Team 8

Chapter 23: Servants, Sparring, and Summons

Six months. A little over a hundred eighty days. Jiraiya sighed as he and his new apprentice made their way down the forest trail. It wasn't nearly enough.

When he first entertained thoughts of taking Naruto on a training trip, he was picturing a sabbatical of three or so years. Enough time to work at a reasonable pace. Enough time to introduce new subjects one at a time, to let the brat work at his own pace. He didn't want to be rushed. While it wouldn't hurt to have time for some leisure activities and maybe a bit of writing, he also wanted a chance to get to know his godson.

Three years also might give them time to disappear from Akatsuki's radar - or at least figure out what the hell they were up to.

Instead, he asked for a fraction of the time he really wanted. Naruto was hesitant enough to leave the village for six months, and Jiraiya knew he would balk at longer. As it was, he was surprised Tsunade agreed as easily as she did. Maybe it worked out with her plans for the Hyuuga girl. It also meant being back just in time for the next Chuunin Examination, and maybe get the boy the promotion he'd been cheated out of. Finally, Hinata would be busy training under Tsunade, and more importantly, isolated from her father. Knowing that kept the brat agreeable. The Toad Hermit knew heartbreak well enough not to wish it on anyone else.

Jiraiya shook his head. There was so much he wanted, no, needed to teach the brat. Of course, the list was a little shorter than it might have been, he mused sourly, ignoring the stab of disappointment in his gut. He'd hoped to convince Naruto to go ahead and sign the toad contract anyway, now that he wasn't on a team with the Aburame anymore. That hope was dashed less than an hour away from Konoha, when he first broached the subject. It was irrational, but he couldn't help but feel betrayed when the little snot announced that he'd signed the turtle contract. He ground his teeth. Turtles!

That sense of betrayal dulled a little when he realized that Naruto still considered himself a part of Team 8, and probably always would. He couldn't really resent that... it's not like he didn't still have feelings, unresolved or not, for his own teammates. Tsunade could have anything from him if she asked sincerely, and Orochimaru... that betrayal still burned in his soul. Worse, if Yuuhi Kurenai was correct, Team 8 were Naruto's first friends his age.

And that was his own fault, he supposed. He'd accepted Sarutobi-sensei's assurances and done what was best for Konoha, instead of what was best for his godson. Not that it was all the old man's fault either. His own grief made him far too quick to accept a long term assignment. Watching over a baby was far beyond his skills, let alone a baby with Minato's hair color and Kushina's mouth and jawline. But he could have done it. The boy survived, but he could have personally made sure Naruto had someone to turn to as he grew up. Instead, he failed him just as badly as the Hokage and most of the other villagers. Like all the other so-called fucking adults in Konoha, until his last Academy instructor and that kami-sent jonin-sensei. With an effort, he worked to let go of his regrets and focused on the positives.

Yuuhi Kurenai was one of the most irritating women Jiraiya had ever met, and he considered Tsunade a friend so that was saying a lot. But damned if she wasn't exactly what Naruto needed. Her students didn't exactly worship the ground she walked on, but it was close with Naruto and the Hyuuga girl, Hinata. When she called him onto the carpet after discovering he was Naruto's godfather, he let her do it because she was right. She'd done a better job of godparent than Naruto's own godfather, so she earned that right. No matter Hokage's orders or the threat of Akatsuki, she was the one who stepped up and put his godson on the right path. There was no telling how messed up Naruto would be now if not for her.

That was why he was going to honor her requests. Every single silly one. No sake for six months might very well kill him, in which case her afterlife was going to be a constant litany of "I told you so", sung by a celestial toad chorus.