eradicate an enemy stronghold, would you hesitate? What if there was a child inside? We can debate about the merits of saving an innocent versus not, but if the mission involves it, ninja have done it. Can you honestly say that you have never taken the life of an innocent?"
Jiraiya could not respond to that. He knew well the cost of being a ninja.
"A ninja is no more than a hired thug that possesses special killing skills. We are hired by the highest bidder to perform a job. While I still do not WANT to kill an innocent child, if it was to protect the village, I would do so in a heartbeat." Fugaku stared at him dead in the eye.
"Big words for a man who used the destruction of innocence as a ploy to obtain power. If the village populace found out about what you did, I'm sure that you'd be in hot water." Jiraiya spat out heatedly.
"They threw a parade and celebration. The idiot civilians on the council immediately blabbed to everyone that the demon was gone, killed by the new Hokage. The everyday civilians rejoiced in the knowledge that the Kyuubi was no more. You came back on the day of the festival, you saw them still cheering years later. Many of the ninja clans did not care for it, but I have dealt with their anger over the past few years. Some still hold on to it, and I do not begrudge them for doing so." Fugaku held true, the challenge put forth by Jiraiya washing over him.
Jiraiya spluttered. He wanted to argue more, he wanted to yell and kick and scream. But the simple truth was that there was not much that he could do. The man was an established Hokage, had been in place for quite some time, had the support of the civilians and at least not open mutiny of the ninja. The anger still burned brightly inside of him, but there was no outlet for it to escape from, avenues of exit cut off by explanation.
"I understand your anger. I know that it may be hard for you to understand why I did the things that I did. But I did so to make Konoha a safer place."
The toad sage faltered, finally sagging into the seat nearby. The only response that he could muster at the moment was, "I still don't like you."
Fugaku looked at him for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders. "Join the crowd. So long as you are a loyal ninja, I don't need anything else."
Jiraiya steeled his gaze for a moment, the words about to come from his mouth could be construed as treason. "I'm loyal to Konoha, not the office of Hokage."
The Hokage was slightly startled by the words, and then his shoulders sagged for a moment. "Now you sound like Danzo, not Hiruzen."
This incensed the toad sage. He was nothing like that warmonger, and refused to believe that he compared in any way. He held the stare to the other occupant of the room until it was met.
Seeming to accept the words, Fugaku proceeded. "Going back to what I originally wanted to ask. Has Naruto accessed any of the Kyuubi's chakra. If so, has he shown any ability to control it?"
Jiraiya considered how to respond to this. He didn't really want to tell the Hokage anything regarding it. On the other hand, he could understand why this was important knowledge to obtain. He felt conflicted, so he came up with a stalling tactic. "I think it is best if this is discussed with Naruto present, so that he can tell you himself. If possible, I'd also like Hiruzen to be present."
Fugaku shot a look, recognizing what he was doing. However, the man acquiesced to the request. "Very well, we shall discuss that soon. I'll make sure to get a meeting arranged. Moving on, I'd like to hear all of your reconnaissance from your travels, from big to small."
Jiraiya relaxed for the first time since he entered the office. This is what he came here for, what he was prepared to do. Hopefully the problems of Fugaku knowing Naruto was the jinchuriki were minimal, hopefully preventable by having Hiruzen also present in case something went wrong.
After seven hours of going through scrolls, reports, information, and everything that he had uncovered over the past six years of travelling, Jiraiya was finally out of information to pass on to the Hokage, the last scroll just having been exhausted. Sitting back, letting the Hokage parse through the last bit of information, he waited for further instructions from the village leader.
"So, what will you do know? Are you going to continue travelling or are you going to stay here with Naruto?" Fugaku's tone was neutral, pretending as if he didn't care one way or the other, though Jiraiya could easily read the edge on the words. Without the toad sage travelling the world and sending information back to the village, Konoha would lose an important advantage in the battle of spies. However, that wasn't his problem at the moment.
"I'm going to stay here with Naruto, of course." Jiraiya responded matter-of-factly, not caring how it was taken. Mothers and fathers across multiple generations had always taken some time off of their ninja careers to raise kids, even the elite ninja.
"I can't say that isn't unexpected. However, I'd implore you to at least keep up appearances with some information, or train a replacement that could take over the network."
"Do you know how long it takes to find and train an information specialist? That's not gonna happen." Jiraiya dismissed the notion immediately.
"Well, let me try to find an appropriate apprentice for the job." Fugaku replied, unperturbed by the dismissal.
"Fine, you find someone who I actually feel could take over, I'll do what I can." The reply came with the air of a person who felt that it was a sure bet.
"I have one more thing for you then. If you are insistent in staying in the village, I have a mission for you." The Hokage pushed a small scroll towards the toad sage, before checking to ensure the privacy seal was still active.
"Hmmm?" Jiraiya mumbled as he grabbed the scroll from the edge of the desk. Quickly perusing the scroll, his eyes grew wider as he read on. When he finished a flurry of finger motion and a poof of smoke, the scroll disappeared in a burst of flame, as was instructed at the bottom of the mission scroll. "You're serious?"
"Yes, the group has been growing consistently, and I feel that there are definite ties that are a threat to Konoha. You should be able to gather information on it without ever leaving the village, which was your desire." Fugaku stared at him directly in the eyes, the facial expression dead serious.
"I'll look into it then." Jiraiya replied.
"Very good." Fugaku leaned back, clicking the seal release button for the office privacy barrier.
Even before he was excused from the office, Jiraiya took the non-verbal cue and started walking out the door, done with the conversation. The thorough information dump had been exhausting, but such was necessary after years of informational gathering. It was never known what might have been deemed inconsequential at one time that could be monumentally important now. And now he had yet another thing to try and dig into.
His stomach rumbling made him pause on his walked down the carpeted hallway past the ANBU secretary/guard. He hadn't been able to take any breaks while in the office, and it was well past lunch time now. In fact, he probably would have to swing by the school shortly to pick up Naruto. Resolving to get something to eat as soon as possible, he chose to set course towards the Academy.
A few minutes of brisk walking later, as he didn't feel like expending the energy ninja hopping across the rooftops only to make himself hungrier, he arrived at the Academy. Judging from the look of it, class had just recently let out, as there were still straggling students heading out of the door. Jiraiya meandered inside, looking for the white-haired genin wannabe that was his charge.
Not seeing him anywhere, he poked his head into the office of his former sensei, "Hey there sensei, have you seen Naruto around?"
The wizened face peered upwards at him, then the eyes drifted off to the upper left, seeming to try and remember. "I think I saw him running out the doors after class let out. He seemed excited about something."
Jiraiya harrumphed, the noise bouncing off the walls and eliciting a smile form his sensei. "Brat. Alright, thanks sensei." Being dismissed with a wave of the hand as the older man went back to writing something down on a piece of paper, the toad sage left the office with the intent of heading towards home. He bet that Naruto had ran home quickly after school, trying to figure something out. He was probably going to have to work on some sort of plan with the kid. He trusted the boy to take care of himself in most situations, but you never knew when something unexpected could happen.
Thoughts distracted his mind for a moment as he walked through the doorway back into the hall outside the office, making him unaware of the person about to enter. For just a moment, Jiraiya's arms and chest felt something warm and soft, before a collision sent both people involved bouncing back, a couple of books clattering to the floor as the other party maintained their balance of self, but lost part of the stack of things they were carrying.
Jiraiya quickly focused in front of him, words of apology already forming on his lips though. Said words died on his tongue as he saw a wondrous sight though. His former teammate was bent over, picking up the fallen books, providing a perfect angle to view the assets that she possessed. He knew that if she caught him looking, he would probably leave the office via a nice punch to the jaw, but he couldn't help but stare for a second as the opportunity presented itself. Glance obtained, he quickly knelt down to help capture a couple of pencils that had rolled away.
"Tsunade! Fancy running into you again. Literally this time. Sorry about that." Jiraiya apologized while gathering the misplaced belongings.
She gave him a quick glare that dissipated even quicker as she realized he was actually sorry about it and was helping her pick up the dropped items. A neutral look took over her face a second late. "I probably should have been watching where I was going as well. Both at fault, I suppose."
Jiraiya attempted to capitalize on the moment. "Well, since I'm at fault, how about you let me make it up to you. We were going to catch up this evening anyway. Let me take you out to dinner and we can catch up over a nice meal."
Tsunade, of course, immediately recognized the attempted date and frowned. "I don't know Jiraiya. I'd rather just sit and talk in private. Besides, you can't bring the good sake to a restaurant either. Give me a minute to drop off this stuff to Hiruzen and we can go back to your place."
Jiraiya's smile brightened somewhat lecherously and he heard a slight gasp from Mebuki behind him. By the reddening of Tsunade's face, she heard it too. She immediately took a defensive posture, dropping the books on the floor again while waving her hands in a cross pattern in front of her. She wore a completely mortified look, beet red cheeks and wide-open eyes. "No, no! Not like that! We're just going to drink some sake and talk! I swear!"
The toad sage decided to poke a little more fun at the chagrin that Tsunade was feeling from the misunderstanding. "Back to my place, huh? I never took you for moving that quickly."
A loud coughing noise erupted from behind him as Mebuki excused herself from the room, disappearing quickly into a hallway that led to various offices.
Tsunade looked at him and glared, her shame from being embarrassed turning into anger as she reached back to power up a slap. Jiraiya let it connect, though he did reinforce himself with chakra to not be blasted through a wall. It still hurt and let a red handprint immediately swelling against his cheek, but the moment was too perfect to pass up.
"Now, now, princess. It was just a bit of fun. Let's get this stuff gathered up and dropped off to sensei." An angry huff of exhaled air greeted him as she stood up.
"You pick it up then. Jerk."
Jiraiya chuckled loud enough to be heard. "As you wish, princess." Being honest with himself, he liked her more when she was mad, because the emotions were more true and real to herself. He'd much rather see her hot under the collar than a forced passive expression. He had always had a thing for strong, powerful women, and Tsunade was the epitome of the stereotype. Her eyes lit up with an energy that he'd never been able to describe in his books, but he desperately wished that he could find the words for. It was one of the reasons he had loved her as much as he did.
He gathered the multiple books, loose papers and pencils that littered the floor for the second time in as many minutes. He followed behind her, enjoying the view as she stomped into Hiruzen's office.
Jiraiya watched the look of confusion on his sensei's wrinkled face give way to a slight smirk of understanding as the man watched Jiraiya walk in holding everything and a visible red handprint on his cheek.
"What did you do this time, Jiraiya?" Hiruzen quipped, a note of amusement in his voice.
As he leaned forward to set the materials on the wooden desk, he gave a quick wink with the eye away from Tsunade so that she couldn't see, and remarked, "I was just innocently asking what she meant when she said that she wanted to 'go back to my place'."
"You're starting to make me regret ever agreeing to catch up with you, you know." The annoyed voice from the female behind him was not a surprise, but he could still hear the note of embarrassment trapped within.
The Third Hokage chuckled at the interaction between the two, long aware of the history of their interactions. "Alright, I understand. Tsunade, I assume this is the paperwork on the newest prospective students and the textbooks that you want them to read?"
The female occupant of the room nodded in acknowledgement.
"Thank you. If that's all, you two go catch up. And Jiraiya?"
The sage stopped in his tracks, slowly turning his head around to look at the 'Professor'.
"Play nice."
Jiraiya grinned and hopped to catch back up to Tsunade, who had continued walking.
"Since you've already embarrassed me plenty, can we just forget that happened and pretend to be normal for a few minutes?" Tsunade said quietly as they walked out the front doors, bright sunshine beaming down onto their faces.
Jiraiya knew when enough was enough, he wasn't called the gallant toad sage for nothing. Well, only he called himself that, but it still counted. "Alright, princess. I'll stop."
They walked in pleasant silence side-by-side for several minutes, only interrupted once by a growling of Jiraiya's stomach and his subsequent slightly sheepish grin.
"I may have asked to get something to eat because I was hungry too."
He was met by a rolling of the eyes and a knowing grin. "Alright, fine. We'll get something to go." A quick glance to the side showed him that she was wearing her serious face. "But, if you embarrass me again, I swear to Log…"
He decided not to challenge the unfinished threat, as he knew what the woman in front of him could do. He waved his hands disarmingly in front of him, much the way she had done a few minutes ago. "I promise!"
Quickly dashing to his favorite ramen cooking student's stall, as he knew that would mean the fastest turn around time, he ordered three bowls to go. Knowing Tsunade, he ordered chicken bowls for all, it was her favorite after all. That and sake. Meals in hand a scant couple of minutes later thanks to the wonders of having a chef as a faithful student, he rejoined Tsunade outside where she sat on a nearby bench, tapping her foot.
Motioning to the food in hand, he gleefully announced. "I got the good stuff. Let's go!"
Together, they walked back to the apartment complex, making small talk about the weather and the scenery. As they arrived at the building, Jiraiya unlocked the front door and stood to the side, waving Tsunade in with a hand gesture, "After you, milady."
Tsunade snorted at him. "Shouldn't you go first? Age before beauty, you know."
Jiraiya shot a small glare back at her, before it twisted into a smile of his own. "Well, in that case, princess, shouldn't you be first. After all, you're three months older."
The slug sannin returned the glare and growled before stomping her foot. "Well, at least I don't have any white hair, now do I?"
The toad summoner had played this song and dance many times. He had always been picked on for the white hair and called old. He wasn't quite as sensitive about his age as his female teammate was, but it was still a slightly sensitive topic. He idly wondered for a moment if Naruto would have to deal with such things. Speaking up in response, "Alright, well than I suppose I won't hold the door for you at all then." He breached the doorway and let the door start swinging shut behind him.
As expected, she grabbed it before it closed, mumbling something about 'stupid toad gentleman'. He grinned, just as he thought. She didn't mind him holding the door for her, she just wanted to poke fun at him. In some ways, the two were practically still kids.
He walked up the stairs to his apartment, Tsunade still grumbling behind him. Upon reaching the correct floor, going down the hallway and throwing open the doors, he yelled out "Honey! I'm home!" Fully expecting a shushing sound from Naruto, he was slightly disappointed when one didn't erupt from the whiskered boy sitting on the couch. A closer inspection revealing that the kid was in his meditative state, something he often did when working on a complex problem. It was a trick that he had learned from the excessive mental training of the toads, entering his so-called 'mind library', where he could study things repeatedly in solitude.
Jiraiya waved his fellow Sannin in. "Tsunade, that's Naruto. He's meditating right now. He can't really see or hear us while he's doing so. He kinda tunes the whole world out when he does it. We can introduce the two of you later."
Tsunade looked at the whiskered boy for a couple of moments. "Still can't believe you got saddled with a brat," she said as she closed the door to the apartment, closing them off from the rest of the world.
Jiraiya laughed. "Yeah, a few years ago, I would have agreed with you. I never pictured having a son until it happened, you know?"
"So, how did it happen? I know you always loved the red-light district, but I can't believe you'd get sloppy enough to let that occur."
"We both know that too much alcohol can wreak havoc on either of us."
"Bullshit," Tsunade spit the word out like it was poison, her mood going from friendly to icy in a half a second. "I know you Jiraiya. There's no chance in hell you let some common whorehouse girl sire a child of yours." The words continued to pour forth like venom being extracted from a wound, dripping with accusation. And was that, resentment? Jealousy? Either way, she continued. "Even if you did, there is a less than zero possibility that they could track you down and force you to take it."
The instant change in attitude made it feel like the room temperature dropped for a moment. He froze solid in the middle of unwrapping the delicious smelling food. Upon thinking about the situation for a moment though, it was probably just the blood freezing in his veins. He was caught. He couldn't lie to the woman, she knew him to well and could tell he was lying in a heartbeat if she was bothering to look for it. And he couldn't tell her the truth, that was an S-class secret that he wasn't allowed to reveal.
He forced himself to turn his neck to look at Tsunade, and was greeted with honeyed irises burning with anger. "I don't appreciate you lying to me, Jiraiya." The fire raging in her eyes was both highly frightening and quite exhilarating. That he thought it was a combination of the two probably meant that there was something a little wrong with him, but he wasn't concerned with that at the moment. The woman continued, "Tell me the truth. It's Kushina's kid, isn't it?"
For the second time that day, he found it highly annoyed to be caught by surprise that people had figured out the secret he thought had been well-kept. How many people knew about it? The number that he was aware of had double in the past few days, and he didn't like that pace. By this rate, they might as well hold a public display of the Kyuubi's chakra and Naruto's lineage by next month. He didn't want to speak, but knew that the livid female currently within his meager living quarters would not let that be an option. He responded in the only way that he could, the truth. "That's an S-class secret, princess. I'm sorry, I can't tell you." His voice was low and quiet, filled with both regret that he couldn't tell her what she wanted to know and that he wasn't able to fulfill her request.
"When I came back to the village five years ago, you know what I did as soon as I got back? I went to check on Kushina. She was my last living relative, you knew that. She had kept writing me all through the pregnancy, telling me all about everything that happened to her. The last letter that I got from Kushina even told me that she had agreed to Minato's request that they name the kid after the character from your book, Naruto." Tsunade's voice held notes of sadness and loss as she recounted her tale. "I had heard of the Kyuubi attack. I knew that Kushina and Minato had likely perished that night. I didn't want to believe it, but that beast had taken away the last bit of family I ever had."
Tears started to drip down the blonde-haired woman's cheeks, a reflective rivulet running down to her chin as the memories of the losses she had suffered over the years built up inside of her and released out the only way she knew how. Jiraiya started to move for the first time since she had spoken up in anger, but was immediately stopped by her hand rising up, palm outward, pointed towards him. Her tear-streaked face tilted up to stare at him directly.
"I tried to accept it. That I was the only one left. And for a while, I believed it was okay. But it wasn't really. It just wasn't! I didn't want to be the last one!" The sentences were growing shorter as the tears grew stronger. Her face turned angry, the tears now outshined by an almost malevolent force emanating from the honey orbs. A long, elegant finger rose from an outstretched hand, pointed directly at his face. "And then you came parading into town, with a boy of the right age to be Kushina's kid that has the same name as she was going to give to him, claiming it's your son? Like hell I'd ever believe that."
The coldness from her voice froze him in his spot, any possible words that he had thought to prepare evaporated from his throat as every muscle he had constricted and stopped responding. "Don't you dare take this away from me. Don't you dare! If that's Kushina's kid, I have every right to know!" She was practically yelling now, the water now having ceased to flow from her eyes, leaving only tear-streaked makeup running down the sides of her nose past her mouth.
Jiraiya felt trapped by the situation he was in. He didn't have the heart to say that he couldn't tell her due to the Third's ruling that this was an S-class secret again. But he still felt honor-bound to uphold the promise that he had made. The dichotomy of the situation being a loss either way was tearing at his soul in a way he wished never to feel again. His honor or his heart, one would be destroyed by whatever he said next.
A moment later though, it ended up not mattering at all, as a different voice spoke up.
"You knew Kushina? You knew my mom?"
AN: Oooh boy, I enjoyed writing that but it took a LONG time. Life has a funny way of bursting everything on you at once, doesn't it? Oh well.
Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I read and respond to every single review, so if you have any ideas or suggestions, please let me know.
I would like to point out something, as several people PM'ed me about it.
Mikoto doesn't know about nature chakra because Jiraiya never really shows off sage mode in canon. As far as I ever remember or can research, only Tsunade, Orochimaru and Hiruzen are aware of Jiraiya's nature chakra, or even the concept in general. For my purposes, this is my story usage:
Tsunade doesn't understand it fully and hasn't shared the information because she doesn't understand it.
Orochimaru knows and understands but doesn't share due to greed.
Hiruzen knows and understand, but also knows the near 100% fatality rate of attempting to learn how to harness it, so it has been listed in the forbidden scroll and is therefore not taught to academy students.
Lastly, it was also pointed out that Hashirama had sage mode, and as such, it should be known. I actually didn't know this at the time of writing. I had always thought that Hashirama's power was a Senju bloodline. And, additionally, I cannot find any reference to him having used sage mode pre-Impure World Resurrection in canon. So, for the purposes of the story, if any knowledge of Hashirama's sage mode existed before Naruto was born (which it is unclear if it would have existed), it slowly turned into verbal legend and during retelling was eventually attributed to the Mokuton bloodline rather than him harnessing nature chakra.