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Bonds of Blood
By: Animeroxsmyworld
Chapter 8: Dropping In
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“How long did you think you were going to get away with keeping this quiet?” An elderly woman asked, her voice as cold as ice. Utatane Koharu from the Konoha Council was standing in the Hokage office, her visit anything but pleasant.
“It was not a matter of keeping it quiet Koharu.” Sarutobi replied firmly, yet trying to keep his voice conversational. “It was in self-defence. We had Yamanaka Inoichi confirm it.”
Koharu’s usually closed eyes slid open, and the gaze behind them was intense.
“You know that is not the problem here!” She hissed, placing her hands on the surface of the desk. “That child killed two men.” She scolded, voice lowering. “Two grown men. The villagers will find out about this and there will be an uproar Hiruzen.”
Sarutobi bristled slightly at hearing his first name. Hardly anyone knew it anymore.
Figures his old teammate would still remember it.
“He wa—“ Sarutobi started.
“He’s a danger to the Village.” She interrupted, her voice crisp and clipped. “He’s only 8-years-old and the fact that he killed a man just by kicking him once…you know what it means!”
Sarutobi only braced himself.
“It means that he’s tapping into the Kyuubi’s power. The seal is weakening.” She finished.
“And what would you have me do?” Sarutobi asked sternly, fixing her with a gaze just as hard. “He’s just a child, he doesn’t even know what he did.”
“That makes him all the more dangerous.” She argued sharply, nose rising in the air. “We need to isolate him so he won’t be a danger. We could keep him under constant surveillance, know his every move and every thought.”
“You want to lock him up?!” Sarutobi practically sputtered in outrage.
“You rather we kill him?” She argued back coldly. The two elders glared at each other as their argument turned to one that occurred eight years ago, when the boy they were talking about was but a baby.
“No one is allowed to kill him.” Sarutobi growled.
“Then we have no choice. If he is not kept locked up he will only endanger everyone.” Koharu instructed.
“You don’t know that.” Was the ground out answer.
“He killed two men.”
“He was attacked. So were his friends.”
The danger was not so much the fact that two men were killed, but that Naruto was the one who killed them. The villagers would demand some unsightly punishment. Banishment, death, imprisonment even. All things Koharu was trying to make Sarutobi do now so that it wouldn’t come to it in the future.
Sarutobi exhaled slowly as he closed his eyes. “How about we leave him for now, but if something like it happens again, I’ll do something about it.” He tried to compromise.
“That’s not good enough.” She shot back. “We can’t just sit around and wait for him to kill someone else.”
“And we can’t condemn him because of one incident.”
Koharu opened her mouth to respond when the office door opened. A familiar head of white hair peered inside, Sarutobi blinking in surprise.
“Am I interrupting something important?” Jiraiya asked though he was already stepping into the room. Had he heard them from the hall? No wait, why was he here? Wasn’t he travelling?
“Yes.”
“No.”
The two elders scowled at each other as they answered in unison, although they both didn’t have the same answer.
“Please, come in Jiraiya.” Sarutobi instructed, his eyes never leaving the woman in front of him. Her eyes narrowed into angry slits. “Koharu was just leaving.”
The woman stuck her chin out, her shoulders rolling back. “This isn’t over Hiruzen.” She warned crisply, Sarutobi once again bristling at the use of his first name. With that warning, she turned and walked out of the room, brushing past Jiraiya who watched her leave with a look of poorly disguised distaste on his face.
“What was that about?” Jiraiya inquired as he looked over to the Sandaime who was pinching the bridge of his nose, slumped in his chair. The older man gave a long suffering sigh as he opened his eyes.
“Naruto, Kyoko, and one of their friends were attacked just the other day.” Sarutobi started, instantly catching Jiraiya’s attention at the names of Minato’s children. “To save Kyoko and his friend, Naruto fought back. He ended up killing the two of the three attackers though. From what we can tell from the report, he tapped into the Kyuubi’s power because he killed them with just one kick each.”
Jiraiya just stared in awe at the man in front of him.
“Jeez. You leave for eight years…” Jiraiya mumbled to himself as he shook his head in disbelief.
“So I take it the council isn’t so thrilled?” Jiraiya continued as he came and sat himself down on the edge of the desk, crossing his legs. At this Sarutobi groaned.
“No. Actually I believe Koharu is the only one who really knows. But after this conversation, you can be sure they’ll all be informed.” He grumbled.
“She wants to throw Naruto in a cell somewhere and put him under heavy lock and key so that he can’t endanger anyone.” He retold, feeling grateful that there was someone on his side when he looked over and saw a look of fury on Jiraiya’s face.
He could always count on the Toad Sage to have his back in these arguments.
“Looks like I came at the right time then. I’ll be in the Village for a little while so I can always take a look at the seal on the kid if it’s a concern. I did help Minato make it after all.” Jiraiya pointed out.
“Thanks.” Sarutobi smiled weakly. “So why are you back in Konoha?” He asked, focusing on that point of the conversation now. At this Jiraiya smirked.
“Ah give me a break! I’ve been working my butt off passing off information from the spy network that I created. I deserve a break every now and then.” Jiraiya replied, waving off Sarutobi’s comment.
Sarutobi only smiled as he looked at his white haired pupil. The wandering sage who was constantly travelling, always seemingly doing nothing, yet underneath it all, gathering information for Konoha.
“So I take it you’ll be hitting the hot springs then?” The Sandaime questioned, grinning as Jiraiya twitched. He’d hit the nail on the head. Jiraiya always did say he liked the woman in Konoha the best.
“Hey!” Jiraiya snapped, looking affronted at first. “It’s all for delicate research. Even you know that!” Jiraiya insisted, Sarutobi chuckling.
“Oh yes, how could I forget.”
“I have to keep the ideas fresh. I’ve heard that Kakashi, one of Minato’s students, has taken a liking to my books.” Jiraiya supplied as he ran a hand through his long hair. Sarutobi frowned, brow creasing in concentration.
“Kakashi? Is he even old enough to legally read those yet?”
“How the hell should I know?” Jiraiya asked, shrugging. “I just came to give you an update on the spy network, and to let you know I was back in the Village.” Jiraiya explained, but Sarutobi had pulled out a book of Ninjas and was leafing through the profiles, looking for Hatake Kakashi.
He found the masked, silver haired nin and paused, skimming for the birthday of the male.
“Hmm, what do you know? He is.” He mused. “Time sure does fly.”
“Speaking of time…and Minato. How are they? You know, besides the whole attack thing?” Jiraiya inquired as he shifted on the desk, turning ever so slightly to look at the man better. Even though he didn’t specify who ‘they’ were, it was obvious between the two men.
“Well, I check in on Naruto every now and again. I can manage to give him an allowance, but nothing much or else the council will intervene. He’s living by himself in an apartment building, and although it’s not the greatest, he is managing.” Sarutobi started sadly.
A small smile broke onto his face. “He says his dream is to be the Hokage, and he idolizes the Yondaime. He doesn’t know it’s his dad.” He chuckled bitterly.
Jiraiya mirrored the action.
“Kyoko I’ve hardly seen. She’s living in the Namikaze estate and Hiroshi Hari, a Jounin, has been raising her. She seems to be doing fine.” He replied vaguely, having not seen her as often as he had the male.
“I still think we should’ve never split them up.” Jiraiya grumbled sourly. Sarutobi ignored him. Silence reigned over the two for a few minutes before Jiraiya turned to look at the man.
“Hey, would you like to check up on them with me?” He asked, Sarutobi starting slightly in surprise at the question.
“Do they even know you?” He asked, a brow raising as he found the right words to say.
“We don’t have to be direct. We could just walk through the town.” Jiraiya scoffed. “Besides, they know you. You could just say you’re checking up on them and I’m tagging along.” Jiraiya stated.
“And I have to check Naruto’s seal anyways.”
Sarutobi narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the younger man Jiraiya scratching the back of his head sheepishly, but still not saying anything.
Sarutobi relaxed. He actually did need to check up on Naruto and give the boy his allowance. And it wouldn’t hurt to check up on Kyoko he supposed.
“I guess I can sneak away from the office for awhile.” He agreed.
~*~
Many people looked as Sarutobi and Jiraiya walked through the streets. Many people called out a greeting, waving to the Hokage who nodded in reply. Just as long as they weren’t assistants from the tower who were looking for him, since he did sneak out of the office.
“Man after this I so have to hit the hot spring!” Jiraiya told himself as he watched a group of women pass by. Walking down the familiar streets brought back so many memories.
Especially when he was walking next to Sarutobi.
He half expected to see Tsunade or Orochimaru walk around the corner, his old teammates meeting up with him for an upcoming mission.
“So where are we going?” Jiraiya asked as Sarutobi wove through the streets, seemingly having a destination in mind.
“To Naruto’s apartment building. I have to give him his allowance.” He responded, not even bothering to look back over his shoulder. Jiraiya only nodded as he followed the Sandaime. They reached the building, the overall place not in the best condition, and began walking up the stairs. The sound of the wood planks creaking filled the air before they reached the door at the very top of the building. They knocked, and it only took a couple seconds for it to creep open apprehensively.
“Hello.” Sarutobi greeted, Jiraiya blinking twice as he came face to face with Minato’s exact duplicate. Minus the whiskers of course.
“Oji-chan!” Naruto beamed happily as recognition ignited in his eyes, the boy promptly hugging the white and red robed Hokage. He chuckled, ruffling Naruto’s hair as the boy pulled away. He let them inside his small apartment, hurriedly rushing to hide some of the mess that was littering the ground.
“Naruto, this is my friend Jiraiya.” Sarutobi introduced as the blond came bounding back over.
“Yo.” Jiraiya greeted with a casual salute.
“Uh…h-hi.” Naruto returned hesitantly, unsure about any new people he met. But this man was with the Hokage, the one man he could ever truly trust.
“You remember how a few nights ago, you were attacked at the festival and were knocked out?” Sarutobi asked, going with the edited version that Naruto’s should’ve remembered since Sarutobi used his jutsu on him.
Naruto’s brow furrowed. Not from concentration, but from the way the Sandaime had worded the sentence. Itachi was the one who knocked him out…not the attackers. Everything was still crystal clear to him.
“Uh…yeah?” He replied, agreeing. Technically Sarutobi wasn’t wrong.
“Well he needs to run a quick check up on you.”
Naruto blinked a couple times before turning his head to the white haired man.
“So you’re a doctor?” He inquired, cocking his head to the side.
“Uh….” Jiraiya trailed. “Sure.” He shrugged, Naruto’s face turning into one of slight suspicion.
“Oh, and before I forget, here’s you allowance.” Sarutobi continued as he reached into his robe and handed a small bag of money to the boy whose eyes shone.
“Yay!” He whooped as he took the bag happily, opening it and quickly counting the coins before shoving the bag in his pants pocket.
“Ok kid. I’m going to need you to sit down and lift up your shirt.” Jiraiya instructed nonchalantly, pointing to the worn yellow couch Naruto had. One of the few pieces of furniture in the place.
Naruto hesitated, pulling a weird face, before doing what he was told. Jiraiya frowned when all that met his eye was a bare stomach.
“Form some chakra.” He commanded seriously, crouching down in front of the boy.
“Eh?” Naruto asked in confusion, eyes turning into fox like slits. Without even turning his gaze from Naruto’s stomach, Jiraiya grabbed Naruto’s right hand, palm facing the ceiling.
“Focus some chakra into this hand.” He commanded again.
Naruto obeyed, closing his eyes to help him concentrate.
Jiraiya watched as black marks began to appear like magic on the boy’s flesh. The swirl pattern took up most of his navel, more of the design becoming apparent as Naruto’s hand began to glow blue.
“Hmm.” Jiraiya mused to himself as he released Naruto’s hand and gently laid the same hand on the seal.
Sarutobi looked over in concern. “What is it?”
“A tiny fraction of it, like a very small hair, has disappeared.” He whispered as he traced the seal with his fingers, oblivious to how Naruto squirmed under his touch, holding in fits of laughter.
“Can you fix it?” Sarutobi breathed, his stomach tightening at the idea of the seal disappearing. Obviously whatever part had vanished hadn’t been too important or else the Kyuubi would not still be contained.
“Yeah I should be able to. I did help make it after all.” He continued to whisper, the two only loud enough to be heard by each other as Naruto couldn’t contain himself, and began laughing.
“Ah sorry, sorry. Jiraiya apologized as he realized what was ailing the poor boy that was wheezing ‘st-stop’ between laughter. While Naruto was still laughing, Jiraiya focused chakra to his own hand, the fingers blazing a bright blue.
His gaze then turned serious once more as he traced the seal, this time red light shooting from it at his touch.
Naruto took a sharp intake of breath, snapping upright as Jiraiya continued what he was doing, adding on the piece of the seal that was missing.
When Jiraiya pulled his hand away, Naruto doubled over, holding his stomach in silent pain. He groaned, teeth grinding together as he massaged his abdomen.
“Wh…what did you…do?” He managed to say as he groaned once again.
“Oh I just fixed something. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.” Jiraiya replied with a Cheshire smile as he stood up. “Just drink some water and get some rest.” He advised.
Even from his hunched over position, Naruto shot him a sceptical look.
~*~
At the Namikaze estate, Kyoko grunted as she wiggled her toes which were dangling off the ground. The blond female was in the middle of training, and was currently hanging from the uneven bars, swaying to try and get enough momentum to do another flip to continue her routine.
In the humongous clearing that was called the backyard, they had set up some gymnastics equipment Hari had bought in the Village. He had pretty much bought Kyoko her own studio, complete with mats and everything.
Since she was five, this had been what she had been practicing for balance, agility, and acrobats.
Hari said it would make her a hell of a fighter when she got older.
She got enough momentum and made the flip, hands coming out to grab onto the other bar. Her eyes widened as she felt it within her grasp, before it slipped from her fingers and she was on her back on the mats below.
She groaned, rolling over onto her side. She scowled at her sweaty hands. She had already gone through the routine six times already, maybe this was a sign to stop.
As if she needed more proof to stop, a knock erupted on the door, faintly to her since she was in the back.
She stood up and walked inside the house, Fuji barking like mad as he scampered towards the front door. The door opened, courtesy of Hari, and whoever was at the door began talking to him for awhile as Kyoko strained her ears to listen.
Two men it seemed. It was hard to tell with Fuji still barking.
“Fuji, stop that!” Hari commanded the dog, Fuji instantly stopped, going quiet. If Kyoko wasn’t frightened of the animal, she would’ve snickered. Still curios to who was at the door though, Kyoko grabbed a juice box from the kitchen quickly before tiptoeing to the front hall.
She poked her head around the corner, not willing to be in the same room as the puppy, and blinked in surprise as she recognized the Sandaime. The man next to the Hokage raised his head as he saw her, and smiled slightly to himself.
She looked like Naruto, with softer, feminine features, no whiskers, and more hair. Had anyone realized they were twins? Or was it just obvious to him because he knew?
“Ah, hello Kyoko.” Sarutobi greeted as he too noticed the small girl. She nodded in acknowledgment as Hari turned to see her as well.
“Kyoko, come over her and say hi.” Hari instructed. She however shrunk back, eyes darting to Fuji who was sitting at Hari’s heel.
“But…Fuji’s there…” She complained. Hari looked down at the dog and sighed.
“Fuji. Go to bed.” He commanded, pointing to the living room where Fuji’s bed resided. The dog’s ears drooped as he dejectedly walked into the living room. Now free from the puppy, Kyoko walked into the hall, standing next to Hari.
“Sorry. She’s supposed to be getting over her fear of dogs.” Hari replied as he turned his attention back to the men in his doorway. Kyoko scowled at the ground as she continued to drink from her juice box.
“It’s quite alright.” Sarutobi brushed off. “Now Kyoko, this is Jiraiya. He taught your father.” Sarutobi said as Kyoko’s eyes turned to the Toad Sage. Her eyes widened as Jiraiya gave her the same casual salute he gave Naruto not too long ago.
Apparently, that was all she needed to hear. Or, to be specific, all she was going to let him say.
“Really?” She squeaked in excitement, always eager to find connection to her parents. Jiraiya chuckled, nodding as she began shooting questions at him.
“Why don’t you come in? This might be awhile.” Hari advised as Kyoko, forgetting all about personal space, latched onto Jiraiya’s arm and was already pulling Jiraiya into the house.
~*~
The two men gave a small wave good-bye as they exited the Namikaze Estate.
“Jeez, that child has a death grip.” Jiraiya said as he rubbed his now sore arm. Kyoko had held it most of the time he was there, pressing him for stories about her father. The whole experience though had been pretty nostalgic. Just being in that house again sent him back.
“It’s like Kushina. Ever get on the bad side of her, and man you’d be dead.” Jiraiya continued.
“I wouldn’t know.” Sarutobi replied airily.
“That’s because you were never on her bad side.” Jiraiya sniffed, crossing his arms over his chest. Sarutobi just smiled as they continued to walk.
“But they’re both here…that’s good…” Jiraiya muttered under his breath. Sarutobi paused, frowning before looking over to his pupil.
“What?” He asked, catching Jiraiya’s attention. “What was that?”
“What? I didn’t say anything.” He lied, waving his hand to bat away the question.
“Yes you did.” Sarutobi pressed, brows knitting together. “You said, ‘they’re both here, that’s good’.”
“I think you’re going senile.”
Sarutobi glared.
Jiraiya slouched, sighing as he did so.
“Well, there was another reason I came to Konoha.” He admitted, rubbing the back of his head. The two stopped in the street, Sarutobi turning in front of Jiraiya to look him squarely in the face.
“I was in Iwa, gathering some information like always.” Jiraiya started. “Apparently Iwa doesn’t realize that Minato is dead. They still have the warning on him saying to retreat on sight. So of course, anyone who can bring Iwa his head gets a fortune.” Jiraiya said bitterly.
“So I was in a bar when I heard a couple of Iwa nins, who were apparently down on their money, saying that they were just going to barge his house late one night. That way they would get the money and not worry about becoming poor.” He continued seriously.
“So I figured I should at least check up on Minato’s kids, even if those Iwa nins were smash drunk.” Jiraiya finished, running a hand through his hair.
Sarutobi was silent for awhile, letting this new information sink in. So that’s the true reason Jiraiya was here. “I see. Thank you Jiraiya. I’ll keep an eye out for any Iwa nins who come to Konoha.” He assured.
Iwa and Konoha had never been on good terms, and they would definitely hold a grudge against Minato. Especially since the Third Great Ninja War. If they seriously decided to come at this plan, it could be trouble.
“Well now that I know they’re both accounted for, I’m going this way.” Jiraiya said, pointing and turning to leave.
“Where are you going?” Sarutobi asked in confusion. Realization came to him however when Jiraiya beamed.
“To the hot springs of course!”
~*~
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Chapter notes: Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto