The Mission

“Hi Iruka sensei, is Naruto here?” Lee asks when the omega Chunin answers the door, “Yeah, he is—” he pauses when asking, “did something happen? You smell very different.” 

“Oh, Gaara marked me after Neji chose to renounce me as a mate.” Lee is shockingly happy for a kid who’s just gone through a very adult process, though he guesses it’s better than prison or being mated to Neji, “…Congratulations?”

“Yeah, it’s been the best day of my life so far!” he cheers before Naruto makes his way to the door, “Oh, hey Lee! I’m really happy you could make it!” 

He takes a whiff of his scent, instantly crinkling his nose, “You and Gaara are mates now, huh?”

“We are and today could not get any better!” 

“Come on in then and lemme prove you wrong!” Naruto grinned, “Don’t worry about Ino, she’s already here since I did plan it with her when she saw me at the hospital.”

As Lee gets dragged further in the home, Naruto is happily chattering away, “We’re going to have so much fun with all the ramen and snacks to eat—oh, and Kakashi sensei is letting us have his room to have our sleepover in! It’s super big and luxurious too, like being in a fancy suite or something.”

“Sounds amazing! I’m actually amazed that you don’t have a problem with me being mated to Gaara. At first I thought you’d be really against it.” 

“I mean, I would’ve been if it weren’t for his brother telling us about his crush on you after helping Sasuke and I in our battle. Besides, he seems like he’s really changed from what Iruka sensei and Ino told me so you know, who am I to complain? Anyone is better than Neji, am I right?” Naruto then asks him, “Are you prepared for this? Because Ino and I do have a lot planned.” 

“I’m ready for anything after what I’ve gone through.” Lee said with a wide grin as Naruto led him over to the room where they’d be staying. 

Iruka watches them go behind the door, the smile on his face fading as he remembers what is to come next for his son. 

Given the state of the village and the persistence of the group, Naruto will have to leave Konoha with Jiraiya in another few days. He knows his son has to go for his own safety, yet he won’t deny it will be incredibly lonely without him around. He will miss that boy every day he’s gone and to be honest, he’s not mentally prepared for him to leave for a long time like this. 

“Everything okay?” Kakashi’s voice rings him out of his thoughts and it makes him sigh in response, “Not really…I’m not ready for my son to leave me for so long. I know our village is not capable of handling another Akatsuki invasion, but I just wish I could leave with him.” 

“I get the feeling all too well.” the silver haired man admits, “I want to keep him here too; I know I may not have raised him like you have, but he is the closest thing to a son that I’ve had. Not having him here will be like losing a part of myself in a way.” 

Iruka feels the same way and because he knows it will make him cry to think about it for too long, he faces the man and tells him what he should have a few days ago, “Thanks for agreeing to have the kids here, in your room like Naruto wanted. I know this will make him feel very special before he leaves.” 

“I couldn’t say ‘no’ to him, not after all him and his friends have gone through. They’re good kids; they deserve to have some fun every once in a while.” 

Iruka feels himself melt a little at Kakashi’s genuine care for the kids. It makes him believe there’s an extremely miniscule chance this man could change and become the sort of person he wouldn’t mind being mated to someday.

(He’s not sure if it could happen, but who knows? If Neji could let Lee mate Gaara without any hesitation, then maybe Kakashi could change into the sort of person he’d want as a mate.) 

They got another knock on their door and at first, they both mentally thought it would be Sasuke or Gaara behind it. 

Imagine their surprise when they saw Jiraiya there, his usual playfulness gone from him as he spoke, “We need to talk.” 

“I’ll leave you be then, Kakashi—” 

“No, you’re needed for this too. It’s something you two need to be involved in together.” 

They’re not certain what is going on, but they know better than to question a Sanin about such a thing. Though Kakashi does wonder, “Who will watch the kids when we’re gone?” 

Iruka and Kakashi did not know a thing about this meeting going into it.

All they knew was they were needed immediately and Jiraiya wasn’t saying much of anything of it, leaving them completely in the dark about the issue at hand. Kakashi is mildly annoyed whereas Iruka is trying to fight off the unease about the situation building up in his chest.

He is about to ask Jiraiya about the issue again when they find themselves being led to an area where outside of the village, closer to the border without being as far away as Shikamaru’s group to save Lee had been.

“Wait, why are we going out here?”

“Because what we are going to tell you cannot be said in the village.”

Iruka’s now growing increasingly antsy over what is going to be said here whereas Kakashi is still more annoyed than anything else, “You do know that you’re taking us away from some much needed time with Naruto, right? Why couldn’t this have waited for a later date?”

“Because I plan to leave with Naruto at the end of the week and a later date would mean having this discussion when I’m long gone from Konoha.”

Kakashi rolls his visible eye, not really liking how long this is taking them and wishing more than anything he’d get a chance to be back at his place with the omega kids and Iruka, enjoying their time with them before everything changes for the three of them.

What, with Naruto leaving soon, Lee undoubtedly going next with his mate (the idea of someone so young being in a mated relationship makes him feel ill no matter how well intentioned it is), and Ino being left alone…he’s not sure how well they will cope with being away from each other.

Him and Iruka have already discussed doing all that they can to be supportive to Ino in the aftermath of losing her omega friends, though it’s still undecided how to go about this. He thinks they ought to speak to Inoichi about this no matter how odd it may seem for them to do so. Iruka did agree on that end, though it didn’t stop him from worrying how Ino would handle being the only omega Genin in her age group after her friends leave. He’s afraid of the villager’s discrimination worsening and Kakashi cannot blame him for this since he’s lived through it alone when he was her age.

Iruka doesn’t want to see Ino quit due to rampant bigotry. Who wouldn’t be worried of that as she gets closer to the age of her first heat and puberty? Kakashi knows he’s worried for this. Ino may be strong, but without an omega Genin support system her age, it could be too much to handle alone.

Oh well, they can always talk about this to her parents tomorrow. For now, they need to focus on the situation at hand.

Which, of course, when they do arrive at the meeting place, it is with shock that Inoichi, Shikaku, Choza, Guy, Kurenai, and Asuma were there waiting for them.

Iruka is the first to say it, “Why are you guys all out here this late?”

Inoichi begins this with a distant look in his eyes as he leans down to the ground and runs his hand over the grass, “Believe it or not, but this is the exact same spot where Ino and Sakura met up with Deidara and Itachi the night she ran away from our home.”

To Kakashi, Iruka, Guy, Kurenai, and Asuma this was stunning to hear, leading to Kakashi’s calmly worded, “There’s more to the meeting that what Naruto was told and we were led to believe, isn’t there?”

“There is…in fact, there’s a lot more to it.” Inoichi stands then, his eyes no longer distant though they possessed a gleam to them that gave away how lost he felt, “Ino received a letter from Deidara that was delivered to her room by an unnamed Akatsuki member telling her to meet up with him. What she learned was not what she or I told you guys.”

Iruka feels his stomach churn as Inoichi recalls everything he had seen in her memories of the event…mainly because he himself had been in a similar situation.

He had an unwanted pregnancy once when he was young—not as young Deidara had been, but young enough to where it would have ruined his Chunin career—and he was considering terminating it when he learned from a medic nin that the child would be born with too many defects to have a long, happy life. In his case, he was lucky to have miscarried, but if he hadn’t…well…he would have gone to Suna like Deidara did.

His reasoning would have been obviously different—he didn’t want to birth someone for the sake of them dying a miserable death too soon after—but then, his whole situation had been different with a consensual night of sex as opposed to Deidara’s assault. The differences don’t matter in his eyes, though: Deidara was not in the wrong for wanting to end his pregnancy no matter how different the reasoning and situation may have been between them.

(Though, he won’t deny that Deidara was incredibly lucky to have Itachi there to be his support; Iruka didn’t have anyone he felt safe enough to tell about his pregnancy and he would have killed to have someone like Itachi to be there for him through thick and thin.)

He realizes then just how horrible the poor omega has always had it in their village. His beauty was not a prize or gift; it was a curse that isolated him from his fellow omegas, left him prone to assault and harassment, caused him to have no social life or friends, and led him to ultimately hate the place he had come from.

He couldn’t blame him for wanting to leave this place. Learning everything he did only made him have nothing but all the empathy in his being for the young artist turned criminal, “What about the mating with Itachi? Was it really consensual?”

“It was according to him.” Inoichi answers with a slight frown, “We brought you guys here because of Itachi, actually.”

“Why him?” Guy pipes up, “Going by what we’ve heard so far, Itachi wasn’t a bad guy to your son; he was a good person by all accounts to him. If anything, you should be happy he mated him—any beautiful omega like your son being around a bunch of powerful criminals is damned to be endangered at one point or another.”

Sadly enough, what Guy said was not a lie: beautiful omegas like Deidara are always targeted because of their beauty by criminals of all ranks. There’s no saying what would have happened to him in the Akatsuki if Itachi hadn’t mated him.

“It has nothing to do with that.” Inoichi refutes, the lost look never leaving his gaze once, “Ino’s memory of her visit with Deidara was filled with him trying to convince to leave Konoha and one point he frequently brought up was Danzo—according to the memory, we were led to believe there was more to the Uchiha massacre, something that Danzo or the other elders would know.”

Jiraiya takes his turn to speak, all joviality gone from him when he does so, his expression grim, “I caught Inoichi, Shikaku, and Choza trying to investigate the massacre and naturally, I joined in when I learned more of why they were doing such a thing. Working together, we were able to determine that Itachi Uchiha had not acted alone and was forced into committing it against his will by the village elders.”

To this, all fell silent with Asuma being particularly grim in expression as it all settled on them, “I knew something was wrong with Ino’s explanation for the meeting with Deidara…it was too perfect, too much of what she had always wanted and yet she was too distraught over it. I never knew it was so completely opposite of what we are hearing now.”

“Then what are we to do about it?” Iruka chimes in, “Sasuke…he’s been led on to believe his brother is a monster…how are we supposed to fix this?”

Jiraiya then tells them of his solution, one that the original Ino-Shika-Cho trio seemed to be okay with it if the looks of gratitude in their expressions were anything to go by, “Sasuke cannot be here for what I believe we should do next… He will have to come with Naruto and I to avoid another Deidara situation happening.”

Kakashi has to add his two cents in because this is still so much to take in, “What are you suggesting we do then? Kill the elders and cause a riot with the wealthy conservative clans they come from along with the many other wealthy conservative clans they are friends with? Because that could lead to the destruction of our village as we know it.”

“For starters, Iruka,” he says while glancing at the omega behind him, “you need to take Sasuke and Naruto out of the village tomorrow at the earliest, the next day at the latest. Neither one of those boys should be here for the plan I have in mind.”

“Where should I take them? You already said the Akatsuki are after Naruto—where can I successfully hide them that will be safe?”

“I’ll give you the name of the hotel and village you are to go to. When this is done, I will be there, and you will be able to return home.”

Iruka nods, though he too is grim about the plan ahead.

Jiraiya continues on then, “I will get Tsunade involved in this, and with her help, we will come up with a plan that will eventually involve Inoichi going through Danzo’s memories since he is the one Deidara kept referencing the most in Ino’s memory of her meeting with him. If it is true that he is as guilty as Deidara made him out to be, then we will have no choice but to kill not only him but anyone else involved in the massacre with the only excepting being Itachi himself.”

Asuma then asks Inoichi the only question on his mind about this plan, “Are you truly ready to make yourself a greater enemy to wealthy conservative clans in the village than you are now, knowing it could result in you being assassinated?”

“I am.” he answers with no qualms or reluctance, leading him to wonder, “What if this does not bring Deidara back? Will it have been worth it to you?”

“It will be because at least the Uchiha will get justice and hopefully, with the old elders gone, we’ll get better ones who will change the laws for the better in this village for omegas like Rock Lee, Ino, Naruto, and Deidara.”

He has a determined glow to himself as his fists clench tightly against his side, “I know it’s a long shot, but I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make things right with Deidara. If I have to spill blood to show him I’ve changed, then I will even if it doesn’t bring him back.”

To such resolve, none of them could argue and none could deny a father trying to make things right with his son, “I’ve wronged him and he’s hurting now because of me. It’s my job as a parent to end his pain and make it all better for him.”

Before anyone else could break the long silence after what was said, Iruka spoke up, “Tell me, what is the name of the hotel and village I am to take the boys to?”

All glance at him out of a mixture of respect and shock, “I need to know if I am to get them somewhere safe.”

Jiraiya hands him a piece of paper, “Take them to the location and hotel written here either tomorrow or the day after, but no later than that. I’ll arrive when I’m done here.”

Iruka nods, still unsure of what to make of the plan as Jiraiya announces to them all, “I am going to head back to the village to meet up with Tsunade at her place. In at least three hours, I want those of us who will be involved in a potential battle to meet at the location I have written here.”

He hands them all a piece of paper with a location written on it—one that Iruka doesn’t get, and he understands the reasoning behind this well enough since he won’t technically be involved in any actual combat.

“Great, then I’ll see you guys later.” Jiraiya announces, being the first to leave with Inoichi, Shikaku, and Choza following suite.

Kakashi has been awfully quiet, as has Guy and Kurenai, leaving Iruka to ask the copy nin, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. If anything, I am upset for Inoichi about the whole Deidara situation. Knowing our own village would be the cause of him leaving and a clan being massacred…it’s as enraging as it is heartbreaking.”

Guy nods in response, “I may not be a parent, but I get where his determination is coming from. I did all that I could to make becoming a shinobi as smooth of a process as I could for Lee and I’ve done all that I was able to do to protect him from his mother in the past…I can’t help to think I failed him by not doing more to keep him safe.”

“You couldn’t have done more to keep him safe,” Kurenai reminds them all then, “The laws are stacked heavily against omega’s rights in this village. You did all that you could do for him, Guy.”

“My only fear is that Inoichi is only so for this idea because he thinks it will bring Deidara back when it won’t.” Asuma remarked while lighting his cigarette, “Deidara was not in the wrong for what he did, neither was Itachi, but he’s had years to tell his family his side of the story and he didn’t. Maybe there’s a good reason for that, I’m not sure, but it doesn’t excuse his lack of respect for his family’s wants and needs.”

When Jiraiya did arrive at Tsunade’s home, she appeared to be somehow both stressed and relaxed at the same time, “What is it, perv?”

He chuckles in response, knowing damn well he did deserve that one, “I have that one coming…but I’m here to talk to you about something serious—”

“That’s interesting, because I have something serious to tell you as well.”

As he blinks, she moves aside to let him in and the moment the door is closed she takes a breath to steady her racing heart at the news she has to share, “The investigation into Rock Lee’s kidnapping has shown some results that coincide with what I have been told by Kankuro, Temari, and Gaara on the subject of omega auctions and trafficking.”

“Oh? What were the results of that investigation?”

She let it all out then to someone else outside of a select few, “The investigation revealed a contract that she had sign on the day he bought her son; it very clearly stated the exact amount of money he needed to pay her as well as the date it was due, otherwise the mating would not go through. The letters between them revealed an entirely different scenario, though.”

“How so? It seems pretty cut and dry to me: sounds like she wasn’t gonna give him up because she got greedy and demanded more than she should’ve asked for.”

“It wasn’t this reason. That was what he told his cronies, but it’s not the full truth.”

Now Jiraiya’s really interested in what all she has to say, “She did keep trying to get more money out of him, but it wasn’t solely out of greed; it was because he broke the contract by being dishonest about who was intended to mate him. He clearly wrote down that he would be the one to mate her son, only to try to weasel out of it by telling the one to pick him up would be the one to mate him as per the agreement. Unfortunately, he was going to send in Kimimaro instead of himself, leading to a disagreement between the two that consumed the final letters exchanged between them. This led into her turning to all the omega auctioneers she knew, begging them to put him on their auctions, only for them all to turn her down.”

Jiraiya is stunned to learn of this, but then she continues on, “Suna is known to keep a strict eye on omega auctions and explicitly forbids selling or auctioning an omega off by law with intense punishments for those who do. This investigation led into us speaking to the Suna kids about omega auctions and those who sell their omegas off, which they told us all they knew about it. Apparently, it’s not uncommon for omegas of all clans regardless of wealth or political beliefs to be sold or auctioned off from this village at higher rates than omegas from any other villages around.”

Now that was shocking to learn—as well as terrifying because it makes him think of Naruto and how this could be his fate if he stays here too long, “Is this by a clan tradition thing only or something else?”

“For the poor clans, it’s a clan tradition thing to bring in money. The wealthy arrange their omegas to mate other wealthy or higher status alphas or betas; they are the least likely to sell or auction off their omegas. However, they wind up being sold and auctioned off more than omegas from poor clans in this village.”

He's starting to wonder if she’s going to get to the point soon about all this, “Tsunade—what does this have to do with anything?”

She glares at him and it makes him freeze in his spot, though it doesn’t show on his person for one moment, “I know about Inoichi and your’s investigations into the Uchiha massacre. You’d be a complete fool to think I would never notice. You’re only lucky the elders themselves are too cocky to be as observant as I am.”

“What would that have to do with any of what you’re telling me now?”

“It has a lot to do with it, actually.” Tsunade sighs, her eyes losing their intensity when she says it, “Whatever you’re trying to plan…end all planning right now.”

He’s shocked into silence as she continues, “I know you’re plotting something, and whatever it is, I can assure you it’s not needed. My investigations have shown that the elders obtained their wealth by allowing criminals to sneak into the homes of their wealthy friends and kidnap their omegas to be sold on auctions for a decent cut of the amount on the sale, or they will hire someone to kidnap the omega for them to sell themselves to any wealthy person who wants to buy one.”

“How did you learn that information?” Jiraiya knew they were awful, but that bad? Who knew! “Tsunade, that’s heavy accusation to make without proof.”

“My proof comes from a criminal who had been caught trying to break into the home of wealthy clan to try to steal their daughter three nights ago.” she glances at him oddly, “Inoichi was the one who led the interrogation of that man—didn’t he tell you about it?”

“He said he interrogated some criminal, but he didn’t go into detail about it.”

“Good; if he had, he would have lost his job and faced possible prison time for talking about an active case.”

To which, Jiraiya is annoyed by despite understanding why he didn’t tell him everything, “That doesn’t matter now, Jiraiya. The wealthy conservative clans already know of this issue, and they are enraged with the elders. They were so enraged that they said if I were to have someone kill them and their families at a party hosted by the one whose omega child was almost kidnapped, then they would do nothing to stop progressive elders from taking their place.”

His breath is lost to this as the implications become too real to him, “…They want to kill their families, even if they are innocent?”

She nods and it leaves him staring at her in horror, “You…you did not agree to this, did you? Tell me there’s no way you’d actually say ‘yeah sure, let’s go kill some innocent people’, right?”

Her silence is deafening, leaving him to try to goad an answer out of her in his own desperation, “There’s no way—you wouldn’t do that. That’s not who you are.”

“…I made a promise to Naruto,” she begins with her eyes starting to water slightly, “that I would change this village for the better for omegas like Rock Lee. I failed to do that and look at what happened; he was almost mated by force to some alpha in an enemy village and did the elders care? No, their solution was to do nothing and call off the rescue mission when it was ongoing. To be that cold and cruel to an innocent omega is something I will never forgive them for; they left him to be mistreated and sold off like he were an object, all because of his gender.”

He is somewhat starting to lose whatever horror was in him the longer she speaks, “That sweet kid didn’t deserve to be left there…he didn’t deserve to be treated like he wasn’t a human being with rights of his own. He deserved all the freedom and rights you and I have—something they will never see if they are allowed to remain in power.”

She takes a step towards him and as a tear falls from her eye, she makes it clear to him, “I do feel guilty for agreeing to this, but I cannot care—not when I finally have a chance to make this place better for all the omegas in this village. If I didn’t agree to their terms, they would have hired assassins to do the job for them and used their wealth and influence to enforce stricter conservative laws stripping omegas of whatever rights they have here. So tell me, what was the better option: Naruto, Ino, and many more omegas like them not having any rights in this village in the future or omegas having more rights than they did in the past?”

It's a hard question to ask because really, there are no winners here.

Either the wealthy conservative clans got what they wanted out of Tsunade, or they would have taken matters into their own hands and made life worse for the omegas in the village.

Ultimately, she did what she could to keep her promise to Naruto and as much as it deeply disturbs him, he cannot hate her for making the decision she did under the pressure she had to have been in.

“…Tsunade, if you would have let me kill them for what they did to the Uchiha clan, this wouldn’t have had to happen.”

“Except the wealthy conversative clans in this village do not give a damn about the massacre or obtaining justice for it. They only care about something when it affects them personally. If you were to have killed them and spared their families, those clans would have turned against you and there would have been a civil war here in the village because you did not give them exactly what they wanted. This is all I could have done in the circumstances I was given.”

Right—he forgot. They have a lot of say in this village due to their wealth and the influence they have in the conservative community in Konoha. If he were to have made his move in the manner he wanted for the reasons he desired, they most certainly would have used their influence in their community to spread lies about the hokage trying to eradicate conservatives and their wealth would have worked to buy them all the rogue/criminal ninjas they desired to take down the village should no Jounin, Chunin, or anyone in ANBU or ROOT choose to side with them.

All he can do at this point is ask, “Who did you have do it?”

“For such a mission, I asked Gaara to dispose of the elders when they get too drunk to defend themselves. As for the families, I’m not sure if he will do it or if I will have to have the assassin I sent to pose as a servant to finish that job for him.” she does clarify for him, “When he heard about how the elders reacted to Lee’s kidnapping and how they got their wealth, he agreed to it without any hesitation.”

Her hands cover her eyes when releasing a strained exhale, “I didn’t want omega rights to happen like this—I wanted change to come from their hearts, not their deaths.”

Jiraiya—not being able to handle such a heavy atmosphere—is about to hug her when Shizune beat him to it.

With a firm stare in his direction, he opens the door to her home and lets her know, “Don’t worry about anything else; I’ll tell my guys my plan won’t be needed.”

Three hours later, he is meeting up with Guy, Asuma, Kurenai, Kakashi, Inoichi, Shikaku, and Choza at the same spot where Deidara and Itachi were said to have met up together in private.

There, he tells them everything he heard from Tsunade and how their plan was not needed any longer.

Kurenai was visibly relieved and left without another word being said. Guy was too angry over what he learned about Lee’s kidnapping and the elder’s reaction to it, so he left before he could explode that rage in an inappropriate manner. Asuma could only ask Inoichi, “Do you think Deidara will see this and at least be a little bit happy at the progress being made?”

“I don’t know, it depends on what sort of progress could be made after tonight.” Inoichi tells him in response as Shikaku and Choza both head back home without him, clearly conflicted over what was said yet not knowing of any better option, “I hope he will be…but I don’t know if he will ever have faith in this village again if he doesn’t have faith in me in the first place.”

Kakashi inserts himself here, telling him what he believes he should hear, “You cannot blame yourself for everything that went wrong for Deidara.”

“Kakashi!” Asuma hissed, yet the copy nin did not stop there, “Your son left for many reasons and the majority of them had nothing to do with you. It’s time you stop beating yourself up over every single little thing and accept that he’s gone now for reasons that were not in your control.”

Asuma does remind him, “It’s some pretty bold stuff you’re saying here considering you don’t have kids.”

“I may not be a parent, but I do know what it’s like to lose someone and live with the burden of blaming myself for everything that happened despite it not being in my control.” Kakashi is blunt when telling him, “I may not know what it’s like to be a parent or lose a child or face anything you have ever since he left, but I do know enough about loss to know that you cannot keep this up forever without it becoming more about yourself and your self pity than actually bettering yourself. You want to do better by Deidara? Then quit wallowing in your what-ifs and do something to accept what happened for his sake if you ever want to do that for him.”

The man laughs, though it is short and strangled in sound, “You really do know the best thing to say in your own weird way…but I guess you’re right. If Ino could strive to get him back for years without becoming a wreck I was, then I can try harder to be as strong her.”

“Good.” Kakashi then informs them, “If you excuse me, I have a home full of omegas to get back to. I’ll see you all tomorrow or whenever I feel like it.”

As he leaves, Asuma checks in on the man to make sure, “You okay with him talking to you like that?”

“Yeah, he meant no ill will about it.” Inoichi said as the man put out his current cigarette and sighed, “Well, that’s your choice then… I should get going though—I have things to do, people to see.”

“Right, I’ll see you around then.”

“See ya.”

Inoichi then says to him, “Thanks for everything, Jiraiya. I do appreciate all that you’ve done to help me and my friends in our search for the truth about the massacre.”

He tells the older man in no uncertain terms, “If you’re still going to be leaving with Sasuke, then come to my place early in the morning and I will hand you everything I have written down about Ino’s meeting with Deidara, along with what we had found out in our research of the massacre and a note about why I didn’t have her tell him the truth about her meeting with him.”

“You don’t have to do that—”

“Except I do, because as long as Deidara is mated to Itachi, Sasuke is a part of my family and he, more than anyone, deserves to know what I know.”

Jiraiya nods, though there is no happiness or joy in any of his motions, “I will be sure to give it to him when he is ready, that much I do promise you, Inoichi.”

“Again, thank you for everything,” he smiles then when thinking about it, “I have to go home now. My mate is waiting for me.”

“Right, go to her then.”

As he leaves, Jiraiya is left alone with the forest, the moon, and his own haunted thoughts over what was done to obtain the rights omegas have always deserved in this village.