This one is actually Gamabunta-centric, and introduces a new character (sort of, you'll probably miss it).
Don't own Naruto, never will.
I spent all weekend at my local anime and video games convention, and came home broke. Cosplayed as Shippuden Tenten in the Cosplay Competition, but didn't win anything. People liked my costume, though.
When Gamabunta met Jiraiya, his first thoughts were 'This loudmouth is the one who signed the contract? You gotta be kidding me!' It didn't take long to learn that Jiraiya made a good drinking buddy, and was smarter than his abrasive exterior let on. That was what formed the basis of their friendship originally, although Jiraiya would sooner give up porn than Gamabunta would admit it.
The last time he saw Jiraiya, they drank themselves into a stupor and moaned along the way that they'd be lost to the mists of time when they died. Neither one knew how wrong they were.
When Gamabunta met Minato, he wondered how two so different people could sign the same contract. But if Jiraiya could outdrink the boss toad, Minato could outthink him. Gamabunta had a grudging respect for the man, which eventually became a strangely brotherly bond between man and amphibian.
The last time he saw Minato, the man was lying dead on the ground outside Konoha clutching a little blonde-haired newborn who was shrieking at the top of his lungs. All he could think of as the ninjas came to find their fallen Hokage was that the poor kid was going to go through Hell growing up.
When Gamabunta met Naruto, he didn't recognise him as the same kid as the one Minato had held that day. It didn't take more than a second, however, for him to pin the boy as Minato's son. It took a little longer to identify his mother, but that grit could only have come from one place.
The last time he saw Naruto, they were drinking to honour the anniversary of Jiraiya's death and Naruto said, "I want to go down fighting, just like Ero-senin did." The boss toad was glad that Naruto got his wish.
When Gamabunta met Hitomi, he didn't think much of her. Blinded in the battle that killed her sensei, the girl should've quit being a ninja. Like her sensei and team mates, she proved everyone wrong when they counted her down and out.
The last time Gamabunta saw Hitomi, she was fighting for her life under the hands of Haruno Sakura in the field. He felt his world turn inside out and upside down when Sakura pulled away and said, "I'm sorry, Gamabunta-sama."
When Gamabunta met Taiki, he couldn't believe two loud blondes could produce such a sullen brat. The lack of his father probably didn't help, but he shouldn't hate the man he'd never met. It took many years before the boy asked Gamabunta about his father and grandfather, but the boss toad had been waiting for it and regaled the boy with stories of the two blonde who came before him.
The last time Gamabunta saw Taiki, the boy was standing over his injured team mate Hatake Obito while his sister fought elsewhere. When Taiki asked Gamabunta, "Would Otou-san be proud of me?" Gamabunta was glad to be able to say, "Yeah, kid. He would be."
Now, Gamabunta watched from outside the hospital as they fought to save Taiki's life. He didn't want to lose another summoner just yet, not so soon after the last one. When Sakura turned to the window and saw the boss toad's eye filling the glass pane, she gave him a weary smile and a thumbs up. Taiki would live.
Glad that Taiki would live, Gamabunta disappeared with a 'poof'. The toads would be summoned again, and he would be able to tell Taiki more stories of his father and grandfather.
As a warning: these one-shots are not always going to be in chronological order. After this one I have about three options (one half finished and two complete) that I can put up next. One is set when the twins are twelve, one when they're fourteen and one is from the perspective of their team mate over a series of four years. I think the one from their team mate's perspective will be going up next in this series.
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