The Hope of the Senju Clan

Chapter 1: Mistake

It was late in the evening and the sun was slowly setting in the west, casting its lingering glow onto the land lucky enough to feel its retreating warmth. Two figures could be seen traveling along the road that lead from the border of Kawa no Kuni (River Country) to Tanzaku Gai, a small but lively town that was a fair distance from Konoha.

One of the figures was a tall male standing about six foot four. He seemed to be in his early forties or so, although he carried himself as someone half that age. He had extremely long and spiky white hair tied into a pony tail along with two shoulder-length bangs that framed both sides of his face. Red lines ran down from underneath his eyes to his jawline and a unique head protector with the kanji of 'oil' was emblazoned across the metallic object firmly rested upon his forehead.

This man was Jiraiya, the famed Toad Sage of the Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three Ninja), a former student of Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage (Third Hokage), Shinobi no Kami (God of Ninja) and the Professor. Jiraiya is also the author of the popular adult fiction book series called Icha Icha and is a self-proclaimed super-pervert.

The man walking next to him was roughly five foot eleven and looked to be in his early to mid-twenties. He wore the standard Konoha ninja uniform, a green flak jacket appropriate for his rank along with a short-sleeved and high-collared white coat with red flames adorning the edges that reached just past his knees. He had bright blue eyes and spiky blond hair with bangs that stretched down to chin-length and surrounded both sides of his face. He was considered quite handsome by the female populace of his native village and even beyond that, to the point that some instances of infatuation came from his physical appearance alone.

This man was Namikaze Minato, the famed Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō (Konoha's Yellow Flash), Yondaime Hokage (Fourth Hokage), and former student of Jiraiya.

The two famous shinobi were on their way back to Konoha after successfully negotiating and signing an alliance with Sunagakure no Sato (Village Hidden in the Sand) and its leader the Yondaime Kazekage (Fourth Kazekage).

Normally, it would be considered strange for a Kage of any village to be travelling in such a small party since, whenever it was suitable, he would be accompanied by at least a squad of Anbu or other shinobi of jōnin level.

However, this obviously wasn't just any normal travelling duo.

With both being kage level shinobi, the thought of even planning to attack them when they were together would be seen as complete lunacy by a majority of the strongest fighters out there in the Elemental Nations. They were both considered among the strongest in their own respective generations, maybe even the strongest depending on who was asked, and would only be stronger as a cohesive unit made up by a longtime teacher and student.

In short, a protective detail was virtually unnecessary since an attack on the two was practically suicide.

"Well, Minato, at least we made it to Tanzaku Gai. Guess we won't have to sleep out on the forest floor tonight," Jiraiya spoke jokingly with a smile and a slight nudge to his pupil's side.

Minato let out a small chuckle. "I suppose you're right," he replied before looking a little wistful. "And even with the Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique) to travel faster, I'd rather take a little time to relax and stay away from the paperwork back home. Celebrating a new alliance by checking into a nice hotel and going to a bar in the town sounds like a perfect excuse, doesn't it?" The blond nudged back good-naturedly.

"Now you're talking!" the Toad Sage exclaimed in enthusiasm. Sake sounded perfect at the moment. "Hell, we might even get you lucky tonight," he said cheekily as he smacked Minato on the back, making the blonde slightly buckle in his steps.