The Long Night
Jiraiya ran faster than he ever had in his life. The trees were a blur of green as he flew from branch to branch towards the leaf village. As he ran, he prayed that what he'd heard wasn't true. He'd been on a fairly standard, if not rather lengthy reconnaissance mission, collecting information on a potentially dangerous crime ring when the toad had arrived. The toad itself wasn't too much of a surprise, he had a good relationship with the summoning toads and was fairly used to them popping in on him every now and then, usually bringing him a message from either Fukusaku or his student. But this message was something beyond his worst nightmare. Somehow, the Nine Tails had broken free from Kushina’s seal, and both she and Minato had died stopping it. In his dying moments, Minato had sent him the key to the new seal, which he had placed on his newborn son. Jiraiya had taken off immediately, his mission forgotten in the face of this news. Gerotora hadn't actually seen Minato die, and Jiraiya still held out hope that he'd somehow, miraculously survived. He knew he couldn't return in time to make a difference, but either way, the village would need him after such a devastating attack. He was only half an hour away now. Clenching his jaw, he pushed himself to move even faster.
He arrived at the village gate exhausted and out of breath. Even from here he could see the terrible destruction the Nine Tails had caused. Smoke billowed high into the air and fires tinted the early morning sky a bloody red. An Anbu appeared suddenly and gave him a formal bow.
“Lord Jiraiya.” he said “ Lord Third wishes to meet with you. He is waiting in the Hokage’s office.”
That wasn't a good sign. It should've been Minato awaiting him, not Hiruzen. Maybe Minato was just incapacitated. He still held out hope, but braced himself for the worst. With a quick acknowledgement to the Anbu he took off towards the Hokage tower. Within moments he was racing up the stairs and bursting into the Hokage’s office. Hiruzen Sarutobi sat quietly behind the desk. He tried to speak but Jiraiya cut him off.
“Sarutobi Sensei, where's Minato?” He demanded. “I’ve gotta go see him right away. Kushina too. She’ll never forgive me if I don’t congratulate her. Just tell me where-”
He stopped short. The look in his old teacher's eyes told him everything he needed to know. “I’m sorry Jiraiya.” Hiruzen said.
“Both of them?” he asked, his voice shaking.
Hiruzen nodded. “The Nine Tails was too powerful, even for them. They sacrificed themselves to re-seal it.”
Jiraiya sank into a nearby chair and placed his head in his hands. Minato and his wife had been like the children he'd never had. They had both been so strong and full of life, and now they were gone. It didn't feel real. Living through two world wars he'd lost more than a few comrades. He was no stranger to the sting of loss, but that didn't make it any easier. Every friend's death was a fresh wound on his heart, and he was sure this once would never fully heal. Steeling himself, he looked up at Hiruzen.
“Who else did we lose?”he asked.
“Thankfully, Minato managed to send the monster out of the village fairly quickly. Things could’ve been a lot worse. Even still, we lost several Genin and Chunin, as well as a handful of Jonin. Other than that, we lost a few members of the medical Corp.”
Jiraiya frowned. The losses to their Shinobi ranks would hurt, but medical ninja were far more difficult to replace. It would take Many years to refill their ranks.
“Biwako was also killed when the Nine Tails escaped.” Hiruzen continued.
Jiraiya felt another stab to his heart. His Sensei’s wife had been a part of his life ever since he was a child. She may have been a strict, crabby old bag, but she had been like a second mother to him. “I'm sorry, Sarutobi Sensei.”
Hiruzen bowed his head slightly. “There will be time to grieve later. Right now, there are more urgent matters to attend to. The council held an emergency vote and, for the time being, I will be acting as Hokage. It seems likely I will end up officially resuming the role as well.”
“Are you sure?” Jiraiya asked. “You retired for a reason. It seems rather cruel to drag you back out of retirement right after losing your wife and your successor.”
“If I don’t take it, the council will likely nominate you. So unless you want to take over, it looks like I’ll be wearing the hat for a while yet.” Hiruzen said.
Jiraiya held up his hands. “Yeah, no thanks. I’ll leave that stuff to you.”
Hiruzen blew a stream of smoke from his pipe. “I thought as much.”
“So,” Jiraiya asked. “Why did you want to speak with me? I’m guessing it wasn’t to tell me about your promotion.”
Hiruzen nodded solemnly. “No, it wasn’t. Based on what I can gather from tonight's events, I don’t believe this was an accident. It would appear that someone was controlling the Nine Tails.”
Jiraiya’s eyes widened at the possibility. “They would have to be someone with incredible visual prowess. The only people I’ve ever heard of accomplishing such a feat are Madara Uchiha and the Sage of Six Paths himself.”
As he said this, a memory flashed into his mind of a certain red haired pupil of his. With those eyes, it was feasible that he could have controlled the Nine Tails. He’d heard Nagato and the others had died years ago, but if someone had managed to take his eyes… “I’ve got a few leads worth following. I’ll start there.”
He turned to head out but Hiruzen stopped him.
“No.” Hiruzen responded. “I’ll be assigning a team of Anbu to investigate this potential saboteur.”
Jiraiya stopped in his tracks. “What do you mean? I’m the village Spymaster aren’t I? This is exactly the kind of job I’m supposed to deal with.”
“And you’ll be helping coordinate the investigation.” Hiruzen said. “But you have responsibilities in Konoha.”
Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. “What responsibilities? I don’t remember anything like that.”
Hiruzen held up a sheet of paper. “Minato and Kushina named you their son’s Godfather. And you accepted the role.”
Jiraiya stared at the paper. His own signature was at the bottom, right next to Minato’s and Kushina’s. “Well, yeah, but I never thought I’d actually have to raise the brat. I figured I’d just have to pop by every now and then with some gifts or something.”
Hiruzen shook his head. “Regardless, you signed the contract. With both of them dead and no next of kin, you are legally responsible for raising him.”
Jiraiya scowled. “You can’t be serious. Why not just send him to the orphanage? The folks there are way more qualified to raise him.”
Hiruzen frowned. “Think about it, Jiraiya. He’s the son of the fourth Hokage, the Yellow Flash. As soon as word of his existence gets out, every shinobi village in the elemental nations will be out to get him. Even if I assigned a twenty-four hour guard to him, protecting him at the orphanage would be almost impossible.”
“Then keep his identity a secret.” Jiraiya shot back. “Kushina’s pregnancy wasn’t widely known. Just tell everyone he’s some civilian kid whose parents died in the attack.”
“And deprive him of knowing his parents?” Hiruzen asked “The life of a Jinchuuriki is hard enough, I won’t condemn him to a life of obscurity and loneliness.”
“Either way, I can’t take him.” Jiraiya said. “I’m needed as the village Spymaster, and I can’t really do that if I’m stuck in the village all the time.
“You can find someone else to handle your missions until he’s old enough to take care of himself.” Hiruzen said. “It’s about time you started training a replacement anyway.”
Jiraiya rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know the first thing about taking care of a kid.”
“There are plenty of books on the subject at the library. You’re not getting out of this Jiraiya. The boy needs you. You promised Minato that you’d look after him. Do you really want to let him down?”
Jiraiya opened his mouth to argue, then closed it again. Sarutobi was right. He’d given his word to his late protege that he’d look after his son. Even if he never expected to actually have to do it, a promise was a promise.
“Alright, fine. You win. Where is the brat then?” He asked.
Hiruzen smiled and handed him the slip of paper. “He’s currently in the maternity ward of the hospital. You shouldn’t have any problems finding him.”
Jiraiya trudged out of the office. Thankfully the hospital was strategically located near the Hokage tower, so it didn’t take long to get there. Once he arrived he showed the nurse at the front desk the paper listing him as the kids Godfather and explained the situation. She nodded and guided him to the maternity ward. She led him to one of the bassinets, where a tiny, pink baby was squirming and whining. He laughed a little when he saw the kid. Barely a few hours old, and he already took after his father. The nurse gently lifted the baby from the bassinet and handed him to Jiraiya. She also gave him a few basic necessities, which he was grateful for. They weren’t much but he didn’t have any baby stuff at home, so anything was appreciated. On his way home he made a brief stop at a store to buy some baby formula and a pacifier. Finally, after one of the longest nights of his life, he arrived at his apartment. It took a little balancing, but he eventually managed to get the door open and stepped inside.
“Well then, Naruto Uzumaki,” He said. “Welcome home.”