Summary: Jiraiya returns to the Leaf after a lengthy information-gathering mission and sees a lonely, five-year-old Naruto, so he decides to introduce the toads to Naruto earlier on in his life. Watch as Naruto grows from a young, inexperienced kid to an amazing ninja under the guidance of the toads. From a tadpole to a Sage. Realistic Strength Progression. Pairings Undecided.

It was a warm, sunny day in Konohagakure as Hiruzen Sarutobi, the venerable Third Hokage and God of Shinobi, dutifully did the paperwork that sat on his desk. He was slowly making his way through the massive pile that sat on his left, and, while the completed stack on his right was growing, he still had a long way to go. Sarutobi sighed as he leaned back in his chair. He reminisced about his younger days when he used to be able to use shadow clones to complete this tedious task. However, now, as a 60-year-old man, the strain on his chakra was not worthwhile. While still an extremely powerful shinobi, his chakra reserves were depleting as he grew older. He still is one of the most powerful shinobi in the village, but he could not maintain the several shadow clones for hours on end like he used to. (1) Also, sadly, he did not have much to return home to. His wife died during the Kyuubi attack, his younger son was away guarding the Fire Daimyo, and his eldest son had recently died on a mission leaving his pregnant wife behind. Consequently, he was not in a hurry to return to an empty home. But, he did want to visit his favorite blonde.

However, Hirzuen cracked a smile as he felt a familiar chakra signature approaching. The window to his left opened as his favorite pupil jumped into his office.

"Ahh, Jiraiya. It is good to see you."

Jiraiya grinned as he leaned against the wall and said, "You too, Sensei. How are you holding up, old man?"

"I am fine. Tired, but fine. The weight of this position weighs heavily on me. I was so enjoying my retirement, but I will persevere."

Jiraiya gave a small smile as he said, "I'm sure you will, Sensei. You always have and always will."

After taking a seat in front of Hiruzen, Jiraiya began, "Anyways, I've come back with some reports from my spy network." Hiruzen gave a hum of acknowledgment, signaling for Jiraiya to continue. "Iwa seems on edge and are eyeing us very carefully. We have still not wholly recovered from the Kyuubi attack five years ago. Our shinobi are still only about 80% of what they were before the attack. Also, It didn't help that last year Kumo made the ballsy move to try and steal the Hyuuga heiress. Iwa saw us conceding to Kumo's demands as a sign of weakness."

Here, Hiruzen looked over to Jiraiya with a frown on his face, frustration evident based on the look in his eyes. Jiraiya raised his hands in a placating manner, "I know, Sensei, I know. Like I said, I know we are not at full strength, so I think you handled it the best you could. War with Kumo would've been the last thing we wanted.

"Moving onto Kumo, things in that village are tense. The Raikage got some severe backlash for that whole incident. My contacts in Kumo said that A was feeling pressure from his shinobi council to raise morale. The young Kage wanted to appear strong after the lost the Third Shinobi World War, a significant amount of their shinobi, and, biggest of all, their Kage. As you know, The Third Raikage was seen as their strongest shinobi, and the population still doesn't seem to A him as strong as his father. So, A approved this mission because he felt his village needed the boost, both in strength and morale. Unfortunately for him, it had the opposite effect. The Kumo Shinobi appear split about 50/50 about whether it was the right decision or not. Some see it as the Raikage trying to strengthen the village, while others are embarrassed and angry their Kage attempted to steal a child and risked war with the Leaf. To further rub salt in the wound, Kumo lost one of their strongest ninjas after Hiashi killed him. (2)

"The Lightning Daimyo is one of the people who is displeased with the Raikage. He's decreased the number of missions he is sending them and the funding they are getting. Consequently, A is mainly focusing on solving problems in his own village for now," Jiraiya finished.

Hiruzen nodded in agreement, "Yes, we have been getting more missions from the Lightning Court and Lightning Country. I had assumed this was the reason, but it is good to have my assumptions proven correct. Please continue"

Jiraiya responded, "In Kiri, I'm hearing a lot of rumblings about distrust towards bloodline users. After that debacle with the Kaguya clan, where Kiri shinobi killed the entire clan, Kiri's people are resentful of bloodline users. Although the Kaguya clan has always been an outsider in Kirigakure for their bloodlust and savage battle tactics, they were still useful in past wars. When the clan wasn't getting enough missions, they started setting off on their own seeking fights. They started taking freelance missions without consulting the Mizukage, sometimes even in direct opposition to Kiri. The Mizukage saw them as a threat and sent a whole platoon of shinobi after them. It took 300 Hunter nin and jonin to kill all 110 members of that clan. Still, there were only 45 survivors from Kiri. (3) Kirigakure became both angry at the loss of his shinobi and fearful of the power of bloodline users. Nothing has come of it yet, but I expect something to happen soon. We both know Yagura is a bloody Mizukage.

"Finally, not much news out of Suna. The only interesting bit I was able to gather was that the Yondaime Kazekage appears to be sending assassins after his youngest kid, Gaara. He's the jinchuriki of the Ichibi, so I guess this could be training. To be honest, I really don't know why he is doing this. The kid has survived every assassination attempt, though, so he may be a kid to watch out for in the future."

Hiruzen hummed in acknowledgment. They both sat in silence while the Hokage processed what he had heard. It certainly was troubling to have Iwa monitoring them so closely. He would have to send some Anbu patrols to the border to keep up the appearance of strength. Sarutobi was also nervous about the situation in Kiri. The Mizukage certainly did not have a good reputation. He was known for his brutality in battle and his vicious graduation exam in Kiri. The Hokage had a bad feeling that things in Kiri were going to get much worse soon. He decided that he would send some recon missions into the Land of Water to monitor things.

"Thank you, Jiraiya. That was very useful," Hiruzen acknowledged, "As always, your spy network is beneficial, and your contacts have proven reliable in the past. I will have to let Shikaku and the Anbu commander know about this."

Jiraiya smiled in thanks, "Thanks, Sensei. Anyways, now that business is out of the way, how's the kid? I miss the gaki while I'm on the road."

Hiruzen grimaced at the question, which Jiraiya noticed. Jiraiya immediately became worried. "What's happened to him?"

Sighing, Hiruzen replied, "Nothing has happened to him. It's just... he's lonely. He asked me to move out of the orphanage after he said the caretaker kept ignoring him. He said that she would act like he wasn't there, ignored him if he asked her a question, and he always got served food last at meals. Naruto said that some of the children also ignored him and those who didn't bully him. He would often cry himself to sleep.

"I had some of my shinobi investigate this, and they said Naruto was telling the truth. I immediately fired the head caretaker, but Naruto still refused to go back. He was so traumatized by the treatment that he said he just wanted his own place. I relented and bought him an apartment relatively close to my own house and the Hokage Tower. I try to visit him as much as possible, but this position only allows me to do so much. I try to take him out for ramen at least once a week. He seems to have inherited his mother's fanaticism for ramen," He added, chuckling.

Jiraiya smiled at that, but otherwise, he was troubled. However, he could tell that Hiruzen was not done, so he let him continue.

"Anyways, I try and stop by as much as I can, even if only say hi and check on him. I wish I could spend more time with him, but I cannot. I have tried to introduce Kakashi to him, but I have little success. Kakashi is often out of the village on Anbu missions. When he is in the village, he volunteers to watch Naruto, as I always have an Anbu watching him. After the Hyuuga incident, I increased security on Naruto. However, when Kakashi has tried to interact with Naruto, his own emotional issues arise. He sees both his sensei, whom he saw as a father, and his former teammate, whom he saw as a brother, in Naruto. He is slowly improving, but he is not a reliable companion for a child."

Jiraiya frowned after what he heard, thoroughly disturbed. "Can we go see Naruto now?" Jiraiya asked.

Hiruzen paused to think about it, looking at the pile of paperwork on his desk. Ultimately, he nodded, deciding that seeing Naruto was much more important right now, especially since Jiraiya was here.

As they walked through the village, Jiraiya mentally berated himself for Naruto's current condition. 'No kid should be alone like that. Damn it! I should've been here to help him. I know I can't take him with me, but I still feel guilty. I'm always on the move, going in and out of hostile countries, and sneaking into villages to meet contacts. I couldn't possibly take care of Naruto while doing that, and I need to protect Konoha and him.

'But, I also know what it's like to be a lonely orphan. When my parents died, I didn't have anyone,' he thought sadly. 'After my dad died on a mission when I was 8, all I had was my mom. Then, when she died two years later, after getting sick, I had no one. I acted like a fool to try and force myself to be happy. Hey, fake it 'til you make it.' He ruefully chuckled. 'I didn't really find a new group of people until my team. Even then, it took a while for them to warm up to me. There has to be something I can do to help Naruto!' He determinedly finished.

"We're here," Hiruzen remarked, startling Jiraiya. He was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't processed that they were at Naruto's apartment.

Naruto's apartment was a small, quaint place. It was on the third floor of the modest-looking apartment building. Outside the door, there were two food bowls, a large bowl with a dog paw print on it, and a smaller one with a cat print. Jiraiya looked quizically at his sensei, "Naruto has pets?"

Hiruzen nodded. "Yes, he took in a dog several weeks ago. It has helped him immensely. Admittedly, I did not know he has a cat. That is new," he admitted knocking on the door.

They were greeted by the loud barking of a dog. "Coming!" yelled a young, muffled voice from inside. The door swung open, and the duo was greeted by a smiling blonde face. "Jiji!" He cheerfully yelled. "And... Jirobo? Right?" He questioned.

Jiraiya's shoulders slumped while he sweatdropped as the Hokage laughed next to him. Jiraiya looked down at Naruto as he took in his godson's appearance. Naruto was dressed in a white shirt with a red spiral on the front, a pair of light blue shorts, and a pair of blue sandals. After a moment when he saw the innocent, confused look on his face, Jiraiya stopped frowning and smiled, "It's Jiraiya, kid. I know it's been a year, but you should remember my name."

Naruto scratched the back of his head while he laughed sheepishly, "Hehe, sorry, Jiraiya. I'm not great with names." He then immediately brightened up and exclaimed, "Wait! That mean's you've never met Haruki! Haruki! Come here girl!" Another bark answered Naruto as a beautiful, gold Shiba Inu happily walked over. (4) "I found her 4 weeks ago! She was just walking around the neighborhood. I gave her a cookie I had, and she followed me home. Since then, she's been staying with me," Naruto explained while scratching her behind the ears.

Jiraiya smiled at the sight, glad that Naruto had someone to be with. However, that didn't explain why there were two food bowls outside. "That's great, kid, but why do you have two bowls outside?"

"Well, one is for Haruki if she leaves the house while I'm gone and gets hungry. I like to let her walk around while I'm out. She loves her freedom. The other one is for this stray cat that sometimes comes by. I call her Tabi. She comes by every now and then to lie around the house, but she never stays for too long. I see here every couple of days. I like her a lot, but she likes to wander more," Naruto clarified.

"Ahhh. That's very nice of you, Naruto," Hiruzen said. "May we come in?"

"Oh! Of course!" Naruto answered.

Jiraiya and Hiruzen both walked in, Jiraiya observing the place for the first time. 'Not bad,' he thought. 'Kinda messy, but what do you expect? It's a five-year-old kid alone with a dog.' There were a few clothes strewn about, gnawed on furniture, and some dirty plates left on the table.

"Do you want anything to eat?" Naruto called as he walked into the kitchen. "I have some cookies, cereal, some candy, and instant ramen."

"Do you have anything else?" Hiruzen requested.

"Nope!"

Hiruzen facepalmed. 'I really should not let a five-year-old shop for himself.' "I'm okay, Naruto. Thank you, though, but next time you go shopping, I'm coming with you."

Naruto sat down at the small dining table with them. He only had two chairs, one for him and one for his Jiji, so Jiraiya settled for leaning against the wall.

"What have you been up to, Naruto? It's been a while," Jiraiya asked.

"Not much! I go to the forest a lot to play with Haruki. It's really nice out there! It's quiet, I can hear the birds sing, and it's nice being around trees."

"Why don't you go to the park and play with some kids your age?" Jiraiya inquired.

"Oh..." Naruto replied, looking downward sadly. "I don't really have anyone to play with. Whenever I go up to play with kids, they always walk away and tell me their parents told them not to play with me. When kids do play with me, their parents pull them away after a bit and tell them not to be around me. They never play with me again," Naruto finished with balled-up fists and a tear at the corner of his eye. Hiruzen looked on sadly, while Jiraiya became even angrier at himself that he couldn't do anything to help Naruto.

Haruki, sensing the bad mood her friend was in, came over and laid her head on Naruto's lap. She whimpered, then licked Naruto's face, making the small boy giggle. Haruki happily barked and wagged her tail, making Naruto smile. "Thanks, girl," he quietly said. He looked back up at his two guests and smiled wistfully. "It's nice to have her, but sometimes I wish I had more people to talk to than you, Jiji."

'That's it!' Jiraiya thought. "Naruto, I want you to meet some of my friends. These guys helped me a lot when I was younger. Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Jiraiya called after biting his thumb and slamming his hand on the ground.

There was a small puff of smoke, and a small toad appeared in the room. The toad was primarily light green, with some navy blue markings around its eyes and down its arms. It wore a navy blue, short sleeve jacket with a matching green floral outline on the back.

"Naruto, this is Gamarisu. She's a young toad whom I've met a couple of times. Gamarisu, this is Naruto, a good friend of mine."

"Hi, Naruto!" replied a childish voice, which startled Naruto. 'I've never met a talking toad before! Cool!' Naruto thought excitedly.

"Why don't you two get to know each other for a bit, while the Hokage and I have a quick chat," Jiraiya encouraged while gesturing for Hiruzen to follow him. Hiruzen looked at Jiraiya skeptically but acquiesced walked with him. The two men walked to the other side of the room while Naruto and Gamarisu energetically talked. Naruto was raving about ramen and how it was the best food ever. At the same time, Gamarisu argued that fried teriyaki flies were better.

Hiruzen looked expectantly at Jiraiya. Jiraiya grinned and whispered, "I have an idea. Has Naruto unlocked his chakra, yet?"

Hiruzen looked somewhat startled by the question. After a pause, he looked suspiciously at Jiraiya, "No, Jiraiya. He's 5 and a half. He won't start the academy for another 2.5 years. I know what you're thinking. You can't let him sign the toad contract yet. He's never trained with his chakra, and we don't know how much he has. It would be incredibly dangerous."

Jiraiya waved him off and retorted, "I know, I know. Usually, it would be, but I have an idea. Give me a day, and I think I can find a way around your concerns. Just trust me, Sensei."

The Hokage looked warily at Jiraiya, but he eventually relented and nodded. "Okay. I'll wait and see what your idea is before I let you know what I think. But, we can talk about this after we leave. Let's go spend time with your godson. I'm getting nervous about the way Haruki is eyeing the toad." Jiraiya looked over at the trio and saw Gamarisu sitting on top of Naruto's head while Naruto smiled up at the toad. However, Haruki was starting to lick her lips as she looked at the toad hungrily.

Jiraiya and Hiruzen walked back over and sat down for dinner, enjoying spending time with their favorite blonde.

(The Next Day)

Naruto was lazing about on his couch, reading a comic book with Haruki napping on his lap. His Jiji and the nice man, Jiraiya, said they would be coming back again today for lunch, so he was just passing the time waiting for them. After a couple minutes, he heard a knock at the door. Haruki woke up and looked at the door while Naruto walked over to the door and opened it to see his two favorite people. 'Well... My two favorite people who don't own a ramen stand.' He thought before inviting them in.

Jiraiya was holding a stack of paper and put them down on the table. Then, he told Naruto that he and the Hokage were going to teach Naruto how to unlock his chakra.

"Wooo! I'm gonna be a ninja, dattebayo! I'm gonna kick ass! I can't wait!" Naruto yelled. His Jiji looked down at him fondly and explained that he would have to wait a little bit until he became a ninja. Something about school and being 8 years old. Naruto wasn't really listening, thinking about all the awesome things he was going to do, like saving a princess, shooting fireballs, and becoming Hokage.

"Naruto. Naruto. Naruto!" Jiraiya shouted while waving his hand in front of the smiling boy's face. The boy jerked and then grinned sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head.

Jiraiya then explained how Naruto was going to hold his hands in the ram seal and concentrate. He was needed to look inside his body and try and find a warm feeling. It kind of confused Naruto, but he trusted Jiraiya and did what he said. He held the ram seal and concentrated. After a couple minutes of feeling nothing, Naruto felt a warm sensation near his belly and tried to grab that feeling. It took a little bit, but he eventually did and felt that warmth rapidly spread through his body.

Meanwhile, Jiraiya and Hiruzen patiently looked on as Naruto concentrated. Suddenly, they saw Naruto's face scrunch up in concentration as they felt him gather the energy inside him. Blue chakra exploded from his body, coursing around him, startling Haruki. Jiraiya looked at Hiruzen, thoroughly impressed. "He's got as much chakra as a standard chunin, and he's only five. See? I told you this would work."

(Flashback to one hour earlier)

Hiruzen sat in his office, doing his paperwork while he waited for Jiraiya to arrive. He wondered what Jiraiya's plan was for Naruto. He was nervous because he cared a lot for the boy. Still, he knew Jiraiya wouldn't do anything to endanger Naruto, so he trusted him. After a little, Jiraiya appeared in Hiruzen's office, smiling broadly, holding a stack of paper.

"Alright, Jiraiya, what's this plan you've got?"

Jiraiya proudly held up one of the pieces of paper that sat on top of the stack. "This. This is my plan." He handed the piece of paper over to his sensei and waited while he examined it.

Hiruzen took in the design on the paper. It was a small seal that resembled the sealing array that would appear after using the Kuchiyose no Jutsu. In the middle of the array was the kanji for "Toad." He looked up expectantly at Jiraiya, "Well, what is it? I can see it's a summoning seal, but what exactly does it do?"

Jiraiya nodded and explained, "You're right. It is a summoning seal. However, what makes it unique is that it's already loaded with chakra. So, here's my plan. I'm going to have Naruto sign the toad contract later today, so he'll be able to summon toads. Then, I'll have him channel his chakra through this piece of paper," he said while holding up a different piece of paper. "This seal will key the rest of these summoning seals to Naruto's chakra, so only he can use them. I've already filled them with my chakra in the rest of the seals and molded it for the summoning jutsu. I've structured it so that all Naruto has to do to activate it is channel a bit of his chakra to trigger the seal. Half of these seals will summon Gamarisu, the toad from yesterday. The other half will summon another small toad that I'll introduce to you later. I figured that the kid likes animals a lot, so he would befriend toads that can talk. Don't worry, the amount of chakra he will need will be minimal, less than a bunshin." Jiraiya finished, looking at his sensei to see what his reaction would be.

Hiruzen thought about what Jiraiya's plan. After a moment, he said, "Honestly, it is a good plan. It seems like the chakra cost will be minimal, so it should not endanger Naruto. This will also give him some companionship when I am not around. Very well. Let's do it."

Jiraiya beamed in response.

(Present)

Naruto stopped channeling his chakra and eagerly looked at his two guests, waiting to see what they wanted him to do next. Jiraiya then summoned a large scroll and looked at Naruto. "Alright, kid, I need you to bite your thumb a little, like this," Jiraiya demonstrated. "Then, sign your name here," he pointed at the blank space near the top of the scroll.

Naruto noticed that there were only two people's signatures on the scroll, Jiraiya and someone named Minato Namikaze. "Who's Minato Namikaze?" Naruto asked.

"He was the Yondaime Hokage, Naruto. I thought you would have known that seeing as he is your idol," Hiruzen explained.

"Also, he was my student," Jiraiya proudly boasted.

"Wow! That must mean you're, like, super strong Jiraiya! You've got to teach me how to be an awesome ninja like the Yondaime!"

Jiraiya puffed out his chest and smiled down at Naruto and ruffled his hair. "Maybe another time, Naruto. For now, just focus on signing the scroll. I've got something I want to show you," Jiraiya replied.

After Naruto signed his name on the empty space, Jiraiya instructed him to channel a little bit of his chakra into the seal that enabled him to use the other summoning seals. Jiraiya then gave Naruto two different seals and explained, "Now, kid, I need you to do that same thing into these two pieces of paper. Here, try this one first."

Naruto did as instructed and put a little bit of his chakra into the seal. There was a puff of smoke, and his newest friend sat in front of him. "Gamarisu!" Naruto exclaimed! He then snapped his head up to Jiraiya, "Wait! Did I do that?" He excitedly asked.

Jiraiya proudly nodded, "Yes, you did. Now do the same to this one," he said as he handed the other seal to Naruto.

Naruto repeated the process and was greeted with a puff of smoke and a magenta toad. The toad had small, horn-like protrusions on his head, black markings coming down from his eyes, and wore a black kimono with a white sash.

"Naruto, this is Gamaken. Gamaken, this is Naruto. Naruto, Gamaken was born one day after you, on October 11th, so you guys are practically twins," Jiraiya introduced with a smile. (5)

"Hello, Naruto-san. I am Gamaken. I am sorry if I break anything around your house. My mother tells me I am quite clumsy, but I will try my best to not break anything."

"Don't worry about it!" Naruto brightly said, excited to have two new friends. "Here, let me show you two around my apartment. First, this is Haruki! She's my best friend." Haruki then happily barked a greeting at the two toads. Gamarisu happily hopped on top of Haruki's head while Gamaken gave a little wave. Haruki then started to walk away with Gamarisu on his head and Gamaken following him. Naruto turned to both Jiraiya and his Jiji with a smile splitting his face. "Thank you so much, Jiraiya! This is amazing, dattebayo!" He yelled before running off to catch up with Haruki and two new toad friends.

Jiraiya and Hiruzen looked on happy that they could help Naruto. Neither were aware that they had just set in motion the path of a boy would come to be a legend in the ninja world.

AN: Hello! This is my first crack at fanfiction after reading a lot of them over the years. This first chapter was a little slow because it was just setting the stage. The next chapter will move quicker and cover a couple of years, right up until Naruto enters the academy. Also, Naruto will meet some Konoha characters. It will take a couple of chapters to get up to the start of Part 1. Also, I know the beginning report from Jiraiya didn't seem connected to the chapter, but it will later on. Pairings are undecided right now, so drop your suggestions in the reviews or PM me.

Anyways, I know this author's note was long. The other ones won't be. Please leave a review with what you liked, disliked, critiques, or what you want to see moving forward. Hope everyone has a good day!

(1) My reasoning here is that it makes sense that the longer you use shadow clones, the more chakra it takes to sustain them. Hiruzen can still call upon several shadow clones in battle and easily use them to cast jutsu, but he cannot maintain them for several hours. Naruto can do this because of his enormous chakra reserves due to being a jinchuriki and an Uzumaki.

(2) The wiki says the ninja Hiashi killed was "The Head Ninja of Kumogakure." Not much is said about him, but I'm assuming he was pretty strong. Here's the link wiki/Head_Ninja_of_Kumogakure

(3) I made up the numbers, but this was an actual event. There is no real reason why the battle happened, but I think this is a reasonable explanation. wiki/Kaguya_Clan

(4) The Shiba Inu is a native dog to Japan, which I thought would be a nice touch. Also, Haruki translates to "shining sun." I chose this because she's golden and Naruto's light in the world. Cheesy, but I thought it fit.

(5) Gamaken's birthday is actually October 11th, according to the wiki. Also, for any issues regarding his age and size, don't worry. He will still get there. First, Gamakichi was a tiny toad when Naruto first summoned him in part 1. He then grew to be about as big as Gamabunta at the end of Part 2, right around the final battle against Kaguya, which was about 5-6 years after Naruto first summoned him. So, Gamaken will be his standard size by Shippuden. I plan to have Naruto and Gamaken grow up together and really bond. Gamarisu was an OC and won't grow to be as big as Gamaken. She will be a more medium-sized toad.