A True Godfather
Ch2 – A New Life: Baby years
"Naruto!" Normal speech
'What is he doing?!' Thought
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Techniques
"KILL,KILL,KILL!" Demons
Disclaimer: Own the plot Kishimoto does. May the Log be with you.
I don't care what colour the parents are. I don't care if it's a giraffe and a fish living together. If they're raising children who believe they're honoured and loved, that's all that's important.
Patricia Polacco
Previously on... A True Godfather
Following the map, Jiraiya couldn't help but feel as if he'd come here before. It was only as the house came into view that he realised why he felt this was. As he crossed the gate and moved towards the entrance, he couldn't help but notice the sign. The sign that said...
Naruto: age 7 months
Jiraiya stopped just after the gate, a small bundle of cloth in his arms, a bundle that every few seconds would wiggle around, promising a future of a very active child. Smiling down at the boy, Jiraiya moved the blankets that had fallen down around his head, revealing the slightly spiky blond hair and three small whisker like birthmarks. After fishing out a small bottle of formula provided by the Hokage, and feeding the child, Jiraiya looked back up to the house.
'Huh, I thought this place had been destroyed during the attack , guess sensei must have lied to prevent looters or something.' Looking around, Jiraiya recalled quite a few fond memories. Once again he looked at the sign at the front gate. 'Namikaze Residence huh? Well Minato did always want to raise you here, so I guess its only right."
The estate was relatively small, compared to some clan grounds, but Jiraiya felt that as a house for a family of shinobi, it was perfect. Especially considering the fact that Kushina would have wanted more children. The actual house was a double story style house, with five bedrooms, 2 on the ground floor and 3 upstairs. Two bathrooms, one on each floor. A large kitchen on the ground floor. Next to the kitchen was a rather large dining room. There was also a large Rec room upstairs. Outside was a beautiful garden out front, and in the back, the perfect ninja training grounds.
The training grounds were surrounded by forest. There was a small but deep pond in the centre, obstacle courses and a storage shed for exercising equipment.
Jiraiya also knew that Minato had installed a hidden underground passage that led to the family secret library, where all of his jutsu was kept, along with where he practised more dangerous sealing techniques.
Jiraiya heard a noise and looked down to see that Naruto had finished his milk. Realising he'd gotten distracted by reminiscing, Jiraiya once more strode towards the entrance.
Opening the door, Jiraiya got ready to defend himself, just encase Minato had set up any traps against intruders. Nothing happened however, and he would have continued further into the house had not a scroll lying next to the door caught his attention. Now usually finding a scroll lying around the house of someone who had been in a rush to save his village might not have been suspicious, but Jiraiya knew that Minato would never leave it lying around. Kushina hated mess, and Minato soon learnt that an angry Kushina is ten times worse then the Kyūbi.
Slowly, Jiraiya placed Naruto down on the couch, (Thankfully the little guy had fallen asleep) and moved over to the scroll. Performing a quick security scan jutsu on the scroll, found that the scroll consisted of two components. A letter and a storage seal. Opening the scroll but not activating the seal, Jiraiya pulled out the letter. It was from the Hokage and on it was written.
Dear Jiraiya,
Once again I must thank you for choosing to stay here, in Konoha. I know that it was a decision you did not enjoy making, however you shall not regret it
I know that as my spymaster, you did not have any home here in Konoha, nor any possession, I have taken the liberty of providing some for you. As you can already surmise, the Namikaze estate was not destroyed in the attack, but rather kept hidden by an advanced seal Minato told me about, with the keys you received as the actual key to the seal. Any who possess that key my find the house, others will be averted by the seal. This house belongs specifically to Naruto, along with a small fortune, left to him by his parents. In the scroll you shall find some clothing for both you and Naruto, Some common groceries and your old headband that you left with me when you went on your hermitage. I trust that you would want it back, however if you still wish to wear the headband from Mount Myōboku, then I shall inform the jōnin commander of your case.
I know that this is not much, but the house should still have all of Minato and Kushina's things. I know that it may be hard for you, but I believe that leaving their possessions to you and Naruto is what they would have wanted.
Once again, thank you, Jiraiya
Sarutobi Hiruzen
Sandaime Hokage.
After reading the message, Jiraiya quietly put the letter aside and unsealed the scroll. Placing the clothes on the floor for the moment, Jiraiya took the groceries to the kitchen, and, upon opening the fridge, thanked all the great gods that his sensei had men empty the fridge. After putting all of the groceries away, he turned to do what he had been dreading since walking up to the door. Going through Minato and Kushina's possessions.
Jiraiya slowly moved upstairs, heading for the master bedroom. Knowing from his last time here, only two bedrooms were furbished. Minato and Kushina's room, and Naruto's room. As he entered the master bedroom, tears poured out from his eyes. While the ninja sent here to clean up did an excellent job, they only cleaned in areas that had perishables, namely the kitchen. So when Jiraiya entered their room, it looked as if they had just left to the hidden cave for Naruto's birth. Their bed was still unmade, clothing strewn on the ground and books on the bedside drawers. Quickly wiping the tears away, Jiraiya began the long, arduous task of cleaning the room. Knowing that he would never be able to sleep inside the room, he folded up the sheets and placed them in the cupboard.
When he finished cleaning their room, he moved to Naruto's room. Looking around, Jiraiya noticed that most of the room was fine, if a bit dusty. With a call of "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu", Jiraiya summoned forth four clones, who instantly began cleaning out the dust.
As soon as the clones finished cleaning they disappeared in four clouds of smoke that soon blew out of the open window. Going back downstairs, Jiraiya went back to the couch where he had placed Naruto. Picking up the little bundle, Jiraiya prepared to go back upstairs, when he realised something dreadful. The bundle was too light.
Ripping apart the bundle, he frantically searched for the small child, as all sorts of horrid things went through his mind. 'Did he crawl off and get lost? Did Jiraiya leave the Tower with a fake? Did someone follow him and take the boy to kill him?!' As his thoughts became more and more worrisome, the writer of Icha Icha paradise heard a noise coming from the kitchen. Upon further investigation Jiraiya noticed that young Naruto somehow had managed to crawl towards the fridge and was staring at it with large, blue eyes.
Thanking all the gods that the child was fine and cursing that he'd got all worried for nothing! The way his thoughts were going actually made him laugh though, reminding him of that strange Kumo academy student he'd met once while 'researching' the hot springs, that always escalated little things until the grew to be overwhelming.
Somewhere in Kumo, one newly minted Genin sneezed, and thus began an escalating list of deadly viruses he could have caught, until his teammates slapped the back of his head.
Picking up the errant child and opening the fridge, Jiraiya took out a milk bottle and with a small katon jutsu, warmed the bottle up. As soon as Naruto had the bottle, Jiraiya watched in horror as the milk disappeared down his throat, and soon the bottle was empty, followed by a massive belch and the giggling of a small child. Jiraiya just knew that this was a sign of things to come.
Naruto: age 11 months
Four months later, Jiraiya had finally fallen into a routine. Wake up, feed Naruto, have breakfast, feed Naruto, go for a walk, feed Naruto, play with Naruto, feed Naruto, put Naruto to sleep, feed Naruto, have lunch, feed Naruto, go to the Hokage Tower, feed Naruto, go home, feed Naruto, have dinner, feed Naruto, go to sleep. Every now and then, Naruto would need his diaper changed, and during odd hours of the night would wake up crying for food.
At first, Jiraiya worried that Naruto was being fed too often, but after doing some of his own research (non echi) and discovered that while the rate and amount was unusual, not feeding him would probably worse. He never seemed to pick up weight at an unusual rate, and so he put Naruto's unusual eating amounts on his Jinchuriki status and the Uzumaki Metabolism. He could still clearly remember the amount of food Kushina could put away.
Jiraiya had just come back from the store with five bags full of baby food. Naruto was playing with a little fox plushie that Jiraiya found in a store in a small village outside of Konoha. Thinking that it would be funny and ironic he'd bought the damn thing. As soon as Naruto set eyes on the plushie, his eyed widened and before Jiraiya could realise, the little tyke was in front of him, having crawled all the way so quickly Jiraiya almost thought that the Hiraishin was genetic. Quickly giving the boy the toy, Jiraiya watched as Naruto almost imprinted himself to it, and ever since then, the boy and his plushie were inseparable.
Jiraiya had just placed the bags on the desk when it happened. A soft, unsure voice could just be heard, and for a moment, Jiraiya thought that he was imagining things. But upon turning around, Jiraiya was met with the sight of little Naruto, arms outstretched, begging to be picked up. Suddenly his mouth opened and, as if by magic, he spoke. "Tosan! Tosan!"
Immediately, Jiraiya had tears come to his eyes. He couldn't tell if they were caused by the feeling of being a dad, or by the knowledge that Minato would never get to experience it. It was probably a little of both.
Bending down, Jiraiya picked up the little guy and swung him around, smiling joyously as Naruto laughed.
This day would forever be imprinted in Jiraiya's memory as one of his happiest.
Naruto: age 14 months
It was three months later that Jiraiya regretted ever letting the little monster open his mouth! He just wouldn't shut up. Don't get the guy wrong! He was extremely proud and even happier that the child could now speak semi-intelligible sentence, It was just that no matter what Jiraiya did, unless the kid was eating, he just never shut up! He would blabber on consistently about this and that, causing many a headache for the toad sage.
Jiraiya had also found the one substance in the whole of the Elemental Nations that Naruto could eat more of then milk.
Jiraiya had taken Naruto out to town as a reward for his first word, when he'd walked past a small stall, a delicious smell wafting through the air, with the stall as its source. As he entered the stall known as Ichiraku's Ramen, Jiraiya prepared to be thrown out. Even though he was a world renowned shinobi, some businesses still refused to do business with him, just because of Naruto. It really sickened him how little these civilians actually used there brains.
As he moved towards the counter, he prepared himself for the outburst, and so was shocked when the old man behind the countered beamed at him and asked for his order. So shocked in fact that he just stood there with his mouth open. The owner of the stall became nervous, thinking he'd some how offended the shinobi customer and was about to apologise, when Jiraiya spoke.
"Uh, sorry, could you repeat that, I'm not sure I quite heard you." Nervously the senior Ichiraku repeated what he said, albeit in a much softer voice. "Welcome to Ichiraku's, how may I help you?"
Jiraiya smiled. Finally a restaurant willing to serve them without death threats needing to be exchanged.
Turning towards the man, Jiraiya ordered a large miso ramen for himself, then paused. "Uh, you don't by any chance have anything suitable for toddlers?" Smiling broadly the civilian replied. "Why yes! Here at Ichiraku's, we strive to meet every customers' needs! Ayame! One large miso and one gaki special!"
As soon as the meals were set before the two and the customary "Itadakimasu!" was said, the two dug in. Jiraiya had to admit, as far as Ramen went, it was pretty good, however, one look at Naruto would make it seem like an understatement. The child was shovelling it down so fast, any passer by would think that the child hadn't eaten in days!
Looking up, Jiraiya noticed the owner's face and couldn't help laughing. However, Jiraiya soon changed his tune, as the owners face had morphed from one of shock, to an evil grin. To top the look of he was even rubbing his hands together greedily.
Ever since that day, Jiraiya did his best to avoid the ramen stand. That one time almost broke him and at the end of the day, it was a very happy Naruto and a very depressed Jiraiya, holding on to his wallet, that entered the house.
Naruto: Age 2
Jiraiya was, once again, looking for Naruto.
Ever since Naruto had figured out how to run, Jiraiya had to keep his eyes on him at all times, or the little devil would disappear, having had his attention caught by a: something shiny, b: something orange, or c: something edible.
Usually it wouldn't bother Jiraiya so much, as he could easily find him at home. However, today Jiraiya had decided to take Naruto to the park, so that he could make some friends his own age, and had been distracted by a rather tempting woman. Before he knew it, Naruto was gone.
Jiraiya wasn't one of Konoha's best spies for nothing however, and soon found the gaki over by the children's playground. Not wanting to interfere but rather observe, Jiraiya hid in a couple of bushes near by, using al of his experience gained from peeping.
Naruto was going around, asking people to play with him, but every time he got close, the nearby parents chased him away.
Not wanting to disappoint his dad, he continued to befriend (or rather try) the other children. Sometimes he would get to join in on there fun for a few minutes before one of the parents noticed and shooed him again.
However he could only stand rejection for so long before he moved over to one of the nearby park benches, and began moping.
Suddenly he heard a noise and looking up, he saw a group of kids, one girl and three boys, near the forest playing together. He also noticed that there weren't any adults nearby and so rushed of to join them.
As he got close, he saw that the girl wasn't actually having fun, but was actually rather terrified, and that the three boys were all laughing. Once he was within hearing range he found out why.
"You're just a freak! A monster! I mean look at your eyes! They're so Creepy" at this the girls eyes began to tear. However it was the last remark that broke the dam in here eyes. "I bet even your own family is disgusted by you, you monster!"
As soon as he heard and saw that the girl was crying, Naruto leaped in amongst the three, and punched the groups leader in the face.
"Leave her Alone! The only monster I see here is you! Now go away!" At this the boy looked up at Naruto, Tears of pain and rage in his eyes and blood pouring out of his nose, but quickly scampered off, followed by his two minions.
Once Naruto was sure that three bullies were gone, he turned to the no longer crying, bit blushing little girl. "Hey, are you alright?" the girl just nodded, blushing deeper. At this the boy grew worried. "Hey, are you sure, cause you seem to be getting sick!" As soon as he said this, he moved in close to test her temperature. The only problem was that he tried to use his forehead. As soon as his head touched hers, the girl fainted with a small "Eeep!".
Panicking, Naruto tried to wake her up by shacking her. "Hey! Wake up! What's wrong! Come on, wake up!" Fortunately for Naruto, the girl quickly woke up. Unfortunately Naruto's head was still hovering above hers when she did and on reflex, she sat up straight, smacking there heads together.
Holding his head and moaning, Naruto looked at the girl, who happened to be doing the same thing. They both tried to apologise at the same time, only ending up interrupting each other. This caused Naruto to break out laughing, and the girl blushing.
Eventually, Naruto managed to stop his giggles and introduce himself. "Hi! My name is Uzumaki Naruto! What's your name?" "H-h-hyūga H-h-Hinata," Grinning, Naruto asked her to play with him, which she gladly did, half an hour later, when a slightly older boy with long brown hair and the same eyes as Hinata's arrived and informed her that it was time to go home. Saying goodbye to his first friend, Naruto prepared to carry on by himself.
It was not ten minutes later that Naruto noticed that the boy he had punched was returning, but instead of his two followers, he was accompanied by an adult, an adult that looked furious.
Knowing that he was in the right, Naruto stood his ground, expecting the man to scream and shout at him. What he did not expect, was for the man to pick up his cane and attempt to hit him. Closing his eyes and flinching away, Naruto did his best to prepare for the pain, However it never came.
Opening his eyes, Naruto found that the reason he had not been hit, was because Jiraiya had stopped the attack. Looking at Jiraiya's face, Naruto saw a rage of which he had never before witnessed. Along with the look of rage came a feeling of hopelessness so great, Naruto knew he was going to die. And then, it all stopped.
Jiraiya was at first, content to watch Naruto try and make friends, but he soon grew aggravated as each and every adult in the nearby area would undoubtedly chase Naruto away. Jiraiya was just about to go and take Naruto home as he wasn't having any success, and was now sitting all alone on one of the benches, when he spotted the smile on his face.
Looking towards the general area that Naruto was looking towards, Jiraiya grinned upon spotting the four kids. He was shocked however, when Naruto picked up speed, and upon reaching the centre of the group, spun around and punched the middle kid in the face.
He was just about to head over there to reprimand the boy when he noticed that the fourth child, a girl, was crying. Deciding to watch what happened next, Jiraiya witnessed as the three other boys left, and Naruto stay behind.
He was rather amused when the girl fainted, obviously Naruto didn't understand what this meant, and the ensuing headbutt would forever be imprinted in Jiraiya's memory. He was content to watch them play until the branch member arrived to take the young Hyūga Heiress home.
Jiraiya reminisced about his younger days and the girl he had loved, wishing that he could have done something to win her back. Obviously, thinking of her, reminded him of his best friend, a friend who had betrayed him and the village. Before he could get too into his memories, something woke him up. Looking over towards Naruto, he noticed a man with a walking cane moving towards Naruto. Next to him was the boy that Naruto had punched.
Realising that the parent would be upset, Jiraiya moved forward to straighten things out, when he noticed the man lifting up his cane. Before he could actually think, Jiraiya sped up until he was right in front of the man. Catching the cane as it descended, Jiraiya snapped it between his fingers like a toothpick, glaring at the man while releasing a small amount of KI.
Jiraiya would have continued to do so, if he hadn't noticed the look of terror on Naruto's face. At first he thought it was because the man nearly hit him, but when his KI increased due to anger, he noticed Naruto's fear increased as well.
Realising what was wrong and nearly hitting himself for exposing a child to that, even if it was only a little bit, Jiraiya stopped. Giving the man one more glare, Jiraiya used the shunshin no jutsu to take Naruto home.
Naruto: Age 5
Jiraiya knew this day would come. By giving up his privileges to travel, he once again had to take missions. Even if he didn't need the pay, the village did, and so today the Hokage had given him a mission. Even though it was only expected to last a week, Jiraiya still fretted. Naruto was five years old, he couldn't be expected to look after himself.
That is why Jiraiya had to get a babysitter to look after him. However he couldn't hire a Genin team as Naruto would be to much for them to handle, so he opted for something better.
'It's been a while since I've seen the kid, but he should be able too handle it. Now if he could just get he..' "DRING DRING" 'Huh, speak of the devil...'
Jiraiya moved over to the door and unlocked it, and opened it for the man on the other side.
"You're late, Kakashi!" Jiraiya glared at the masked shinobi as he took the outer gate key he had given the man, who just gave him an eye smile. "Sorry Jiraiya-Sama. I got lost on the road of life." Jiraiya just sighed. "Anyway Kakashi, thanks again for doing this. There's food in the fridge, a list of things to do should there be any problems. And whatever you do, don't get him ramen unless you're willing to become broke." "I'm sure I wont need that list, How bad could he be." Jiraiya just laughed as he guided Kakashi around the house.
Kakashi regretted ever agreeing to Jiraiya's terms, even if he would get a signed copy of his next book. The little gaki was just too full of energy, and would run circles around Kakashi if he was given the chance. It had gotten so bad, Kakashi called upon a favour by one of his subordinates.
Uchiha Itachi, an ANBU member of Kakashi's unit, and also one of his few friends in ANBU, was the perfect person to help. Not only could he use his sharingan to force Naruto to sleep, (Kakashi had never gotten the hang of using the sharingan to do Genjutsu) but he also had a younger brother, Sasuke, who he brought with him to the house. It soon became clear that he and Naruto would be great friends, and even greater rivals, as they would constantly bicker over this and that, before doing something to prove themselves right. And if ever the two came to blows, they were soon be back to being the best of friends.
Naruto also quickly adopted the two ANBU members, forevermore calling them "Kashi-niisan" and "Tachi-Niisan". The week with the ANBU members and Sasuke was one of his most memorable, and when Jiraiya returned, he was sure to enlist the two to help whenever he had long term missions.
Naruto: Age 6
Naruto was excited. After months of begging and pleading, Naruto had finally managed to persuade Jiraiya to teach him something, as in 4 months time, he would be joining the academy.
As he went out to the training field, where Jiraiya had asked to meet him, many thoughts went through his head, thoughts like, 'Is he gonna teach me a awesome jutsu, or maybe he's gonna teach me taijutsu!' What he wasn't expecting, was Jiraiya sitting at a picnic table, surrounded by books. BOOKS! What was he gonna use those for, boring people to death?!
When he made an attempt to get Jiraiya to change his mind, the old sannin just told him something his sensei once said.
"If qualities of Heaven are what you desire, acquire wisdom and knowledge to take your mind higher. If Earthly abilities are what you lack, train your body in the fields and prepare to attack. When both Heaven and Earth are opened together, the path of peril will revert to the righteous path forever. This person is the secret way... that guides us on from this place today."
Of course the meaning flew over young Naruto's head, and so he just kept on complaining, causing Jiraiya to laugh.
AN
Second chapter! Woohoo, and over 4000 words this time, I'm so proud :D thanks to the six reviewers for there awesome motivation! Thanks go out to:
Louis Romero as my first reviewer!
Rose Tiger (I did what you suggested (Though it was hard!) and hope it works, tell me if its better)
Shadow-Shinobi666
I.C.2014
Narya Anima
And recently Multipass22
Thanks again to these awesome reviewers! And to all my readers, please enjoy!
If you have any questions, want to motivate me or give me any suggestions, please feel free to review! Also, I'm looking for a beta, so if anyone could help, thanks a million :P