Going through Minato's papers had taken far, far longer than either Jiraiya or Orochimaru suspected.

Because Minato would draw seals on pretty much anything that could be drawn on, ANBU had had collected almost everything in Minoto's house…and that included Kushina's work as well.

So, the two Sannin had to sort Kushina's work from Minato's and determine what had to be kept classified, what had to stay in ANBU archives and what could be released to the Main Archives.

Unfortunately, they were also interrupted often. First with Tsunade's investiture as Hokage. Then being named as her council which required them to be at village meetings.

And they were sent on missions. Yukigakure in winter was Hell on Earth as far as Orochimaru was concerned. He thanked the gods for the perception of his hosts when they realized the Konoha's cold weather gear wasn't warm enough for him. The gear they gave to him kept him considerably warmer as did the brazier they kindly placed under his chair.

But despite the kindness of their hosts, he was proud of the clever kunoichi that was part of his team. She had seduced the jonin sub-commander and got from him the information they needed to blackmail Yukigakure from allying themselves with Iwagakure. That knowledge also enabled them to leave the snow-bound village much sooner than planned.

With all the interruptions, summer passed into fall. Naruto turned five. Fall became winter and then winter turned into spring. The new school year was a week away when Orochimaru and Jiraiya made their way to the Uchiha compound with the revisions they'd created for Naruto's Seal.

As the weeks had gone by, because the Uchiha had the most secure and largest private training grounds, Mikoto found herself being the most frequent watcher of the Clan Children that were the same age as Naruto and Sasuke. Most of whom were also the Clan Heirs. She was also Orochimaru's choice to watch over Sakura when he had to be away from the village since Kabuto spent most of his time at the hospital and Anko was usually away on missions herself.

When the two Sannin arrived at the compound they followed the sound of childish squeals of joy. They stopped and watched the large group of children training in a way that was disguised as fun and play. Mikoto was smiling and Itachi was laughing at the sight of Shisui on the ground, bundled in wire, in what had obviously been a successful teamwork exercise.

They were first spotted by the Hyuuga girl, Hinata, who bowed "Good afternoon, Orochimaru-sama and Jiraiya-sama."

Sakura, who had been giggling with Yamanaka Ino, squealed and ran to her father. Orochimaru swung her up and onto his hip "Papa! Papa! We caught Shisui-nii!"

"Congratulations." Orochimaru smiled at her then smiled at the children who began clustering around them. "I hope you all worked together."

Sasuke nodded. "Yes, sir. Shika planned everything and then we worked in teams to capture Shisui-nii."

Orochimaru and Jiraiya exchanged a look with Mikoto. Obviously Shikamaru was his father's son despite his more relaxed attitude.

Jiraiya motioned to Naruto. "Come here, brat!" Naruto made a face at him but complied. Jiraiya picked up and carried him over to a rock and placed him carefully there. The children, adults, Itachi and the now freed Shisui followed. Jiraiya looked at the children. "I bet you've wondered why some adults are mean to Naruto, haven't you?"

The children looked at each other then back to him and nodded. Jiraiya sighed. "Okay, I'm going to explain why Naruto is so special and important to Konoha. It's going to take a while so everyone sit down." All the children sat down and listened intently as Jiraiya explained about the Nine Tails, Naruto and the previous jinchuuriki and recent Konoha history.

When Jiraiya finished, he asked "Does anyone have any questions?" He was almost knocked over by the children all speaking at once.

"So Naru-chan is a storage scroll?"

"Why didn't the Fourth Hokage chose a grown-up?"

"Can he hold other stuff besides the Nine Tails?"

"Will the Nine Tails escape?"

"Why hasn't the seal washed off when Naruto has a bath?"

"How does the Nine Tails eat?"

"Is that why Naruto eats so much? 'Cause of the Nine Tails?"

"Are you going to let the Nine Tails out?"

"Can we play with it?"

"The Nine Tails is a mean ol' grumpy poop that doesn't like to play!"

The three adults blinked in shock at the last statement. Mikoto spoke carefully. "Ino-chan, what do you mean by that?"

The little blonde girl folded her arms and pouted. "Me and Naru went and got him toys an' stuff an' he doesn't even say 'thank you'! He just gets all grumpy and yells an' stuff."

Naruto nodded. "He just tells us to 'go away' 'cause he's trying to sleep. And he says stuff like 'you're more annoying than your father'."

Orochimaru turned away from the children and stuffed his sleeve in his mouth hoping that the children wouldn't hear his laughter. Jiraiya just stood and stared at the Yamanaka heir in shock. Mikoto closed her eyes and prayed silently for a moment. She opened her eyes and took a deep breath and drew herself upright. "Yamanaka Ino!" she spoke sternly. Ino looked at her with wide blue eyes. "As Naruto's Clan Head and Mother, I am forbidding you from using your Talent on Naruto unless you have the express permission of myself, your father or the Hokage. Do you understand?"

Ino bowed deeply. "Yes, Uchiha-sama, I understand."

The adults sighed almost as one. Jiraiya chuckled and patted Ino on the head. "Okay, brats, I'll answer your questions now." And he did, making sure that before he went to another question that the children understood completely.

After all the questions were answered, Orochimaru pulled out a bottle of ink and a brush. "Now, while the Fourth Hokage did an excellent job under difficult circumstances, it does cause Naruto some problems. The biggest one is that Naruto has access to too much chakra for his age and has a hard time controlling it."

Shikamaru nodded thoughtfully, "So that's why Mikoto-sama and Shisui-nii are always having him practice water and tree walking."

"Exactly." Orochimaru gave him an approving nod. "But Jiraiya and I have worked out an alteration to the seal so that Naruto will have more control over his chakra."

Shikamaru looked at the two Sannin. "You're giving him more control over it but you can't let him have the same amount that we do, can you?"

"No. That would be impossible without completely removing the seal." Said Jiraiya. "All we can do is small alterations that should help out." He turned to Naruto. "Take your shirt off, Naruto. We're going to take care it right now."

Naruto looked at Mikoto for permission. When she nodded, he took off his shirt. The children clustered around him and stared at the seal. A few fingers reached out and poked at it causing Naruto to giggle. "Okay, kids, give me room." Jiraiya knelt in front of Naruto and held out his hand. Orochimaru gave him bottle and brush. Jiraiya felt the warmth of the bottle and realized that his teammate had warmed the ink to body temperature to try and prevent the boy from moving too much. Orochimaru held out their diagram for Jiraiya to reaffirm the changes.

Jiraiya dipped the narrow brush into the ink and quickly made the additions before Naruto giggle and squirm. Then before the ink was even dry, he gathered chakra into his hand and placed it over the seal and made the changes permanent. He smiled with satisfaction and declared "Done!"

Hinata walked up to Naruto, her opal eyes filled with worry. "Are you okay, Naru-chan? Do you feel alright?"

Naruto jumped off the rock and grabbed her hand. "I don't feel funny, Hina-chan. I feel the same!"

Sasuke snorted. "That's because you're too stupid to know if there's something different!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

Itachi spoke loudly, obviously trying to stop the brawl before it started. "Lunchtime! Everyone go wash your hands."

The children cheered and made a small stampede for the outdoor sinks to clean up with Itachi and Shisui following behind.

Mikoto sighed as she turned to Orochimaru and Jiraiya. "Thank you for making the alterations. I think it will make things easier for him in the future."

Orochimaru nodded as Jiraiya spoke. "We have a few changes planned for the future but we won't make those until he makes genin."

"I understand." Mikoto smiled. "I take it you're going to make a report to the Hokage?" The two men nodded. "Well, you can decide which of you are going to tell Inoichi what his overly precocious daughter has been doing with my son!"

Orochimaru gave Mikoto an angelic smile. "Why, my dear Mikoto, that's the Hokage's job to decide what to do with the information that is reported to her."

888888

In the Tower, Tsunade gave a mighty sneeze that caused her hat to tilt over her eyes. As she pushed it back to its proper place, her eyes narrowed. What am I going to have to deal with now?