The sheet of darkness over the forest was fleeing from the sun. It was early. Hiruzen wasn't sure, but it must've been six in the morning. Dew blanketed the grass and leaves.
The bodies had been placed in bags.
Cleanup was nearing completion. Hiruzen was worn out directing the damage control process. Even though he was almost finished he felt no sense of accomplishment. He had entrusted Shikaku to take care of things in the village center for now. There were more pressing matters to attend to here in the outskirts.
A large tent was pitched some meters away from the scene. Hiruzen had the child put away there to be watched closely and protected. His cries had long ceased and Hiruzen surmised that the baby was entrenched in a deep sleep.
Now that the situation had been relatively contained, he was ready to begin discussing about how things would proceed after the attack. He could've begun with his advisors or his assistant but he felt it more prominent to address another party first – Jiraiya.
The Toad Hermit had been silent since he found the battlefield. He sat on a felled tree next to their body bags, left to his lonesome to brood. Hiruzen found his student's stillness almost eerie, but with Minato's final wish, this wasn't something he could avoid.
He gathered his composure and met the wounded Hermit to his right.
Jiraiya had made no sign of acknowledgment to Hiruzen. He probably did not even realize that his master was there. He just continued to stare distantly into the corpse-filled bags.
Hiruzen opened his mouth to interject before Jiraiya cut him off.
"I failed them," he mumbled, never breaking his sight with the bags. "They needed me to be here and I couldn't make it," he spoke somberly, gnashing his teeth in frustration.
"Why couldn't you make it? Where were you?" Hiruzen beckoned. There was no way that Jiraiya didn't know about the Nine-Tails' attack. And Hiruzen knew best of all as Jiraiya's master that he should've been there to tackle the Fox before even himself.
Jiraiya's dim eyes met Hiruzen's. He sighed and lowered his gaze to the floor in disappointment. "I was attacked," he spoke through labored tones.
Hiruzen stood still, quietly analyzing this information. "Did you take care of them?" he asked his student.
Jiraiya locked his hands together and positioned them between his knees as he readjusted his posture atop the tree. "No," he spoke bluntly.
Hiruzen's eyebrows quirked in surprise. There weren't many people that Hiruzen knew in all his years that could escape from Jiraiya. This person must've been considerable.
"Well what happened?" Hiruzen dug further.
"We fought to a standstill until the Fox disappeared from the village," he explained to his master. "After that they fled the scene."
Hiruzen knew better than to leave this to coincidence. He needed to know who this person was. It was a matter of grave importance to work towards securing his village.
"Do you know who they were?"
"The whole battle they were hooded beneath a black cloak but something about them caught my eye," the Sage's words lingered on his lips.
"Go on, son."
"They had some glaring yellow eyes and black splotches on their skin. Reminded me of Anko," Jiraiya revealed blankly.
Hiruzen's eyes bulged. A faint gasp eluded his mouth. His wrinkled face froze over into a scowl. He knew what this entailed. "You think Orochimaru had something to do with the attack?"
Jiraiya was silent. He turned away from Hiruzen's sight, it looked like he was regarding the body bags again. His face slouched into an expression of debilitating sadness, but his features were swiftly hardened into a fiery stern look.
"I know Orochimaru had something to do with it," his lowly voice bellowed matter-of-factly.
Hiruzen pursed his lips. He could feel the wrinkles and crow's feet on his face becoming more pronounced. The quiet lingered between master and pupil for a moment. Hiruzen had a lot on his mind and Orochimaru was the last person he needed to know was rearing his head now. But he had duties to uphold.
"I'll have the ANBU investigate, see if he left anything of use for us to track him down," Hiruzen explained.
"They'll never find him," the Hermit said bluntly. "I should've been hunting him down from the beginning, back when he left," his face scrunched up with frustration and his glare welled up with regret.
"You can't chase him down," Hiruzen was quick to reply. "Now that Naruto has no parents, Minato wished for you to raise him."
Jiraiya's white mane jostled as he whirled his head around to Hiruzen. He shot up from his seated position, slack-jawed. Hiruzen noticed the emotions on his student's face as the thoughts raced through his mind, eventually settling on a look between disbelief and indignation.
"That can't be," Jiraiya fought. "I can't raise a child," he swore.
"It was Minato's final wish," Hiruzen stated with a firm tone. "The boy needs someone to take care of him."
Jiraiya's teeth snapped together in a grimace. He was silent. His eyes did a swift dance between the bodies and the tent a number of times before they settled at his feet.
"I'm not a father," the Hermit said through hushed tones. "I can't raise him," he spoke with finality.
Hiruzen's stomach did a somersault. He knew Jiraiya was wrestling with his shortcomings but he would never take him for the type to abandon his student's child. Hiruzen's eyebrows lowered. "What are you going to do then?" he wished to understand.
"We both know that this was an organized attack," the maned man stated. "I'm going to hunt down Orochimaru and find out what he's up to," Jiraiya said.
Hiruzen huffed with an air of frustration and crossed his arms over his chest. "Why are you doing this to the boy?" he beckoned.
Jiraiya's face was pelted with guilt. "I can't look at him knowing I couldn't do anything to save Minato or Kushina."
Hiruzen tried his hardest not to feel disgusted at his pupil's display. To think he would care for Rain orphans for years but not Minato's child.
"I won't leave him with nothing," Jiraiya clarified. "Have him taken care of at my apartment in the slums. It's low profile so he'll be away from the public eye and no need for that damn orphanage," he said as he tossed Hiruzen the keys.
"You're being ridiculous," Hiruzen spat.
"I'll pay for everything out of my pocket, clothes, food, bills, the money isn't drying up anytime soon," Jiraiya said in quiet tones. "And here," he dug into the pouch at his back, "Give him this when he's older," he held out a green frog wallet.
Hiruzen's eyes focused on the wallet and back to the Hermit.
"I'll come back when I'm ready," Jiraiya gestured for Hiruzen to take the wallet from him again.
Hiruzen pushed aside his reluctance to accept Jiraiya's terms. "How long do you plan to avoid this?" he said as he snatched the wallet from the Sage's hand. It was heavy.
"I'll keep in touch," Jiraiya finished, ignoring Hiruzen's question and then disappearing in a Body Flicker. The leaves danced in the wind where he stood.
Hiruzen had been replaying the conversation on repeat in his mind for days.
It was the last time he and Jiraiya had seen each other face-to-face in over ten years. And even though Jiraiya never fell behind on sending letters or updates on his espionage work or Orochimaru's whereabouts, Hiruzen could feel it in the air – the anxiety of confronting him again after a decade.
He paced back and forth in his office, taking swift, labored draws from his tobacco pipe. The smoke danced in the air, he hadn't thought to open the window.
Jiraiya was coming back today. On one hand, Hiruzen was thankful and excited to see him, on the other, the circumstances of his return weren't how Hiruzen envisioned it.
The break-in was brutal. Naruto had been in the hospital for six days. He hadn't shown any signs of waking up. None of the medical specialists in the ANBU knew how to treat a coma. All of the broken ribs and missing teeth had long healed but the powers of the Fox had limits.
"You're going to need to relax, panicking isn't going to do anything," Shikaku chimed from the corner of the room. He leaned against the wall with his hands wrist-deep in his pants pockets.
Hiruzen shot him an indignant glance. "You'd be right if there wasn't a good reason to panic," he bitterly argued. "The Elders are motioning to remove the Nine-Tails from him since he is showing no signs of waking up so forgive me if I am a bit bothered," he spat.
Shikaku fetched a brand-new cigarette from a pack in his pocket and lit it. "These things take time, Jiraiya will be here soon, together we will find a way to resolve the issue," Shikaku calmly reasoned before puffing on his cigarette.
"We're on borrowed time," Hiruzen clarified. "The longer Naruto is comatose the more likely that the Elders will have him killed. The village doesn't have an active jinchūriki right now. Do you even understand how catastrophic it would be if that information leaked to the other villages?"
"Yeah, I'm painfully aware," the Nara acknowledged. "The fact is that Jiraiya had to get here from Takigakure," Shikaku added. "He was never going to show up immediately, it took the ANBU three days to find him," he remarked. "We can't do anything right now. Might as well let cool heads prevail."
Hiruzen didn't respond. "Once he's here, what do you suggest we do?" he asked, changing the subject. "Jiraiya isn't a medic-nin, which is what we need right now."
"That's a good question," Shikaku said and took another draw from his cigarette. "Most medic-nins can't even treat a coma anyways," he pointed out. "But Jiraiya has something we don't."
Hiruzen's eyes squinted with curiosity. "What's that?"
"Connections," Shikaku said, blowing swirls of smoke out of his nose. "His spy network reaches every nation on the continent. Damn perv knows more about the Mist than the Mizukage does," he half-joked. "If anyone knew how to find a skilled enough medical specialist to wake someone from a coma it would be him," he concluded.
Hiruzen regarded the Nara's point and let it run through his brain. 'He's got a valid point.'
TAP, TAP, TAP!
A knock on the window panes rang throughout the Hokage Office.
Hiruzen turned to observe the noise. The sight was overwhelmingly nostalgic. Jiraiya waited behind the glass for him to open the window and let him inside. He never used the door.
He sprang to the windows with haste, unlocking it and flinging it open as swiftly as he could. The cloudy tobacco smoke jetted out of the room and assaulted Jiraiya from the outside.
He waved the smoke out of his face and leaped into the room. "I came as quickly as I could," the Sage swore.
Hiruzen regarded him with worry and he could tell that Jiraiya was doing much the same.
"There's no time for sweet reunions," Shikaku cut in.
Hiruzen dug himself out of his thoughts. "He's right. We need to act quickly," he started. "Jiraiya, we were hopi–" Jiraiya threw his hand up to halt him.
"Before that, let me see him," Jiraiya sternly requested.
Hiruzen knew that now wasn't the time but he similarly knew that Jiraiya needed some sort of connection to the boy. Something to bring them closer, close enough for Jiraiya to take him under and put aside the failures of the past. If seeing him beaten into a coma was what it took for Jiraiya to finally step up then who was Hiruzen to get in the way of that opportunity?
"Follow me," Hiruzen instructed.
Naruto had been placed in the ANBU Hospital within the greater ANBU Black Ops Compound. It was a short, brisk, silent walk but soon enough Hiruzen was being waved through by ANBU and ignoring the glances he got with him and Jiraiya back together.
He approached a hospital room door. "He's inside," he said after a long pause, staring into the dark room at the hospital bed. He grasped the door handle and carefully opened it. Upon entry, he flipped the light switch on. The dark room was flooded with bright, pale light and revealed the melancholy that was hidden in the darkness.
Jiraiya stepped in behind him and Shikaku shut the door when they were all inside. Hiruzen took a seat at the foot of the bed. Silence befell the trio as they each took their time examining Naruto's state.
He was hooked up to an IV drip and a venturi mask obscured his features to ensure he kept breathing. A feeding tube had to be inserted down his nose so that he could get nutrients. A mint green blanket was tucked around him up to his armpits and he sported a hospital gown. The little boy appeared almost peaceful.
"Three academy kids broke into the apartment and beat him half to death," Shikaku clarified to Jiraiya.
Hiruzen paid careful attention to Jiraiya. He didn't verbally respond to Shikaku's adage, but Hiruzen saw the guilt well up in the contours of his face.
"Iruka found him the next day after school. Went to see why he didn't show up. Found him in a puddle of dried blood," the Nara continued. "We found the kids getting treated in the Konoha Hospital for some pretty serious injuries. They've been expelled from the Academy and their families have been fined."
Jiraiya was silent. Still taking it all in. Hiruzen took the Hokage cap from the top of his head and laid it in his lap. "We need to wake him up soon or the Council will have him replaced," Hiruzen told him. "If he can't wake up then even I can't blame them for changing hosts; without a jinchūriki, the Land of Fire might as well be defenseless," he somberly admitted.
Jiraiya bit his bottom lip and winced. "What do you want me to do?"
"We need you to find someone who can cure the coma," Shikaku interjected.
"Do you have anyone in mind?" Hiruzen inquired.
Jiraiya rubbed his chin in deep contemplation. "There's only one person that comes to mind."
"Who?" Hiruzen dug further.
"Tsunade."
Hiruzen's intrigue was piqued. His eyes grew wider and his eyebrows slanted. "You know where she is?"
"I got a pretty good idea."
Hiruzen shared a glance of intrigue with Shikaku.
"Finding her isn't the hard part," Jiraiya butted in. "It's going to be bringing her back that will be difficult."
Shikaku fought off an eye roll. "Of course it wouldn't be simple," he moaned. "You don't have anyone else in mind?"
"She hasn't been spotted in over fifteen years, Jiraiya," Hiruzen stated. "How long have you 'had a pretty good idea' about where she's been?" he challenged his pupil.
"Back before she left, on our last mission with Orochimaru, we had gone to the Land of Rivers," the Sage started. "Place was infamously torn apart in the First Great War by the Wind and the Fire," Jiraiya explained. "We're talking rampant poverty, famine, disease – a huge chunk of the land was poisoned after the disastrous Battle of Tanigakure," he reminisced with a saddened glare.
"What does any of this have to do with Tsunade?" Shikaku interjected.
"She was the most affected by all of it," Jiraiya said. "Seeing all the sick and dying in the streets, no one to help them, that stuck with her," he revealed. "But in recent years the Land of Rivers has been seeing some vast improvements. The Tani Medical Facility is one of the most prestigious in the entire world," he explained.
The dots were connecting in Hiruzen's mind now, but he wasn't a hundred percent convinced just yet. "This doesn't really prove that Tsunade is in Tani," Hiruzen pointed out.
"Oh, really?" Jiraiya bellowed. "You don't think it's interesting that the greatest and only multi-national medical facility in the world was only created just over a decade ago and in one of the poorest nations in the world at that?" the Toad Hermit shot back. "It's not difficult to see."
Hiruzen and Shikaku shared another glance between each other and back at Jiraiya.
"If anyone could manage a miracle like that it would be Tsunade," Hiruzen admitted.
"You raise some valid points," Shikaku agreed. "But that still isn't a guarantee that Tsunade will return with you. She despises the Great Nations, and that's doubly true for Konoha," the Nara reasoned.
Jiraiya hmphed. "That could be the case," he acknowledged. "But consider the circumstances. If I cannot convince Tsunade to come back and heal Naruto, I can certainly convince another medical specialist at the facility. It's the greatest in the world, not everyone's Tsunade, but there has to be someone skilled enough to wake him up," he concluded.
Hiruzen was convinced. Jiraiya's plan seemed concrete enough to work. Sure, he would prefer that Jiraiya bring Tsunade back to the village, but what was important was that Naruto got proper treatment.
"Okay," Hiruzen started. "This plan will suffice."
"Fantastic," said Jiraiya. "I'll leave tonight. Tanigakure is another three-day trip. All goes well, I'll be back in a week," the Hermit clarified.
"Don't forget what's at stake here," Hiruzen shot. "Not only is Naruto precious and a jinchūriki, but his seal is irreplaceable," he stated. "With his seal, he could live well into his fifties, much older than any other jinchūriki."
"Exactly," the Nara agreed. "He could be Konoha's first perfect jinchūriki ever," he explained.
"And I know you can't forget what it took to make that seal." Hiruzen was stern. "Don't let it go to waste either." Hiruzen could not overstate how important keeping Naruto alive was.
Jiraiya frowned and then collected his determination with a stern look. "I won't mess this up," he stated. It was emphasized with the conviction in his voice.
"And what will you do after he's woken up?" Hiruzen finally got around to asking.
Jiraiya tensed up like he was struck by lightning. Hiruzen could tell that the Hermit wanted to avoid this confrontation.
The Sage rubbed the back of his neck nervously, avoiding eye contact with his master. "I uh… I'm still not ready for that," Jiraiya admitted through a pained expression and deep frown.
Shikaku audibly scoffed with disgust and Hiruzen scowled at his old pupil. "So then what? You get him help and disappear again? You've already avoided him for half his childhood," Hiruzen's bitter tongue quipped.
Jiraiya winced at his master's harsh tone. "I just can't do it," he admitted. "There's no excuse for it, I know, but I just don't have it in me," the white-maned shinobi said with a defeated glare. "But you're right, I shouldn't leave him high and dry so I won't," he stated.
Hiruzen took a step back in surprise. "You mean you'll take care of him?"
"I'll find someone who will for the time being."
Any hope that Jiraiya would do something to salvage his morality died within Hiruzen with a loud bang.
"Are you being serious?!" he exclaimed with a ferocious air of disbelief.
"It's better than leaving him all alone," Jiraiya defended. "Plus, it won't be forever. I'll pick up the slack eventually, I promise."
Hiruzen ground his teeth together. "You're a lousy excuse for a godfather, Jiraiya." He stood up and fixed his hat on his head. "I can barely believe you trained Minato anymore," he spat.
Jiraiya's ears perked up and he adopted a look of indignation. "That's unfair, Hiruzen-sensei," he retorted. "I'm doing what I can here. You and I both know what it's like to lose a student who was near and dear. It's not something you just easily get over."
Hiruzen's anger fizzled out at this comment. Jiraiya was right. He did understand the pain of losing a student, someone you looked at like a son. It's hard to look at what became of them and know you failed them. But that wasn't any reason to abandon a child either. Jiraiya was in a unique position and Hiruzen recognized this which is why he could only sympathize.
Hiruzen heaved an exhaustive sigh. "You need to get it together, Jiraiya," he started. "At this rate the boy is going to grow up never having known you."
Jiraiya looked over to Naruto. Hiruzen could see the disappointment and self-loathing embedded deep into his person. Jiraiya probably felt just as angry about what he was doing to Naruto, maybe even angrier.
"I'll get things done," Jiraiya assured in a low tone as he made his way to the hospital window and parted the curtains that blocked the sunlight from the room. "I won't fail again," he said with a sense of resoluteness and reassurance. Hiruzen felt that he directed it more towards Naruto than anyone else. Jiraiya exited the room through the window.
"What are you thinking?" Hiruzen asked his advisor.
"He's a lousy godfather but he always pulls through somehow," Shikaku reasoned.
"I hope so," Hiruzen added. "I wish I could do more for Naruto myself," he admitted.
Shikaku leaned against the wall as usual. "We both know that would be career suicide," the Nara bluntly added. "The Hokage looking out for the 'Demon Brat' would start a riot for both your heads," he pointed out.
Hiruzen sighed and rubbed down his face. "Yeah," he mouthed blankly. "What a disgraceful situation for a child – one that helped save the village at that," he spoke mournfully.
"It's not any of our faults," the Nara said. "Danzo's the one that spread the rumor he was the Nine-Tails," Shikaku argued. "We both know he didn't want the Fox falling into anyone's hands but his own, 'magine what he could've done if the bijū ended up in Root."
Hiruzen grimaced. "I never thought Danzo would grow to be such an evil person," he admitted.
"To him, Naruto is just a waste of a jinchūriki," Shikaku added. "If the Nine-Tails can't be brainwashed and taught by him to do what he wants then what's the point? It was different when Kushina was alive, harder to kill a ninja, but killing a kid that everyone hates, that's easy."
"If only he wasn't so damn invincible," Hiruzen said. "He has too much weight to throw around for me to just apprehend him. Who knows what his Root ANBU would do if he was seized," Hiruzen pondered in horror. "Danzo has his clutches around so many crafty ninja; Torunē, Fū, Yamato, even managed to snag Kō Hyūga. Our village cannot apprehend Danzo without great risk from this level of underlings at his disposal."
"What's important is that he knows you got your eye on him," Shikaku pointed out. "If he had the ability to do away with you, he would've done it by now. We just have to make sure he doesn't get any more control in the village," he argued.
"I'm just hoping that he drops dead soon," Hiruzen admitted.
"Heh, we both know that isn't happening, not with our luck," Shikaku paused for a moment, wiping the smirk from his face. "Do you really trust Jiraiya to find someone to look after Naruto?" he changed the subject.
Hiruzen was fossilized, taking a moment to contemplate an answer. "Jiraiya has more than enough shortcomings but he's got Naruto's best interest at heart," he said. "He'll make things work."
"If you say so," Shikaku said. "Not sure I'd trust him to do the same for my kid though in all honesty," he admitted.
"It's the best Naruto's got right now," Hiruzen stated. "Jiraiya has to get a hold of himself and put his failures aside or he'll never be able to confront Naruto."
END
Author's Note
Hey everyone.
I hope this chapter finds you in good health. I know this chapter is quite short but that will not be a common occurrence for this story. Trust that keeping things short and sweet was an essential quality call.
It's also key to understand that the first 7 chapters of this story are all mainly setup. Chapter 3 is the first chapter of a mini-arc, and chapter 6 is the beginning of a second mini-arc that will close out the "prologues".
Regardless, I hope that you guys are enjoying these chapters so far and the direction that I'm taking things. There are a lot of big changes coming soon, and I've been sowing the seeds for other overarching changes and plots too.
Special thanks to the people who helped me put this chapter together – V3X, Kastra, and carnage1699.
Review, follow, and favorite at your leisure (or do it anyways for me). Chapter 4, "The Search", will be dropping on Saturday, September 30th, around 12pm-1pm.
Godspeed,
Salt.
