Oh hi guys, this is a reboot of my old story which I gave up on a while ago because I didn't really know where to go with I started over. I am logical! Made some changes, which you'll see later, though the immediate example is aging everyone up because twelve is too young. But yeah, the story should actually begin next chapter but feel free to enjoy this story based on a property I totally own and not that Kishimoto guy. Or do I? I forget. Oh right, I don't. Anyway, enjoy. Review and whatever, hopefully you enjoy!
Thanks to Ziltoid for betaing and some guy whow ishes to be anonymous for some reason for making my typos not so bad.
It was not an easy life a shinobi lived.
Shinobi lied. They stole. They tortured. They killed.
Even in his short career as a shinobi, Iruka Umino had seen the worst mankind was capable of. And, indeed, he had done some questionable things himself. He did not regret them, far from it, he knew it was in service of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, a village he so loved…but there was a part of him that had died in the process.
It was for that reason that he had found himself here, as a teacher in the Shinobi Academy. Even in a world marred by war and sin, the carefree innocence of youth could help distract him from the horrors of life…if only for a time. And thus, he found himself not as a battle hardened veteran fighting foreign armies, but merely walking down the hallway to his beloved classroom. Even across the hallway, it did not take a trained shinobi to hear their excited chatter within. Part of him was disappointed in its incessant romantic fixation on a certain young genius, but if he was to be honest with himself, he found that sort of bright eyed innocence to be relaxing.
As he opened the door, the talking did not immediately stop as their superior officer entered the room. They were children, after all, not battle hardened warriors. Holding back a smile, he began to call out for quiet when he noticed a peculiar absence in the room.
'...Damn it, Naruto. Playing hooky, again?'' Iruka sighed to himself. How on earth would that boy ever become Hokage if he couldn't even attend a simple class? And yet, despite the boy's lack of academic drive, his ill-deserved boastfulness, his mischievous nature, and his lack of talent at the very task he hoped to pursue…Iruka still could not help but feel a strange connection to the boy.
It was strange, indeed. Naruto was a jinchuuriki, the bearer of a terrible curse few could understand, even in a village plagued by cursed pasts. The boy held the spirit of the Nine-Tailed Fox, a terrible demon that had caused terrible destruction and carnage to the village twelve years prior. And because of that fact, the village itself shunned him. Parents guided their children to the other side of the street, children refused to play with him, merchants refused to serve him. Even Iruka himself once viewed him with animosity, seeing in the young boy the demon that had killed his own parents.
And despite all that…Naruto went on with a smile on his face. Iruka knew it was a fake smile, he himself had worn it all too often himself after all. Such was the life of a shinobi.
But Naruto was no shinobi, at least not yet. Though, to be fair, he might never become one if he kept skipping class like this.
Iruka sighed to himself. He couldn't leave the rest of his class to search for one lazy student, and he was not even supposed to force his students to come to class if they could not come themselves. But something drew Iruka to Naruto, something that inspired him to believe in the boy, even if logic would have to be thrown out the window for that. He couldn't just allow the boy to wither away to nothing by himself.
Besides, he had been working on his chakra capacity specifically for occasions like this.
With a quick hand sign, unviewable to any of his students, a Shadow Clone formed just outside the door and began to search for the lazy brat. Fighting back the immediate exhaustion he felt, Iruka called for class to begin.
'Where are you, Naruto?'
The young Hyuga heiress was never one to ignore the lecturing of her teachers. After all, in her home life, such an act would have grave consequences. True, she never really asked questions or participated in class discussions- her demeanor was far too meek for such actions. However, she always tried to listen and take notes, if for no other reason than to be polite to her rather nice instructor.
However, today was different. Today, her sun was not here.
She felt a deep rush of of embarrassing emotions as she thought of him. Happiness, courage, determination…and shame. Yes, shame, for she could not bring herself to speak to the boy, the boy she admired so much. The boy who, for reasons unbeknownst to her, was treated like an outcast by almost everyone in the village. The boy whom her own father gave her explicit instructions to never, ever approach. The boy who, despite bearing a deep pain and loneliness, still never gave up, still wore a smile on his face as he faced the challenges ahead of him. And she could not bring herself to disobey her father and say hello.
Nor could she bring herself to audibly bring up the fact that he was missing to her teacher.
Even despite her admiration for the boy, Hinata could not deny that Naruto wasn't exactly the best or most diligent student. He never paid attention, frequently interrupted Iruka-sensei, and was late for class all too often. But, despite all that, he still showed up for class eventually. He was never this late.
And it was that fear that kept her from paying attention to her Sensei. She felt bad about this- after all, Iruka was a kind man, one whom had quite a close bond with Naruto, after all- and she never really enjoyed not doing the things she was supposed to. But her worry for Naruto overwhelmed that.
Did Naruto just…give up? Did he finally give in to the rejections, the jeers, the stares? No, he couldn't have! Hinata steadfastly held firm that Naruto would never, ever give up. That was his ninja way, after all. One that inspired her to have the same motto. His courage, his unwillingness to ever give up, no matter what, gave her the strength to endure whatever came her way. That boy made her feel happiness she could not even explain.
But then why? Was he…hurt? Was he in danger? Was he alone, crying in pain? Fear of what could happen to her sun consumed her. She did not know what she could do without his inspiring light.
But what could she do…? No matter the circumstances, of the potential dangers, of the possibility of losing her sun…she could not bring herself to ask Iruka-sensei. She would have curse herself for being so weak, of being such a coward, were cursing within her nature. But her feelings of weakness and uselessness were only amplified by her refusal to act, creating a swirling causality of which she could not escape. If only she weren't so weak, if only she could speak up to Iruka-Sensei about her fears...
She was so worried, she almost missed the life drift out of her instructor's face, and she would have if he didn't stop mid sentence while rambling about the finer details of nature manipulation. She was brought out of her depressing chain of thoughts by Iruka's hasty command of, "Class dismissed!" before he vanished in a swirl of leaves, leaving the entire classroom confused.
As Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and one of the most powerful people in all the lands, both as a ninja and as a politician, Hiruzen had a lot of regrets.
It was impossible for a half decent man to bear so much weight, so much blood and sacrifice on one's shoulders, and not feel its burden upon his shoulders.
His dealings with the other villages…Child after child sent to die in meaningless battles…The Second and third Great Ninja Wars…His old comrades…Failing to alter the horrid state of the Hyuga clan...The Uchiha Massacre…
But perhaps his greatest regret was allowing his successor to die in his place.
'Minato...' he lamented to himself, as he stared at the prodigy's broken joy. 'If only I had gotten to you in time…If only I had performed the Reaper Death Seal in your place…
'You were the pride and joy of the village, the promise of a brighter tomorrow. And I… just the broken old relic of the past, struggling to adapt to an ever-changing world. In all my years, I never found another man more qualified to wear this hat than you, Minato.
'And I…I let you die. No, worse. I could not even protect your son.' In all of his years, the battle hardened ninja had not cried in decades. After all, a ninja must never show tears. But staring down at the twelve year old boy, a bright and shining light in this dark and dreary world, bruised and broken beneath him. A victim of his own negligence.
"...You can come out, Kakashi."
The old ninja's burgeoning tears were soon quenched from existence as a masked, silver-haired man appeared beside him. He swiftly removed his outer porcelain mask, revealing another, smaller mask that only covered his mouth beneath it, a headband that covered his left eye, and an unreadable expression that betrayed no emotion. But an experienced ninja such as the Hokage could plainly tell that this, too, was just another mask.
"... How is he?" the young ANBU inquired, his tone completely hollow and emotionless.
"You can plainly see just by looking at him," the Hokage gravely replied.
At this, the young ninja trembled, sorrow and guilt radiating through his entire body so that it wouldn't even take a shinobi to see it. The young man's glove hand traveled to the spot where the the boy's left eye used to be "... And the perpetrator?"
"Dead," his superior simply replied.
At this, the young ninja retracted his hand and clenched it into a fist. "I wish you would have allowed me to do the deed…Sir."
The old man closed his eyes. "I feared you would take too much enjoyment out of the task. You have had enough darkness in your life, Kakashi."
Knowing the old man was right, Kakashi simply turned his one visible eye away from the broken boy and the broken man.
"Naruto would have most likely died as well, were it not for Iruka finding him," Hiruzen continued. "He's a good man, nearly exhausting himself from use of the shadow clone jutsu as well as rushing to save this boy. Was he not-"
"What about his ANBU guard?" Kakashi interrupted, a grave offense to do to the Hokage in a village such as this. But Hiruzen let it slide
"Apparently, Takakage decided to get a drink," Hiruzen chuckled humorlessly.
Kakashi shut his one visible eye and almost shook at the carelessness of his comrade. "His punishment?"
"He will be appropriately punished," the Third Hokage replied emotionlessly.
That was enough for Kakashi. He had other matters to worry about, after all.
"... Will Naruto be alright?"
"The Nine tailed Fox and his Uzumaki genes will prevent him from dying," Hiruzen gravely replied. "Iruka was able to get to him in time to prevent any lasting physical damage. As for his spirit…That remains to be seen. I fear this will be the incident that finally breaks him."
Kakashi covered his one visible eye with his hand. Hiruzen could see he was trying to fight back the tears, a grave offense in front of one's Kage. But he allowed it. It was hard enough for him to fight back his own.
"I- I should have been there for him," Kakashi choked out. "I should have guided him, trained him, raised him..." he trailed off, guilt and shame for his past inactions preventing him from saying any more.
Hiruzen stared over at the young ninja, a man who had given his life to the village. A man who had lost all for the village. "It would seem that we are both filled with regrets," the Hokage stated factually. "We have both done things by our inactions that made us just as guilty. But," he continued, as the young ANBU began to look even more downcast. "That only gives us a chance to fix the future."
Kakashi stared solemnly back at his Lord, as the weight of his words began to be felt on his shoulders. However, before he could say another word, a message from one of his Yamanaka ANBU suddenly was transmitted to his mind. A matter that would need his attention right away.
The boy's godfather was back in the Leaf.
"I trusted you."
The words from his former student stung deep, but Hiruzen knew there was nothing but truth in them. And so, he continued to sit down at his desk, trusting his best medics to treat the boy well as he listened to his old student's rage.
"I left my godson to protect this village, and I trusted you to make sure he was well taken care of. And this is what I come back to?"
Jiraiya of the Sannin slammed his fist on his master's desk, enough to cause a small indent in the wood. Hiruzen would need to get Tenzou in here to fix that.
But for now, he could only respond to his student's righteous fury.
"I cannot deny that I have failed the boy," Hiruzen calmly replied, as his eyes burned at his student with a fire enough to make even an experienced ninja such as Jiraiya recoil the tiniest fraction at the sight of. "The boy has been in my care twelve years, and in that time, he has endured pain far worse than any child his age must bear. But where," he asked, his voice raising in temper, "was his godfather all this time?"
The sheer power and killing intent coming from the Hokage was enough to make most men tremble to their knees. However, Jiraiya was not most men, and was perhaps the only shinobi wearing a Leaf headband who was able to hold his own against and perhaps even surpass the Hokage. "You know damn well my mission was too important," he spat back, his eyes narrowing at his old Sensei. "You're the one who gave me that job, remember? Or have you gone senile in your old age?"
"Your job is important, yes," Hiruzen continued, ignoring his student's anger fueled jab at his rising years, "Your spywork is of utmost important to the safety of this village and its shinobi. However," he continued, temper rising, "In the past twelve years, of all the times you have returned to personally deliver a report and engage in shameless behavior, not once have you ever actually interacted with Naruto."
Jiraiya froze in place, angered retort left to die on his tongue.
"I know Minato's death affected you greatly," Hiruzen, in all of his wisdom, got down to the heart of the matter. "And I know it is hard for you to see his face in his son. However…"
Jiraiya sighed deeply, his immediate rage quelled…for now. "...You're right, Hiruzen-sensei," he admitted, as he took a deep, reflective look on his own past. "I should have been there for him. But, I never thought it would end up like this…"
Hiruzen shook his head slightly. "This is obviously the worst occurrence, but this is far from the first…incident. I believe I told you in my reports of the boy?" He raised his eyebrow at his student's immediate ghostly complexion. Hiruzen had not seen his student this scared very often, and even then it was mostly when he had incurred the wrath of his fellow Sannin, Tsunade. "... Do not tell me. You did not even read my reports?"
Jiraiya was once more shaking- not in rage at his Sensei, but in despair at himself. "It- it was as you said," he admitted, his voice naught but a whisper. "I- I missed Minato so, and I couldn't bring myself to see him again, even if it was only a photo of his son…To be reminded of him…"
The Third Hokage closed his eyes as he contemplated this. "And in doing so, you have failed both him and his son," he stated bluntly.
Jiraiya slumped down at this. He knew this to be true. After all, how could he deny it? The truth was down in the deepest wings of the hospital, plain to see.
"Of course, I myself am not devoid of blame," the elderly Hokage admitted, sighing as he took a puff of smoke. "I was far too trusting of our citizenry, and have let things come this far. Even beyond this, he has not lived an easy life. The number of people he can say he truly trusts can be counted on a single hand."
"... Does the village really distrust Minato's seal that much?" Jiraiya huffed, his arms crossing at the news of his godson's life.
Hiruzen chuckled darkly. "It would seem so. And yet…"
At this, Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. "And yet?"
"There's a certain…spark to the boy," Hiruzen admitted. "No matter what obstacles placed before him, he has never given up. Despite having every reason to hate the village, he still wishes to become the Hokage and inspire people," he chuckled, smiling fondly of the boy he has grown to love as if he were his own grandson. "Though, I must admit, his skills are not quite up to par for such a dream…"
Jiraiya steeled himself. "That reminds me…" he said with a grimace. "He will need to improve himself…and fast."
Hiruzen nodded. "I concur, but I believe you have reasons beyond the obvious. Do tell," he said, readying himself for what he knew to be another huge problem.
"There is an organization forming, called the Akatsuki," Jiraiya began. "It's a highly secretive group comprised of the strongest and worst missing ninjas from all of the Elemental Countries."
"I have heard about them," Hiruzen affirmed. "I believe that the Stone has been making use of their services for mercenary purposes. Though I believe I am correct in saying that that is not what we have to worry about?"
"You are," Jiraiya nodded. "It would seem that that is merely a cover for their true goal…to capture all nine tailed beasts.
The temperature in the Hokage's office seemed to drop considerably at that.
"For…what purpose?" the battle-weary leader asked hesitatingly.
Jiraiya shook his head. "I am unsure," he admitted, his eyes downcast. "But one thing is for sure. We cannot allow a group of monsters like that to have control of such unbridled power, no matter what their motivations."
Hiruzen took a long and needed smoke from his pipe. "Then, what shall we do about Naruto? If we kept him in the village, he would have the entire Leaf Shinobi Corp to protect him-"
"Are you sure about that?" Jiraiya countered. "Or did you forget about what just happened?"
Hiruzen glared back at his former student. "That is different. It was not-"
"How can you expect to protect the boy from terrorists if you can't even protect him from his own people?" Jiraiya shouted, his chakra flaring as his temper rose once more.
To this, Hiruzen had no retort. "... Then what would you have me do?" he asked weakly, his voice cracking as his age poured out from every tired wrinkle.
Upon seeing his sensei's broken visage, Jiraiya found himself unable to speak. Sometimes, upon looking at his Sensei's powerful and dignified exterior, he forgot beneath it was an old man long past ready to turn in the hat.
"...I would take the boy under my tutelage," Jiraiya finally said.
Upon this utterance, Hiruzen found himself unable to keep the shock off his face. "Jiraiya, you can't-"
"Can't what? We were just saying I needed to spend more time with the brat," Jiraiya retorted.
"That's not- Jiraiya, your work sends you so far away from the village-"
"Which might be for the best, all things considered."
"- and towards all sorts of foreign dangers, including the Akatsuki."
"It doesn't sound like you're fully aware of just how dangerous the Akatsuki is," Jiraiya interjected. "Their disregard for morals has allowed them all to reach dangerous levels of power. Every single member is more than a match for anyone in this village-"
"Which is why-"
"Aside from me," Jiraiya concluded. A cold air brewed between the two at this bold declaration. "We both know I am stronger than you are now, whether or not you care to admit it. And, even if you were strong enough to stand up against the combined might of the Akatsuki…this village is no place for a battlefield of that magnitude."
Hiruzen stared blankly at his former pupil, his face unreadable.
"If I took the boy…I could train him. I am a seal master, worked with and trained his mother, studied the work of Mito Uzumaki. I know the ins and outs of that seal more than anyone else in this village. No one here can help him reach his latent power like I can."
Hiruzen's face was still unreadable. "And what would you do if the Akatsuki finds the boy?"
"I will take him with me wherever I go. Before they can find us, we would be in a different country. We would always be on the move, impossible to track down. Not stuck in one highly populated spot like he is here, unable to reach his true potential."
Hiruzen took a whiff from his pipe. "...To always be on the move. Such is a dangerous life for a boy to live. Will he not have a home to return to?"
"...This village will always be his home," Jiraiya said softly. "As it is mine. Would he ever wish to return…and were his skills up to par…he could return."
Hiruzen closed his eyes, thinking of what his student was telling him. "You do realize, of course, you will always have to have an eye on him? Never letting the Akatsuki nor any other ne'er do wells have their shot at him, correct?"
"Of course, I-"
"That includes!" Hiruzen rumbled, his eyes narrowing at his former student. "Not sneaking off for your quote unquote research."
Jiraiya gulped. It seemed he did not think all of his plan through.
"So…take the boy with me to the hot springs?" he chuckled jokingly.
His sensei's stare proved he was alone in finding that funny.
"Alright, alright, I was joking anyway. I won't leave the boy alone to go to the hot springs," he sighed in defeat. 'Besides, a shadow clone should be enough to keep him company, if only for that…Hehehe….'
Hiruzen slumped in his chair. "...You make a strong argument, Jiraiya. I suppose I have no choice in the matter."
'...Nor do I,' Jiraiya added silently, as he reflected on the fact of how he would have to look at Minato's face once more.
The face he failed.
"... Before I do, though…" Jiraiya sighed, as he fought back the lump in his throat. "Why don't you tell me about the brat?"
To Jiraiya's surprise, a warm, endearing smile came across his Sensei's face at the mere mention of the boy. And so, he listened, to his old teacher telling him about the young boy he would soon help raise.
It hurt.
That was all Naruto could think of as he began to regain awareness of his surroundings.
Not just the pure physical pain that restrained his movements. Not just the agonizing void from where his left eye used to be before it was cut out. He could even now feel that pain lessening with every second. No, the psychological effects from what he had just experienced were far worse.
He always knew he was different, always knew he was not like everyone else. That was a lesson he had learned every time a mother guided her child to the other side of the street, every time a store owner would toss him out of his store, every time hushed whispers and furtive glances were tossed his way.
All his life, he had endured pain. All his life, he had to struggle to maintain his smile. Struggled to perform childish pranks and annoy his classmates so that they would give him some recognition, any recognition.
There were a few people who acknowledged him as a person, that much was true. The Third Hokage, the kindly old father figure of the entire village. Iruka-sensei, his instructor at the academy whose strict yet caring temperament gave him a structure he so desperately needed. The kindly old ramen chef and his daughter, who offered him a tasty meal and a warm smile.
They were the minority, true. But they were enough to make Naruto feel as if, perhaps, he had a place in this world. In this village.
But…after what happened…After what that man did to him…
Did he really have a place in this village?
Did he really have a place in this world?
All his life, he had held on to the belief that things would get better. That there was a point to all of this, that one day he would become Hokage and everyone would love and respect him and all this pain and loneliness would be a distant memory. But now, after the pure agony he suffered through, after experiencing the worst of humanity try to bring out its pain and frustrations on a small child…Was there any hope for him? For this world?
He knew his thoughts were unbecoming of a twelve year old boy…
But fate had made him grow up faster than he had any right to.
"Up already? You really are as tenacious as a cockroach."
Hearing an unfamiliar voice, Naruto tried to lift himself up by his shoulders and opened his one eye with great difficulty to face an unfamiliar sight. A tall, white-haired older man with a red jacket and chain mail was staring at him with a blank expression. Crunching his one good eye, Naruto examined the man closely. "Who… are you?" he croaked out.
The older man gave him a big smile, though Naruto was well enough versed in faking smiles that he could see the pain shining through. "You really don't know who I am? I thought you'd have heard about me in the Academy, though I suppose Hiruzen-sensei did say you weren't exactly the best student…"
Now, Naruto was usually one to get angry at perceived insults at his intellectual prowess or promise at a ninja. He worked hard, despite barely having anyone to help or cheer him on. It wasn't his fault the test questions were so hard and the jutsus refused to work when he attempted them, damn it! But at this moment, with the pure pain he felt from his recent trials and tribulations, he could no longer muster the strength to stand up for himself. But, despite his test scores in the Academy, he was knowledgeable when it came to the people he was close to. And even if he called him Gramps, he knew the Third Hokage's real name. And he was smart enough to piece what the man said together.
"Hiruzen…sensei?" he muttered, shaking his head as he could feel his muscles loosen. "You're…Gramp's student?"
At once, he could tell the strange older man's smile lightened, as if he were chuckling in reminiscence. "Yes, that's right," he said with a chuckle. "Name's Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin. Student of the Third Hokage, Sensei to the Fourth."
Even despite the pain, the sorrow, Naruto could not help contain his awe as his eye opened wide and his jaw widened down. "You…you trained the Fourth Hokage?" he croaked, and not just entirely due to the pain. At once, it was like he forgot everything that just happened as his trademark grin enveloped his face and his eye shined with a bright excitement. "Wow! The Fourth Hokage is my idol! He was cool and strong and brave and stuff, though if you trained him you must be too, though you weren't the Hokage so I guess you wouldn't be as awesome as him. Though the Third Hokage is awesome too so if he was your Sensei then I guess that's to be expected and-hey, are you laughing at me?"
The older man ceased his chuckling as he used his pointer finger to discreetly rub something from his eyes. "No, it's just…you remind me so much of…" he sighed. "Never mind. But you might want to hold your tongue, brat," his smirk darkened as he saw the aforementioned brat's brow furrow at the new nickname. "After all, I am presently the most powerful ninja wearing a Leaf Headband.
Naruto blinked once. Twice. "Don't believe it," he scoffed, causing the older man's composure to falter. "The Hokage is the strongest in the village and you aren't the Hokage, so you aren't the strongest in the village."
Upon hearing the young kid's logic, Jiraiya found his anger and embarrassment dissipate. Soon, he was laughing once more, much to the younger boy's annoyance. "Brat, things are a lot more complicated than that," he said with a chuckle. "Besides, I could be Hokage right now if I asked Hiruzen-Sensei."
"If that's true, then why don't you?" Naruto huffed definitively
"Never really wanted the job," Jiraiya said with a shrug.
The room was quiet for a moment as Naruto stared straight ahead at this strange old man, before finally the room echoed a loud and resounding, "WHAT?!"
"Ow, my ears…"Jiraiya muttered as he picked one with his pinkie.
"How could you not want to be Hokage?! Being a Hokage would be cool and awesome and…and…everyone would have to respect you…" he finished with a whisper, as the memories of what happened came crashing down. Try as he did to repress them…he could feel familiar tears building up. Though now, he could only cry in one eye.
But, to his shock, he did not cry alone. For, as soon he his tears began to shed, he felt big strong arms wrap around his back as his face was crushed against the strange man's chest as Jiraiya whispered to him. And yet, despite his unfamiliarity with the man and the idea, Naruto latched onto both as he cried further into the old man's arms, awash in pain but yet relishing in the comfort of a simple hug.
For a moment, Naruto wondered if this might be what it's like to be hugged by a father.
A ninja should never cry, should never show emotion, that was one of the rules of a shinobi. But Jiraiya wasn't the kind of man to be bound by arbitrary rules, and for now, he was not holding a ninja or his pupil. For now, he was holding a scared, lonely little boy.
The two held on to one another, as Naruto cried twelve years worth of tears, and Jiraiya endured twelve years worth of parental obligation. Each sob was like a dagger in the old man's heart, and he cursed himself for each and every one.
"He…he called me a monster," Naruto sobbed, clutching on closer.
"You're not," Jiraiya almost growled, clenching his eyes shut as he held the poor boy even more.
"He…said I killed his wife…his family…so many others…" he muttered through the sobs as he rubbed his face in the old man's comforting chest.
"You didn't."
"He said I'm a demon…"
"Naruto!" Jiraiya shouted, startling the boy as he stared him straight in the eye. "You are not a demon. You are Uzumaki Naruto. You're an annoying brat with a shit load of potential, do you hear me? You love ramen, you love those who are close to you, and you love playing harmless pranks. Do you hear me?"
Naruto was unable to answer, for he was too shocked as he stare into the old, veteran shinobi's eyes. Watery, just like his own.
"Naruto…" Jiraiya's voice cracked, as he was no longer able to contain his own tears. "I…I'm sorry."
At this, Naruto was shocked. "Why? You didn't…"
"Yes…I did," Jiraiya admitted, fighting back the lump in his throat. "I…I was supposed to take care of you…" he admitted.
Naruto's eye widened. "Then…why…"
Jiraiya's eyes closed, as if lost in memories. Gently, he reopened them, giving the young boy the best smile he could possibly give. "I ran away from my duty to you…out of duty to the village," he half told the truth. "But…please, allow me to make it up to you…"
Naruto stared incredulously at the older ninja. "How…?"
Jiraiya gave a gleaming, promising smile. "By allowing me to take you as my student."
It did not take long for Naruto to say goodbye to everyone. There weren't very many people to say goodbye to, after all.
Iruka did not cry, though it looked like he was about to. Especially when the ramen chef's daughter, Ayame, was a wreck when he saw his bandaged face. Even her father, Teuchi, was barely able to keep his composure. But they were not ninjas, Iruka was. They were not expected to hold back from such displays.
Naruto, for his part, seemed to all but forget the pain. He was just so excited to go on a private training mission with such a legendary Shinobi, that he could not help but regale the trio of the ramen chefs and Iruka with talk of his deeds.
"... and THEN that salamander guy was all 'You one of the three strongest opponents I have ever faced'," Naruto boasted, his voice comedically lowering as he impersonated "that Salamander guy". "'You will now be known as the Sannin!"
Iruka shook his head. "You know, Naruto, this was all covered-"
"But then Jiraiya-Sensei was all 'HELL NO YOU EVIL DOER!' and defeated that guy with a single punch. Pretty awesome, ri- OUCH What was that for, Iruka-Sensei!"
"While I'm glad you're finally taking your lessons seriously," Iruka huffed. "It would be nice if you didn't just make tall tales up."
Naruto blinked. "But…that's what Jiraiya-Sensei said! He wouldn't lie, would he?"
Iruka blinked. "Um…No, I…I guess he wouldn't…"
"Yeah! So Jiraiya-Sensei killed that dude! So anyway, after that, he went all-"
As Naruto regaled his old Sensei and the ramen chefs with falsified accounts of basic Academy Lectures, just across the street said legend was talking with another, albeit less famous, legend.
"You sure you don't want to say goodbye, Kakashi?" Jiraiya asked the young man from their rooftop perch as they both watched the events unfold.
"No," Kakashi said simply. "I…I haven't yet earned the right…"
Jiraiya chuckled. "Neither of us have," he admitted. "But I do believe he'll need us both."
Kakashi was silent as he continued his vigil. "I guess…I'm just not as strong as you are, Lord Jiraiya."
Jiraiya stared at the young man. With a sigh, he shook his head. "If you ever want to see him…You know who to contact."
With that, the older man leaped down to get his new ward. Kakashi stared down, a strange emptiness in his gut.
'It's not a matter of if I want to…It's a matter of if I deserve to…'
"Alright, Naruto," Jiraiya said as he opened the curtains leading to Ichiraku ramen. "We should probably head out if we want to get to Tanzaku on time."
Upon hearing this, Naruto slurped up his final bowl of Ichiraku ramen before standing up. He stared at Teuchi and Ayame, the two ramen chefs looking at him with such pride and sadness he could not help himself but to leap over the counter and surprise the two with a hug.
"So long you two…" he whispered as they both eased into the surprise hug and returned the favor. "And thanks for all the ramen."
With that, he leaped back down to his side, and stared at Iruka. The Academy Instructor was fighting back tears, and it took no time at all for Naruto to leap at him as well and give him a great big hug.
"Take care, Naruto…" Iruka whispered. "Learn a lot from Lord Jiraiya. Just…try to only learn the good things."
Naruto stared confusedly at Iruka, before chuckling. "Don't worry, Jiraiya-sensei's nothing but awesome. Don't you worry, I'll be just as awesome when I get back!"
Iruka could feel something in his throat, and it wasn't just because of the pain of losing his favorite student. Suddenly, he could not help but worry the legendary Sannin would impose his…less savory characteristics on the boy.
Jiraiya smiled, enjoying the scene. But he did have a job to do, after all. "Come on, brat," he huckled, ignoring the annoyed look said brat gave him. "We've got to get a move on."
Naruto nodded with a smile. "See ya, Iruka-sensei! Old man! Big sis! When I get back, I'll be an awesome ninja!" The three saw him off with waves and heavy hearts.
As the two left the village gates, Naruto gave one last look at the stone image of his hero. "Just you wait, Fourth Hokage…Soon enough, I'll be right there next to you!"
It was not an easy life a shinobi lived.
Shinobi lied. They stole. They tortured. They killed.
And yet, with the help of the bonds of their comrades, teachers and students…
They endured.