People assume Jiraiya is an idiot.
He doesn't mind that, though. He leans into it, most of the time. Idiots tend to be underestimated and ignored, and being underestimated and ignored is generally a good thing for spies. That's what he is, of course. Konoha's best spymaster.
And Jiraiya had found something. He'd stumbled onto something big—
Deidara of Iwagakure. Sasori of the Red Sand. Kisame Hoshigaki. These are names that live in infamy, names that herald dread and ruin. They're monsters, rogues, and traitors of the most villainous sort, S-ranked criminals. And they'd all vanished.
Until now. Because there's a name floating around, hushed whispers in dark alleys and smoky pubs.
Akatsuki.
So Jiraiya had gone to investigate. He'd trekked north, through the lush meadows and forests of Fire Country, seeking answers. Because he needs to know. He needs to know if Orochimaru is involved in this.
Orochimaru-just the name of the man who'd once been like Jiraiya's brother spells out pain. A half-dozen emotions flash through Jiraiya's mind. Anger. Shock. Regret. Longing.
But all of Jiraiya's plans had gone straight to shit when a stranger fell from the sky.
His eyes land on the black-haired man, watching as he darts through the trees gracefully. Somehow, the stranger's suppressing his chakra now. But there'd been a moment when he'd first woken up where Jiraiya had felt his presence.
And he'd thought, what the fuck?
Because he'd never felt such dark, reckless power. Just being near the man had been enough to make Jiraiya's skin tingle and nettle. It's intoxicating, it's overpowering, it's—
It's dangerous. This man is dangerous.
He'll get around to the mystery of the Akatsuki and Orochimaru. He will! There's just… There's a fascinating enigma right in front of him, and Jiraiya can't resist it. There's something about this man that bears watching.
Jiraiya's going to figure it out.
"So, what's your name?" Jiraiya asks from behind him. Sasuke ignores him. He's been running through the trees as fast as he can, but he's still drained from his time-travel experiment. Jiraiya's been able to keep up easily, hopping from tree to tree and bombarding him with questions.
None of which Sasuke answers.
Sasuke's wearing a makeshift eye-patch over his Rinnegan now, made from a strip ripped from the hem of the borrowed shirt he's wearing, and it's itchy. Navigating with one eye, when he's dead-tired already, has also proven to be quite the experience. He's nearly slammed into a tree trunk multiple times.
"If you won't tell me your name, I'll have to use a placeholder in the novel," the other man calls from behind him. "Maybe Squirrel-Man?"
Sasuke wonders what he ever did to deserve this.
"Where are you even going? Konoha is three days away, and you don't have any food or water," Jiraiya remarks. Sasuke comes to a stop near a tree as frowns, because that's a good point.
"Do you have food?" he asks Jiraiya, and he gets a smirk in reply.
"Of course. But why would I share with you? You've been nothing but rude to me," he replies, sniffing. Sasuke takes a deep, calming breath, and then slowly lets it out.
"I'll let you ask me questions if you give me some clothes, food, and water. And maybe some money, too," Sasuke adds, as an afterthought.
"Like an interview?" Jiraiya says with a big grin, and Sasuke sighs.
"Yes. An interview. Whatever," he grumbles, starting to run again.
"What's your name?" Jiraiya asks again as he follows, and Sasuke rolls his eyes at the other man's stubborn persistence. He doesn't want to advertise the fact that there's an Uchiha running around-his family tends to attract all the wrong kinds of attention.
"Juugo," he says, after a short pause. "I'm Juugo."
"Alright, Juugo. I'm Jiraiya. Where are you from?"
"Fire Country," Sasuke replies curtly.
"What happened to your eye? What's with the eyepatch?" the other man asks him.
"I was attacked by squirrels, remember?"
"How did you end up in the woods with no shirt, money, or food?" Jiraiya says, and even though he can't see the man's face, Sasuke knows he's being laughed at.
"Bad planning," Sasuke says, and that answer isn't even a lie. "Who's the Hokage?"
"Shouldn't you know that?" Jiraiya says, voice laced with confusion. "Since you're from the Land of Fire?"
"I've been… travelling for a while. Can you just tell me?"
"The Third Hokage reclaimed his position after the nine-tails attack," Jiraiya says, and Sasuke can hear a hint of sadness under the cheerful facade. Sasuke's probably acting suspiciously right now, asking strange questions, but he needs to know more.
"How long ago was that?"
"Five years," Jiraiya says. Sasuke stops moving, suddenly, and Jiraiya nearly crashes into him. Five years after the nine-tails attack… which means—
His family is still alive. The Uchiha massacre hasn't happened. There's another Sasuke running around, a little five-year-old boy. Danzo is alive, and so is Itachi and Shisui and his parents and Naruto—
He could save them.
He could save them all. It would only take one action on his part.
Sasuke didn't really have a plan when he launched himself back in time. In the hours since then, he's considered chasing down the Akatsuki, and he will get around to that. But right now, he has a chance to avert disaster. All he has to do is find Danzo and gut him like a fish, and that's something he's more than happy to do.
For a second, he wonders if it's smart to change the past so cavalierly. He doesn't know what repercussions killing Danzo will have. But as he resumes running, Sasuke finds that he doesn't really give a fuck.
After all, if there's one thing he's always been good at, it's getting revenge.