"You called, Hokage-sama?" Itachi asks, poking his head into the Hokage's office.
"Yes, please come in, Itachi," Minato says.
Itachi obeys and enters to join Kakashi, Shikaku, and Jiraiya before the Hokage's desk. Minato glaces between his four most trusted and capable shinobi and steels himself. This news won't be easy for any of them.
"I trust that this information will not leave this group. If we are to be successful in our efforts, it is absolutely necessary that our guests have no inclination of what we're doing." At the determined nods from his shinobi, Minato says, "I have reason to believe that there was a security breach during the first two rounds of the exam."
Kakashi's lazy shifting of his weight and the twitch of Itachi's lips are are the only indications that any of the shinobi in front of him are surprised.
"What makes you think that, sensei?"
"Sasuke," Minato says, looking directly at Itachi, whose eyes widen with horror. "He was attacked by a Sound Ninja in the Forest of Death. She placed a seal on him that, from his explanation of its effects and my own observations of the seal, is meant to hijack and corrupt his chakra."
"Will my brother be all right, Hokage-sama?"
"Yes, the malicious chakra emanating from the seal has been contained."
Itachi breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."
"For that, we have to thank Naruto, a genin from Takigakure. He contained the chakra soon after the incident in the Forest of Death."
This time Minato looks at Jiraiya whose brows are raised in obvious interest.
"And you're certain this Naruto helped my brother and did not harm him farther?"
"Absolutely." Minato does not take his eyes from Jiraiya. "From what your brother explains, Naruto arrived after the incident, took a significant amount of time to contain the seal, and even gave Sasuke's team a spare Earth scroll. Since then Sasuke has not felt the malicious chakra. However, it complicates the removal of the seal. Jiraiya, I will need you to convince the boy to meet with Sasuke and I in order to remove his seal so that I can remove the malicious one."
"Of course, Minato. The brat will be excited to see you by the time I'm done with him."
Minato pointedly doesn't acknowledge his teacher. He continues, "Through him I hope you will keep an eye on the actions of the Taki team and assure that no one on the team was involved in the attack.
He then turns his attention to the other ninja assembled. "The rest of you will covertly investigate our guests. Kakashi, you'll keep an eye on the Suna teams. Pay close attention to Rasa's children. Itachi, I want you to see if you can find which Sound ninja did this to your brother. Shikaku, please make changes to the jounin shifts to accommodate a possible threat within our borders. But again, bring as little attention as possible to these assignments."
The shinobi before him all nod, the seriousness of the situation having settled over them.
"You are dismissed."
"Naruto, tell me more about this man who is training you," Kegon-sensei says over a dinner of okonamiyaki a few days after Naruto met Jiraiya. "We haven't seen much of you since it began."
Naruto winces. It's true. Ever since Jiraiya started training him, he spends most of his days with the old pervert, only joining his team for dinner. So far, they haven't discussed his absences very much, though he knows that his whole team is curious.
"Umm," Naruto hesitates. He wants to say it in a way that doesn't make his team suspicious. "It's an old man from Konoha. His name is Jiraiya." The look on Kegon-sensei's face says enough. "I swear, he's nice!" Naruto says quickly. "He may be from Konoha, but he's teaching me really strong moves and hasn't kidnapped me."
Okay, the part about really strong moves is an outright lie, but Naruto vows to change that.
"This is just a very sudden change from your previous distrust of Konoha nin. What made you change your mind?"
Naruto focuses on his okonamiyaki, unsure of what to say. Describing a prophecy suddenly seems very silly. "He's, uh, super nice, and he proved that he wasn't going to kidnap me."
Kegon-sensei smiles slightly. "Like I said, I don't think Kohoha's shinobi are out to kidnap you or anything. But I advise you to remain vigilant. Jiraiya is an extremely powerful and well-known shinobi. I don't want to scare you, but he works closely with the Hokage. So don't tell him too much about Taki, and you may not want to tell him too much about yourself either."
Naruto is quiet. He already knew that he probably shouldn't tell the old man too much, but he hadn't expected Jiraiya to be working closely with the Hokage. What if the Hokage put Jiraiya up to this training thing in order to get closer to Naruto? After training together, he was starting to really like the old man, so he hopes it's not true.
His instinct is to run and cut off all contact with the man, but that would just cause suspicions. By working with Taki, he's already proved that he's an excellent undercover ninja. Why not do the same with Jiraiya and find out whether he can get any information out of him that might help Taki or Tobi-nii?
"It's an honor that he's willing to train you, though," Kegon-sensei continues, "Taki will benefit from what you can learn from him."
The door to the restaurant opens and three familiar faces walk in. The Suna team has arrived for dinner as well. The jinchuuriki looks unfazed. He doesn't even glance at the Taki team, but his companions do. Fuu sticks out her tongue at Kankuro who huffs and looks away.
"Not so cocky anymore, is he?" Fuu whispers loudly to Naruto as they pass, cockiness dripping from her own voice and a triumphant look on her face.
Naruto giggles and glances at the team as they take a table across the restaurant. The teams have a clear view of each other, and he watches as the Suna nin scan their menus. The creepy kid's face has yet to adopt any expression. He just looks so bored with life.
Suddenly, Naruto gets an idea. "Hey Fuu, maybe we could buy them all their dinner. That's what friends do, right? Like how you bought me dango the first day we met. Or how Kegon-sensei and Yooroo-sensei buy us all sorts of food."
Fuu grimaces, "But I don't wanna buy food for that loser, Kankuro."
"How about we just buy food for Gaara then? That way he knows that we want to be friends with him and not the others! Kegon-sensei, Yooroo-sensei, can we buy him dinner?"
Grinning mischievously about how miffed Kankuro will be, Fuu emphatically agrees that it's a great way to become Gaara's friend. Kegon-sensei sighs, but he also agrees to it, and when they buy post-dinner tea, he lets the server know that they would like to pay for the meal of the young, redheaded man across the restaurant.
They sit and drink their tea slowly, occasionally glancing surreptitiously at the Suna team. Kankuro seems all talk, and his interactions are exclusively with the girl, who seems like she spends most of her time scolding him. Gaara doesn't say a word. He eats slowly, mechanically, clearly not even listening to the others.
When the server approaches their table with their check, Naruto and Fuu squirm with excitement. They watch as there's confusion, and then the server points over to their table. The girl is clearly confused, Kankuro furious, and Gaara motionless. He stares at Naruto and Fuu, not with suspicion, anger, or gratitude, but with practically no emotion.
The girl pays, and when they stand up to leave, Kankuro marches over to their table. "What was that all about? Do you think you're better than us if you pay for our food?"
"We didn't pay for your food," Fuu says. "We paid for Gaara's food. I know I'm better than you without paying for your food." She sticks her tongue out at Kankuro who pulls his eye at her.
"And why would you pay for Gaara's food?" the blonde girl asks.
"Because we're his friends!" Naruto says. "And that's what friends do. They buy each other food sometimes!"
"You and Gaara are friends?" The girl looks over at Gaara for some sort of confirmation.
"Yeah!" Naruto continues. "Or at least we want to be!"
Kankuro glances at the blonde girl, and when their eyes meet, there is disbelief and suspicion between them. To Naruto that's proof enough that no one has ever wanted to be Gaara's friend, and he feels a certain satisfaction at being the first. He's going to make sure that all of the jinchuuriki have friends!
He gives Gaara a big grin, which is not reciprocated, but as the Suna team leaves the restaurant, Gaara looks back at them with a slightly bewildered expression on his face.
They both give him a big smile and a wave. He responds with a slow and solemn nod before leaving the restaurant.
"Hey, hey, so what are we going to learn today? I gave you all of my secrets, so you better teach me a really cool move! I'm tired of this chakra control stuff!"
Jiraiya can't help but be amused at the kid's antics. He's not sure what he did, but somehow he got through to to the kid during the past two weeks, earning his trust. And now he gets to watch Naruto bounce around with boundless energy, like a spring waiting to burst.
But the brat has also piqued his interest in unexpected ways. Naruto has not divulged any more information about himself. When Jiraiya asks him about his team, Naruto gives him vague answers that wouldn't raise suspicion if said by anyone else. But coming out of Naruto, who is endlessly talking, they feel forced.
Jiraiya has also been very thoughtful about the skills he's taught Naruto. Sure, they have been doing a lot of chakra control exercises. The brat desperately needs them. But he also taught Naruto a seal that allows the user to modify body parts. It's a rather complex seal that he's proud to have in his arsenal. Naruto picks up on it remarkably fast, and the brat decides to give himself a big nose with a wart on it, laughing delightedly that he looks like Jiriaya now.
The next day, though, Jiriaya notices that Naruto's hair, though still brown is a slightly different shade. Most people wouldn't notice it, but Jiraiya had been looking. There's a reason he taught Naruto that particular seal, and it wasn't because it would be useful in the final exam.
He had seen the slightest hint of lighter roots growing in.
He also worked with Naruto to see if he could physically manifest his chakra. He was curious whether Naruto had inherited the that ability from Kushina. Naruto made less progress on that front, but there were moments where Jiriaya's attacks seemed to meet some, weak resistance. After a few days, he decided that route wasn't worth pursuing, though.
He's now decided he's going to teach Naruto the Kuchiyose no Jutsu. A large part of him doesn't expect it to actually happen. If his budding theories are true, Naruto won't even be willing to sign the scroll.
And if his theories aren't true (which he highly doubts!) it wouldn't be the worst thing for Naruto to have toad summons. He will only tell Minato his plan if it becomes necessary, but he's certain that in the absence of a child to teach himself (and at this rate, he'll probably never have one), that Minato would not argue against Kushina's child being the next generation of toad summoners. And if it turns out that Naruto isn't her child, then who better than the child that carries Uzumaki sealing techniques and Kushina's personality?
Plus, the brat has the name of the hero of his first book.
It's too coincidental for Jiraiya not to think of the prophecy. With Minato too busy moping over Kushina, the hopes that Jiraiya had for him to be the savior of the world have slipped further away with each passing year. Minato, of course, has not once neglected his position as Hokage. He's always favored diplomacy over war, and he even managed to temporarily pacify even that old grump Oonoki. But the fire that he once had is gone, and Jiraiya is certain that without that fire, Minato won't be changing the hearts and minds of shinobi around the world for better or for worse.
This kid though…
Regardless, Jiraiya doesn't care if Minato isn't happy that he allowed Naruto, a random Taki nin, to sign the Toad contract. As the most senior toad summoner, he has a right to decide who inherits the contract. He want's the brat to sign it, so the kid's going to sign it.
Plus, it's all moot because he's certain the brat won't sign it anyway.
And if that makes him a little sad, no one has to know.
"Don't you worry, I'll teach you a move that's so powerful that only two other people know it, and I'm one of them."
After assuring that Naruto's big eyes are fixed on him in anticipation, Jiraiya lifts his thumb to his mouth, bites through the soft skin, and places his had flat on the ground.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" he cries. And, as anticipated, Gamabunta appears beneath him and Naruto, pushing them skywards.
Naruto struggles to keep his balance under the sudden change, but his eyes are sparkling with excitement. When they finally stop rising, Naruto runs around the top of Gamabunta's head, looking down at the massive body beneath him.
Jiraiya can't help but be amused as the kid runs back and forth to see Gamabunta from all angles. Finally, Naruto stops in front of him, dancing from one foot to another, hands waving above him.
"Teach me! Teach me!"
Jiraiya chuckles and places a hand on Naruto's head, partially due to a swelling fondness for the brat and partially to get him to stop jumping on Gamabunta's head. He can hear the beginnings of annoyed grumblings rumble through the toad.
But it's too late. "Jiraiya!" Gamabunta roars. "What is this thing scurrying about my head?!"
Jiraiya cringes and summons his own boisterousness. "Gamabunta!" he cries with just as much energy. "I want to introduce you to my new student. This is Naruto."
Gamabunta stomps his massive legs, though he keeps his head level out of consideration for his passengers. Still, Jiraiya grabs Naruto by the collar to make sure he doesn't lose his footing in any sudden movement. "Then get off my head," Gamabunta shouts, "so that I can meet the brat properly!"
"Come with me, kid," Jiraiya says before snatching Naruto up and jumping to the ground. He sets Naruto down, and Gamabunta crouches to get a good look at the kid. The pipe in his mouth looms over Naruto and Jiraiya.
"Hmm, what's so special about this brat?"
"He'll be a master of Uzumaki sealing techniques someday, and he's my new student."
The look in Gamabunta's eyes is knowing, but Jiraiya doesn't ask. He'll talk to the toads later about all of this. Gamabunta seems to have the same thought, because he says nothing to hint at his true thoughts. "Well, it will be a long time before this tiny brat can summon me. Good luck, Jiraiya." And with a puff of smoke the toad disappears.
In the absence of the massive summons, Jiraiya looks down at Naruto to see his eyes shining with excitement yet simultaneously set with determination. "I'm gonna show him. I'll summon him while I'm still a genin!"
"That only gives you a few weeks," Jiraiya says.
"Yeah, but I'm already a great ninja, so I'll learn it really fast!" Naruto bites his thumb, places his hand on the ground, and shouts "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
But nothing happens.
"Huh?" Naruto says, looking around. "Why didn't a frog appear?"
Jiraiya chuckles. "Because they're toads not frogs. And because you first need to sign the summoning contract."
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Jiraiya cries again, and a new toad appears, one that is orange with blue markings on it, holding a scroll in its mouth. It unrolls its tongue, dropping the scroll in front of Naruto. "This here is the summoning contract. Once you've signed it, you have a bond with the toads who live on Mt. Myooboku, and you will be able to summon them."
Naruto unrolls the scroll to see several names. He recognizes Jiraiya's boisterous script, but there is another name after Jiraiya's. "Namikaze Minato. Who's that?"
"My old student. I only let my best students sign the contract."
"I'll be even better than him, dattebayo! I'll bet he hasn't saved the world!"
Jiraiya doesn't respond, but a wave of melancholy washes over him. Naruto doesn't know just how right he is.
Naruto is about to sign the contract, when he pauses, fingers hovering over the next blank space. He looks up at Jiraiya, genuine sadness in his eyes as he says, "Sorry, Ero-Sennin, but I can't sign the contract."
Jiraiya has ever seen the kid with such a lack of energy. Dejected, Naruto rolls the scroll back up and hands it to the toad.
"I'm done training for today," he says sadly before turning away from Jiraiya.
"Kid. Hey, kid!" Jiraiya shouts at Naruto's retreating back. But Naruto doesn't turn around. The look of sadness in his eyes was so discomforting that Jiraiya lets him go.
But it looks like his theory is confirmed.
Minato's eyes are heavy as he tries to make it through an impossibly boring mission report. He hasn't been getting enough sleep the past few weeks with the majority of his free time taken up by either planning for or worrying about an impending invasion. The voice that wafts through the window behind him is very welcome. "Minato, if I may have a word."
He doesn't need to turn around to know that his sensei is perched on the windowsill of his office. He does so anyway, and greets his sensei with a tired smile.
"I was making terrific progress on the mission you gave me," Jiriaya says as he jumps into the office. "The brat loved me, but now I haven't seen the kid in days."
"What did you do, sensei? Why would he suddenly decide not to trust you?"
"I didn't say I got the brat to trust me. No, he certainly never trusted me. But he did love me."
Minato rolls his eyes. "Until?"
"Until I tried to get him to sign the Toad Contract."
"You what?" A wave of fury washes over Minato. Whether it's from Jiraiya's bold decision to share a powerful jutsu with a foreign shinobi or his own jealousy, he refuses to admit. Verbally he acknowledges the more reasonable of his concerns. "Jiraiya, I know I believe he's Kushina's child and everything, but he's still a foreign shinobi."
"I'm aware, Minato. I shouldn't have to remind you that I had my reasons.'
"Beyond your prophecy?"
"Of course. It's all moot anyway, the kid refused to sign it. He was beyond excited to learn, but the moment I gave him the scroll to sign his name he refused."
"Suggesting that Kyuuruu Naruto may not be his real name," Minato finishes.
"Exactly."
The two stay in silence, mulling over the implications in unison. Minato realizes that if Naruto is using a pseudonym, then he is consciously trying to hide his identity. It could be for reasons innocent enough that he wanted to remain as discreet as possible due to his terror of Konoha nin. Or it could be something more malicious where Kushina or Taki didn't want Minato realizing Naruto's Uzumaki heritage. Well, if that was the case they certainly failed.
"I intend to get to the bottom of this," Jiraiya continues. "I know where he's been hiding, but I wanted to give him time to cool off. And I wanted you to know about the setback to your own plans."
"Thank you, sensei. I'll expect to deal with Sasuke's seal closer to the final exam." He tries to mentally rework his schedule, but eventually, he just writes a note for himself. His mind can't let go of the fact that Jiraiya so boldly shared the toad contract with a foreign shinobi. It only means one thing.
"You must be quite convinced that he's Kushina's if you were willing to let him sign the contract," Minato sighs, running his hands through his hair.
"I am," Jiriaya says fondly, and a new wave a jealousy rushes through Minato. He wants nothing more than to be the one teaching the boy. It has taken an inhumane amount of self control to keep himself from spying on their training sessions like his sensei spies on women in bath houses. He has limited himself to stopping by just a few times for a peek, and even then, he doesn't stay for long lest he can't help but reveal himself.
Clearly the time has been fruitful for Jiraiya.
"Uzumaki Naruto," Minato mumbles into the heavy silence. The name falls off of his tongue easily. It's a good name. "Uzumaki Naruto."
Naruto is training alone in one of the more remote training grounds, but his taijutsu with the training post is halfhearted and sloppy. Ever since he couldn't sign the Toad Summoning Contract, he has been avoiding Jiraiya. But he's also super upset that he didn't get to learn a really cool, powerful move, so he hasn't felt like training at all even though the exams are less than two weeks away.
To his surprise, Kegon-sensei approaches him. It's not that sensei has been avoiding him, but he must have noticed Naruto's mood and has been giving him space. Now though, Kegon-sensei's eyes are stern and disapproving. Naruto wonders why. He hasn't done anything wrong!
"Naruto, we need to talk," Kegon-sensei says.
His voice is kinda funny, but it's probably because he looks pretty angry. Naruto has never seen him angry before.
Naruto's mind whirls as Kegon-sensei leads him into the forest. Is it because Naruto hasn't been spending enough time with his team? Or maybe Kegon-sensei has decided that Jiraiya is dangerous and doesn't want Naruto training with him anymore. If it's that one then Naruto will at least be able to appease Kegon-sensei easily!
They go kind of far, and Naruto starts to lose his sense of direction. He's not even sure if they're in the village anymore! But Kegon-sensei seems like he still knows where he's going.
When they finally stop Kegon-sensei turns to Naruto, and his form briefly shifts to reveal Kisame before returning to that of the Taki nin.
Naruto jumps back a few feet before he can gather himself. "Sharkface! What are you doing here?"
"Shut it, kid. We don't want anyone to hear us." Naruto obediently clamps his lips shut and shifts uncomfortably. "I should be the one asking that anyway. What are you doing here?"
"I, uh, came with my team to compete in the Chuunin Exams."
"This wasn't part of your mission."
"I know!" Naruto bursts, forgetting his promise to stay quiet. "But they were coming, and it would've been super suspicious if I hadn't gone with them."
Kisame-as-Kegon-sensei crosses his arms as if to avoid punching something. He takes a deep breath before saying, "Your mission is over. Tobi does not want you in Konoha." Kisame grabs his arm and pulls, but Naruto digs his heels into the ground.
"No! I'm not leaving! I've been super successful in my mission, and Fuu and I have even found another jinchuuriki. We're gonna be best friends with him too, and he'll help us save the world!"
"Another jinchuuriki?"
"He's from Suna! He's super creepy, but I know it's just because people are afraid of him. Please let me stay!"
Sharkface sighs, but eventually he says "What have you learned about the Taki jinchuuriki?"
Naruto can hear he resignation in his voice. As long as Naruto does this right, he'll be able to stay! So very carefully and with as much detail as he can, he tells Sharkface everything that might be important about Fuu and Taki for when it comes time to save Fuu from Shibuki. He dutifully answers all of Sharkface's questions, and doesn't even pout when he think Sharkface is just testing him by asking questions about Gaara and Konoha too. Naruto even throws in some information about Jiraiya just to be super thorough.
Finally, Sharkface seems slightly less like he wants to punch Naruto and has even started checking the trees to make sure that no one has followed them. He pushes off of the tree that he has been leaning against and turns away so that Naruto can only see Samehada wriggling in its bindings as it always does around Naruto. "I hope I don't have to remind you that Konoha shinobi are dangerous. Stay vigilant. Report to me any information about Konoha that might be important."
"I promise!"
"I can't believe I'm allowing this," Kisame grumbles.
"Stop treating me like a kid, Sharkface!"
Kisame is gone in the blink of an eye, leaving Naruto to find his own way back home.