Hello, this is the first story I've ever written, actually this is the only thing I've ever written besides essays for school so there will be grammar issues, formatting issues, and spelling issues. I will do my best to keep this from affecting the flow and immersion of the story. If you feel inclined to do so, you're more than welcome to point out any errors or awkward areas in the reviews or PMs. If you disagree with a decision I make within the story, feel free to let me know as kindly as possible, I don't mind criticism, but don't be a jerk about it
My hope is to keep the 'feel' of this story the same, if you're here you probably love Naruto and I don't want to get away from that core too much, but like many people, I've always wondered how it would have turned out if Jiraiya had intervened much sooner, so I turned to the lovely to write my take on said story.
As far as content, the story will have slightly darker/descriptive action, but I don't plan on writing anything overly dark/gross, and swear words will be kept to a minimum except when used to accentuate feelings. Once again, suggestions and thoughts on this are welcome.
I am from the Midwest of the United States so the language will mostly reflect that, I do like some of Japanese words/phrases for certain aspects of the story, and will likely use them interchangeably within the story. I will do my best to provide the translation of anything that is not English since I know it's hard to understand if you come from the English Dub of the anime like myself (please don't eat me alive for that). Translations will be as I see them to help readers understand what I am trying to convey so if they are not spot on or even accurate at all, please don't be a jerk about it. Lastly I am not huge on honorifics, so I will likely use them less than what most authors on the site use, only when I feel it conveys extra meaning in a relationship or sentence beyond what is normal (i.e. if somebody is really fond of Naruto, they might use -kun every time, if a girl is teasing Naruto, they might just use -kun once, and Itachi won't be using it at all for Naruto (if they talk) like I see a lot of others use (not sure if that's canon or not) . Most characters will refer to the Hokage as "Hokage" or "Sandaime'' but characters who have extra respect or politeness will use -sama on the end). I am assuming everybody knows the Ninja ranks, so I will not be going over them in translations, just if it's needed in-story.
I hope you like it, and spread the word if you do.
-StolenHawk
Translations:
Sandaime - the third, third hokage, Lord Third (if used with the -sama honorific
-Sama: Lord/Master. Very formal and conveys an extreme amount of respect
Hiruzen Sarutobi took another deep slow inhale of his pipe and exhaled it up towards the ceiling. It had been a stressful night and he felt the tobacco was well deserved, 'not that I wouldn't still be enjoying it regardless' he thought
Interrupting his thoughts on self indulgence, was the feeling of a large and familiar presence incoming. He signaled to his ANBU behind him to open the window in preparation. The chakra he was feeling was significantly agitated. This wouldn't go well.
In the blink of an eye a man with a large frame and long white hair filled with spikes was standing rigidly in front of his desk.
"Ah Jiraiya, welcome home. Has your research been going well?" Hiruzen questioned the Sannin evenly.
"Cut the shit sensei." Hiruzen flinched at his student's response. If Jiraiya didn't want to talk about his research he was in more trouble than he had initially thought.
"Very well. You may see the boy as soon as we are done here, but first I would like to brief you in greater detail than what the message I sent you went into."
"His circumstances are… extenuating, and difficult. He's been living alone the last year and a half, the orphanage refused to take care of him properly anymore due to his status. The villagers still see him as less than he truly is, not able to look underneath the underneath, and many of the shinobi as well are still bitter towards him due to the attack." With each sentence the Hokage spoke, Jiraiya tightened up more and more, shoulders rigid, flexing his hands into fists, his jaw muscles rippled in agitation, and his breath was escaping his nose in noisy bursts not unlike an enraged bull.
A lesser man would have seen the rage building in such an imposing man, a shinobi renowned across the elemental nations, and shied away. Sarutobi pressed on in a steady and calm tone, betraying his true feelings. "Despite the village's hatred being poured onto him without true reason, the boy continues to be warm as the sun towards anybody who will acknowledge him. His resilience and determination are truly astounding. He even decided he wants to become the Hokage."
At that Jiraiya lost just a little bit of tension, head tilting the slightest degree to question the hokage on how that came to pass. Lesser shinobi, those below the Jonin level, would have been unlikely to even see the movement. Sarutobi saw it, interpreted it, and prepared an answer for it without a moment's hesitation. "He sees how the higher level shinobi are treated, and he sees the respect the office holds. It appears that instead of trying to return the villages hate through revenge, the boy wishes to avoid hate altogether, and instead become a shinobi worthy of the villages respect—"
Despite the strong pride Jiraiya felt in his chest at hearing about the goal of his godson, he cut his Hokage off
"He should already have their respect. He's supposed to be seen as a hero. That's what Minato wanted. That's what you told me Minato wanted, what he asked for in his dying breath Hokage-sama." Jiraiya's voice level never raised, but instead became more rage filled and intense as he spoke, before spitting out Hiruzen's title and honorific.
Sarutobi, a man who was tempered, tried, and tested by three Great Shinobi Wars, countless smaller battles and skirmishes, and decades in the office of the Hokage, flinched at it. A visible reaction from the Hokage at all was nearly, if not entirely unheard of. A visible reaction that even a Genin could spot was tantamount to unthinkable. For a split second, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the God of Shinobi, Professor and Hokage of the greatest of the five elemental nations, reeled at his student's words. Not even at the ceasefire of the Third Great Shinobi War had the Tsuchikage spoken to him with such disdain and disrespect.
Hiruzen took a silent deep breath and looked the Toad sage in the eye. He deserved it and he knew it, so he didn't even think to reprimand Konoha's spymaster.
"I'm taking over as his guardian, I will not allow Minato and Kushina's legacy to be tossed to the side like trash. He deserves the love that they would have given him, to be raised how they would have wanted him to be raised. He deserves to be seen as the hero that they wanted him to be, and I'll be damned if he won't get it."
The Sandaime had never seen his spiky haired student speak with such intensity or passion before. Not when he talked about his research and novels, not when he talked about bringing his traitorous team back or taking him down, not when he spoke of his love for his favorite incognito medic, not even when he revealed to Hiruzen that he had set his sights on bringing peace to the ninja world.
The Hokage sighed, and in the duration of that short breath he made up his mind.
"The council and elders will not be happy, they think it's good for the boy. Danzo believ—"
An insanely large amount of killing intent cut him off, and he saw fire burning in the Toad Sage's eyes "Damn, the council, damn the elders, and especially damn Danzo! I'll send them all to early funerals myself if I have to, they don't deserve to even speak of him, let alone make decisions about his life! Not when Minato sacrificed his life for them!"
Hiruzen silently thanked himself for dismissing his ANBU and sealing the room off before they started their discussion. "A lesser man would be accused of treason for those words"
"A lesser man would have killed them already." Jiraiya shot back coldly.
After a few seconds of silent acknowledgement to that statement Hiruzen questioned his bullheaded student. "And what of your spy network?"
"I'll need more help from the ANBU, and a few higher level jonin, and I can take him on travels to allied and safer countries, and when my travels take me to more volatile regions, I'll arrange for somebody to watch over him."
"That's a hefty price to ask of your village, Jiraiya."
He wanted to be mad at that statement, to fuel the flames of his anger, having had the village ask more of him than it rightfully should have, but his rage had started to cool as his sensei started to give in, and the Sandaime had sacrificed more of his fair share for the village himself.
"I wasn't asking." Despite calming a little, he still had not forgiven.
The Hokage had lost all bargaining chips earlier in the night when the boy had been involved in the incident. He had been left in charge of him after all, he had promised he'd take care of him. Promised Minato.
"Very well, I will allow you free reign when it comes to the boy's life from now on. Just keep me in the loop and I will hold off the council the best I can."
"If you can't hold them off entirely I will kill them. All of them. Elders included. I wasn't kidding earlier." Jiraiya's statement was said with finality, and Hiruzen realized just how serious he was.
"Jiraiya, you know I would have to intervene and stop you unless you had sufficient evidence and reason." Sarutobi reasoned.
"Assuming I'd cooled down enough not to take you down with them, I would take him, and I would defect, on my honor as the Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku."
Hiruzen was, once again, taken aback by Jiraiya's words. Speaking of such things was treason, blatant treason, yet he couldn't find it in himself to even be upset at his student's words. In fact if the roles were reversed, he could see himself uttering the same words. Not to mention the implication that Jiriaya believed he could win a fight against his sensei and Hokage.
"I see." He replied somberly. "Despite your treasonous words, I find myself not only okay with them, but agreeing with them. It seems I laxed in my retirement, and still haven't regained my edge since I was reinstated."
Jiraiya knew those words were to manipulate him to feel for the old man and his situation, yet he let them. The fact that his sensei was even trying meant that he knew he had messed up and didn't want him to be too mad. Jiraiya sighed, Sarutobi had tried to pass the hat off a little over eight years ago, and had tasted retirement long enough to have grown accustomed to it. He knew he didn't want to take the hat back after the Kyuubi attack, but had to due to a lack of qualifying candidates. He knew that he felt as if he had failed by leading the village into the Third Great Shinobi War, failed by allowing Orochimaru turn traitor and escape the village, and now he felt he had failed his successor's legacy. Jiraiya's eyes softened a fraction. The old monkey deserved a break, and the Toad Sage would give it to him.
"I don't want your excuses Sensei, I want to see my Godson." Just not tonight.
"Very well, I will take you to see him, although he is likely still unconscious, his condition is stable."
At the reminder that his favorite student's only son was in the hospital, Jiraiya's eyes hardened once more, "and what of the perpetrators?"
"Their heads were rolling even as the message was en route to you. The ANBU who were assigned to his protection detail too. Both of them."
Jiraiya relaxed a small amount at that. He might have been angrier than he could ever remember, but he didn't feel like ripping anybody's spine out tonight, and he was happy to hear the Hokage hadn't lost as much of his sharp edge as he had thought.
Hiruzen rose to lead his student out of the office after deactivating the privacy seals. The two turned to head out of the office through the doors, another action that showed the seriousness of Jiraiya, he hadn't used the doors in over 25 years, preferring the window due to 'how badass it is'. As they headed out, Sarutobi stole a look at the pictures of the Hokage on the wall by the door, specifically at Minato's. He had failed the village, his sensei, the previous Hokage, and the Will of Fire that he had inherited from him, failed his student, and failed his successor. It was due time that he rectified that. All of it.
"Jiraiya, I am sorry. You have shown me how I have failed. I will make it up to you, that is a promise."
Jiraiya's eyes softened, almost to their normal state. "Thanks Sensei. You are forgiven." He threw a punch at the elderly Hokage just for old times sake. Hiruzen leaned back, not even moving his hands from where they were clasped behind his back, and dodged the punch, more out of habit and instincts than anything. "But I'm still pissed, and you owe me one."
Hiruzen smiled lightly for the first time that night. "I expected nothing less from you Jiraiya, you have the debt of the Hokage's office to call upon whenever you wish."