Thank you so much for the reviews, follows, and favorites! Here's chapter 2, this will be the last chapter that doesn't have any action, it was kinda awkward to write, but I hope you like it!
-StolenHawk
Translations:
Jiji - old man/grandpa
Kyuubi - Nine-Tails
Kitsune - Fox
Yondaime - Fourth/Fourth Hokage
Gaki - Kid/Brat
Shinobi - Ninja
Naruto awoke in the hospital in the hospital to hushed whispers. In his experience hushed whispers were never happy words. Not that it bothered him, he had learned not to be bothered by such boring things at a young age. Instead of conveying all this, he sat up suddenly and shot the medic-nin a devious grin. That earned him a scowl, which he laughed off.
A few minutes of having his body checked over with more hushed whispers and mutters that he didn't have the time to pay attention to, and the door swung open on creaky hinges. On the other side, he saw the Hokage followed by a large serious looking man with white hair who he'd never seen before, but he yet he still felt familiar
Naruto's grin turned into a real smile "Hey Jiji!"
The old Hokage wore a genuine smile himself "Naruto my boy, how are you feeling?"
"I feel great! Although I'm not sure why I'm wrapped up like a mummy."
Jiraiya couldn't hold his scoff in, Sarutobi had given the damage report on the way over, and he was pissed. "There's no need to lie kid"
Naruto jumped at the accusation. Literally. The seven and a half year old leapt up onto his feet on the hospital bed and started bouncing up and down, shaking his fist at Jiraiya the whole time "Who are you calling a liar!? I feel perfectly normal I don't even know why I'm in this stupid hospital in the first place!"
Jiraiya again scoffed at Naruto, "Brat, you broke all four limps, both hands, eight ribs, your left collar bone and orbital, and your nose."
Naruto paused at that and became still for the first time since they entered the room. He tilted his head like he was trying to remember, then suddenly asked, "What's an orbital Old Man?"
"The orbital is the bone around your eye Naruto-kun, it's very difficult to break." The Hokage replied to him with a smile. The boy's unpredictability never ceased to amaze him.
"Oh sorry Old Man I was talking to the other Old man, not you. I must be pretty awesome to have broken it though!"
The matter of factness that Naruto said this with set an already tense (and sensitive) Jiraiya over the edge "Who are you calling old you little runt! Do you know who I am!? You're way too weak to be talking to me that way!" Jiraiya leaned forwards toward Naruto in frustration
Hiruzen sighed at the stubbornness of Jiraiya, knowing Naruto was his equal in that aspect. This could get ugly.
"Who are you calling weak!? I'm gonna be the Hokage some day, I could take you on right here right now, believe it!" Naruto leaned forward toward Jiraiya in anger, butting his forehead against Jiraiya's strange forehead protector.
The two butted heads for a few seconds, on the verge of having steam pour out of their ears, before cooler heads prevailed. Or rather, a cooler head, "Now now Naruto, I'm not sure you're ready to take on one of my students just yet."
Naruto backed off at that, but didn't back down all the way. Instead, he eyed Jiraiya as if he was trying to see what he was made of. Jiraiya leaned back and put his hands on his hips smiling, thinking that his sensei had put his stubborn godson in his place—
"Eh I think I could take him Jiji, his hair is even whiter than yours."
The Toad Sage sweat dropped at that. After a few seconds of feeling bad for himself, Jiraiya started chuckling, which caused The Hokage to start himself. Naruto looked on incredulously at the fact that he wasn't being taken seriously. He truly believed he could win against the white haired man.
"I have to say, Sensei was spot on with his descriptions of you." Jiraiya's tone softened, "seriously Naruto, how are you feeling"
Past anger and frustration forgotten in the sincerity of the large man's tone, Naruto smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head "I feel fine. A little sore and a little confused. Actually a lot of confused. Why am I here?"
"You were beaten up by some drunk villagers, they did quite a number on you before one of our Jonin stopped them." Kakashi had actually done more than stop them. In fact, Sarutobi thought the swift execution they were given might have been merciful considering the injuries Kakashi had inflicted in his rage.
"Yeah I remember that," Naruto looked down in embarrassment for a second before looking back up and questioning "but the grumpy fox told me he was gonna heal me completely, and I feel fine, so why am I here?"
Hearing his reply, the two older mens eyes steeled and the atmosphere took on a more serious edge. Hiruzen yet again found himself silently thanking the privacy seals he had put in place. He didn't need even more rumors spreading about Naruto and the Nine-Tailed Fox (Kyuubi no Kitsune).
It was Jiraiya who responded, "What fox kid?"
"The big grumpy one in the sewer, er I guess he said he was in my head. Why does my head have a sewer in it?"
Another soft smile from the Hokage at the child's innocence and unpredictability.
Jiraiya again was the one to speak. "You spoke with the fox?"
"Mmm more like yelled at, and then shouted with. He kept yelling at me calling me weak, so I said if I'm so weak, how come you're the one stuck behind bars in my sewer head? and he roared at me and called me dumb so I roared back and called him ugly. He was really grumpy the whole time so I was grumpy right back with him, and eventually he said he would heal me so I wouldn't die" Naruto said the last sentence with a prideful smirk on his face. Jiraiya was thinking that just maybe, he should feel a little bit of empathy for the demon fox that attacked his village. "Awfully nice of such a grumpy old fox. I think he was just pretending so he'd look scary though."
By the time the almost eight year old had finished talking he was out of breath, and so nearly were the two older shinobi he was talking too. Jiraiya shot the Hokage a questioning glance and then another. He was returned with a shake of the head to indicate he didn't know Naruto had made contact with the fox, and a single nod giving him permission to talk with the young Jinchuuriki about it.
"Naruto, do you know what that fox is?" The blonde shook his head. "That's the nine tailed demon, the one who attacked the village seven and a half years ago." Jiraiya informed him somberly.
A few seconds of thinking and Naruto had his response "Nice try old man, he's not a demon, he's just a really big fox. I might be young, and I might be dumb, but I'm super smart so you can't trick me."
Jiraiya just shook his head at that, not really knowing what to say.
Naruto continued to question, "Why did he even attack the village in the first place? And why is he so grumpy? And sad?"
"What do you mean sad, kid?"
Naruto became much more reserved, sitting back down and staring into his lap "The big fox was really sad, although I could tell he was trying to hide it."
"How do you know he was sad? And how do you know he was trying to hide it?"
The look in the young boys eyes said it all. He knew he was sad because he knew what that sadness was. Born from the hatred that thousands of people, entire villages drop onto your shoulders. He knew he was hiding it behind his anger because he himself hid his sadness, and being angry was one of the best ways to do it.
Jiraiya's eyes softened to their maximum amount and got shiny, to his left the Hokage coughed into a fist uncomfortably. Jiraiya put a hand on Naruto's head and ruffled his unkempt blond hair. "I see."
After an unbearable few seconds of seeing his godson hollowed by sadness, Jiraiya tried to cheer him up.
"Say Gaki, you said you wanted to be Hokage, right?" Naruto nodded, picking up a small smile thinking of his dream. "How about I help. You know of the Fourth Hokage right?"
Naruto was excited now "Yeah! He's my hero! I wanna be just like him, only better!"
"That's a lot to live up to kid, you're gonna need a heck of a teacher." Sadness seeped back into the boy. Jiraiya scowled internally at the boy's past experiences. "How about I take you under my wing and be your teacher?"
At this Naruto's grin was unmistakable "Are you a good teacher?"
The question was innocent, and mostly curious, so Jiraiya returned a grin just as big "Kid I'm probably the best teacher ever. I'm Jiraiya of the Sannin, the Gallant Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku!" Jiraiya sung in conjunction with his flamboyant Kabuki dance
"WOAH! ...Um, sorry I don't know what any of that means." Naruto said sheepishly
"Let's put it this way kid, the Fourth Hokage, your hero? I was his sensei."
Naruto's eyes became as big as ramen bowls, and his jaw hung open in amazement. "WOAH YOU TRAINED THE YONDAIME? DOES THAT MEAN YOU'RE SUPER STRONG? CAN YOU TEACH ME COOL JUTSU? CAN YOU BREATHE FIRE LIKE SASUKE? CAN YOU TEACH ME HOW TO? CAN YOU MAKE ME STRONG ENOUGH TO BEAT JIJI?"
Both of the veteran shinobi were chuckling at the excitement of the young boy, possibly remembering a time when they were also wide eyed youngsters "I can't promise that last one, but if you promise to work hard, I can definitely make you into a great ninja that the Yondaime (Fourth Hokage) would have been proud to have in his village."
Hearing that Naruto's eyes somehow got even bigger, and much wetter. He rubbed them on the back of his arm and noticeably tried to keep them from leaking.
"Hey, it looks like you already know one of the shinobi rules. A shinobi never cries, because it won't get him anywhere," Jiraiya said, and Naruto nodded. "Can I tell you a secret though, just between you and me?" Another nod. "It's okay to cry when you're happy. I've even seen the Hokage, both Third and Fourth, do it before."
Naruto looked up at him in awe and nodded again, the tears silently started spilling out of his eyes.
Sarutobi looked on, seeing a boy who had known so much sadness and hate, and had shouldered such a large burden for the good of the village, crying tears of happiness brought a warm feeling into his heart. Hope. He hadn't seen Jiraiya like this since Minato's death. He himself hadn't felt this light since before he reclaimed the hat. Maybe this little blond ball of excitement would be the thing that will bring the village together and take them to new heights. Maybe, despite his failure, the child would turn out exactly how Minato would have wanted. It was clear as day that he had inherited the WIll of Fire. Maybe, just maybe, he would achieve his dream and become Hokage.
Jiraiya was thinking similar thoughts. He had vowed not to take another student, and this boy had convinced him, had him excited even, to become his teacher without even asking, with nothing more than his infectious attitude. He thought he would be filled with regret seeing Naruto after what happened, knowing that he could have prevented it. Instead, he too felt hope. Hope that this boy would inherit his Will of Fire too. Hope that this boy who claimed the Kyuubi(Nine-Tails) was hiding sadness, and stood up to the demon at seven and roared back would maybe, just maybe, be the one to end the cycle of hatred and bring peace to the shinobi world.
Like I said, it was kind of awkward to write this scene but I did my best. Chapter 3 will show our favorite little knucklehead leaving the village with Jiraiya and beginning his training. The chapters will also likely be longer from here on out, these first two were short so I could get more feed back. Let me know in the reviews if you liked it!
-StolenHawk