I do not own Naruto.
the kids aren't alright
.
Jiraya has never been fond of children, but he has a special dislike for Chiyuki.
It's not the child's fault, per se, but he doesn't want to admit it's his pettiness roaring its ugly head. Hell might freeze over before he admits he's projecting his own insecurities in her.
The Toad Sage doesn't have a family of his own blood, as he has no last name and doesn't bother chasing after ghosts. He has his teammates and his toads, and he's completely fine with that - until he sees his teacher's youngest.
The white haired man can immediately tell she's the apple of his eye. A pretty girl who looks just like her mother, with big, curious eyes; what's there not to like about her?
'Everything', he thinks.
Chiyuki is put on a pedestal from the day she was born, first by her mother, then her father, her brothers, and the entire Sarutobi clan. Although she has some kind of problem with her chakra, they claim her to be a genius, a prodigy, and some even try to make her the clan heir.
It doesn't work, but at that point, the entirety of Konoha knows of the favoritism her parents show her.
And it's not fair.
The princess, as people start to call her, has her parents' love, her brothers' love, and the village's love. The Sandaime is far too lenient; Biwako-sama has made it very clear that Chiyuki's the apple of her eye; and since she's charismatic and overall a lovely kid, people soon start to flock to her like bees to honey.
The blonde girl has always had everything, from good grades to a rare chakra release, but perhaps the Toad Sage has never cared much about those. Grades don't mean much outside of the Academy, and an exotic chakra release will only mean more people out to kill you. No, the thing is that-
-Sarutobi Hiruzen looks at his only daughter like she's his entire world, and Jiraya hates it. More than that, he absolutely detests how she gains people's affection effortlessly while she grows up to be a spoiled and arrogant brat.
The man is completely fine with doing his own thing outside of the village and having as little contact with Chiyuki as possible, wanting to stay like this forever, but of course shit hits the fan.
Hard.
Jiraya comes back to Konoha for the first time since the war started and it's a mess. His teacher - immovable, strong, reliable - has given up the hat, yet another one of his teammates has fled the village, Uchiha Fugaku is interim Hokage with Nara Shikaku as his second in command, Danzo is dead-
-and at the center of it all is the child he dislikes the most.
The Toad Sage tries, he swears he does, but it's hard to not get affected by all of the rumours flying around, especially because Jiraya himself is a big part of the big spider's web that is the rumour mill. People whisper she was the mastermind behind all this, and he believes that.
They put him on a team with herto find Tsunade, and he'd be fine with anyone else, but it has to be her. Of course.
Whether it's something Chiyuki does unconsciously or if it's something she's aware of, he does not know, but the child treats him with the same detached respect he does, and it's a relief she isn't expecting to get in his good graces. A week passes in the same cold war fashion until the white haired man finally has a reliable lead on Orochimaru's whereabouts. He follows the trail long into the night, deeper and deeper into the forest, fully intent on confronting his teammate about what happened.
The Snake Sage is many things, but he is not a traitor.
He isn't.
Is he?
It's not until later that Jiraya realizes he's fallen into a trap, but by then it's too late. Orochimaru's attacks are vicious, full of rage and frustration, and he belatedly realizes his teammate is far gone. What remains is a man consumed by hate and envy, who's betrayed their teacher and their female teammate, but he pushes all the hurt and betrayal back to focus on a very important point.
"I thought you'd have a little more respect for me than to send a clone." The Toad Sage huffs, hiding his fear of an answer he already knows.
"I'm busy dealing with other bothersome things. Don't worry, it'll all be done soon."
His blood turns to ice, thinking about three genin alone with Orochimaru, and if it this has all been a plan set up by his former teammate, to lead him around the nose to go after the one responsible for the situation he's in right now-
A cruel laugh, sharp and dooming, makes a shiver run down his spine.
If Chiyuki, a ten year old genin who knows nothing of the world, is alone with the real Snake Sage, there's no possible way she'll come out of it alive. No matter how much of a prodigy she may be, no matter how good team Choza's teamwork might be, it's all still useless when facing an A class shinobi who has a personal vendetta against her.
An overwhelming feeling overcomes him, so much so that his memories blur one into the other after that realization, and by the time he's back in control of his body he wonders just how he's gonna explain what happened to Fugaku and Shikaku. Hell, Jiraya himself would be hard pressed to say exactly what happened. One moment, he's summoned Gamabunta; the next, he has three dying children in his arms, and he's never felt so utterly hopeless before.