Naruto: The new beginning

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Naruto looked up at the figure on the roof, who was laughing strangely. The person had white hair, wore a red shirt, and carried a large scroll on his back. Peeping over the roof, there was no doubt who he was.

"Isn't this Jiraiya, the pervy sage of the ninja world, always getting into trouble?"

Naruto's eyes moved from the roof to the door of the women's bathhouse. Yep, it all made sense.

In broad daylight, right in the middle of the village, Naruto, as a responsible young ninja, couldn't let such bad behaviour slide.

But going over there directly might make him look guilty by association, so he hid in a corner, created a shadow clone, and pointed at Jiraiya. "Go get him!"

"Yes, sir!" The clone saluted, then transformed into Naruko and walked away.

"Hey—" Naruto groaned. "Do you have to transform like that?"

Naruko smiled sweetly and asked, "Then who do you want me to be? Sakura? Tsunade? Don't tell me you want Sasuke?"

Naruto slapped his forehead. "It doesn't matter who you turn into! Just—can you change your clothes?"

Naruko looked down and noticed her outfit. "Oops, my bad... How did I end up in such a revealing outfit?"

****

Naruko changed into a cute little skirt and walked toward the bathhouse.

When she got to the door, she screamed, "Yah~~~~ a pervert is peeping!"

Naruto winced. "That scream... Do I have a talent for dolphin sounds?"

"Oops!" Jiraiya was startled by the sudden scream, slipped, and rolled off the roof. 

But he quickly jumped back up as if nothing had happened, as expected from someone who could survive a punch from Tsunade!

Soon, the bathhouse was filled with screams and shouts.

Jiraiya, about to run away, suddenly stopped when he saw Naruko. His eyes widened. "Oh, this, this..."

Naruko shot him a look of disdain, formed a Rasengan, and happily knocked herself out of existence.

'Did she just knock herself out because I was staring?' Jiraiya froze as if hit by a huge blow. He stayed like that until a wooden tub from the bathhouse hit him on the head, snapping him back to reality. He quickly ran off.

Out of danger, Jiraiya stroked his chin thoughtfully. "That move... Was that Minato's Rasengan? And that hair color... Could Minato have had another daughter?"

Jiraiya hopped lightly to dodge a leg that tried to trip him.

"Oh ho, the old pervert is pretty quick!" Naruto remarked playfully with his arms crossed.

Jiraiya looked Naruto up and down. The blond hair, blue eyes... It was like seeing Minato as a kid. And with that bright chakra, this kid is Minato and Kushina's child.

Jiraiya's expression turned serious. "It was your shadow clone messing with me, wasn't it? Using the Transformation Jutsu and Shadow Clone Jutsu like that... Really..."

Then Jiraiya's face lit up with excitement as he grabbed Naruto's shoulder. "That's awesome! How did you come up with that? Also, what's your name?"

"Ah~" Naruto pushed Jiraiya away, feeling annoyed.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki! And shouldn't you introduce yourself first?"

"Good point!" Jiraiya jumped back and slapped the ground with his hand, and a large toad appeared under his feet.

Jiraiya spun his long hair around, stepped forward, and struck a pose.

"I am the Toad Sage, master of the Toads of Mount Myoboku, and my name is Jiraiya!"

Naruto quietly watched him perform, unsure whether to run away.

Jiraiya had brought many smiles to Naruto's face in his previous life and had also made him cry a lot.

He always felt that Jiraiya was a mix of contradictions.

You could say he was a bad guy, but he was kind and brave, always willing to risk his life for the village.

You could say he was a good guy, but he would happily spend Naruto's pocket money on drinks and women.

But he was devoted; he waited for Tsunade for decades and never settled down with anyone else, despite his wandering eyes.

You could say he was single-minded, but he still loved to peek in bathhouses and hot springs.

You could say he hadn't achieved much; even the title of Sannin was given to him, Tsunade, and Orochimaru after they survived a battle with Hanzo—like a consolation prize.

Yet, you could also say he was extraordinary. The students he taught were some of the most powerful in the ninja world. If they stood together, they could shake the entire world.

"The Tale of Jiraiya the Gallant. Now it'll end a bit better, I hope. The final chapter... I'll call it: Frog at the bottom of the well drifts off into the great ocean."

That was Jiraiya's final thought about himself.

Naruto still didn't know if those words were heroic or just sad when Jiraiya said them.

But what made Naruto admire Jiraiya wasn't those words.

It was the moment Jiraiya broke a popsicle in half and gave one piece to Naruto.

Humans are strange creatures. Sometimes they laugh when they cry, and sometimes they cry when they laugh.

Now, with Jiraiya standing in front of him alive, all of Naruto's thoughts boiled down to one simple phrase:

"Oh, Pervy Sage."

"Bang!" The toad disappeared, and Jiraiya stumbled. "It's the Toad Sage! The Toad Sage!"

Then he leaned in again. "Naruto, come here, let's talk about your ninjutsu...hehe."

This old pervert—how could anyone respect him as an elder?

Naruto was annoyed. "I've heard my parents talk about you."

"Oh? What did they say?"

"My dad said you were his most respected teacher and an amazing ninja."

"Mmmm." Jiraiya coughed, trying to look serious.

Naruto continued, "But my mom told me not to hang out with you."

"Hey??? Why?"

Jiraiya's jaw dropped. Kushina, you've changed! When you and Minato told me you'd name your child after the hero in my novel, you weren't like this!

"Because she was afraid you would corrupt me!"

"There must be some misunderstanding!" Jiraiya desperately tried to defend his reputation.

"Yeah, I used to think so too, but after seeing you today, I'm convinced."

"How is it?" Jiraiya asked, hoping for a twist.

Naruto shook his head. "Turns out, kids should listen to their moms. So, I'm heading home now. Goodbye, Pervy Sage."

Naruto waved his hand, walked past the stunned Jiraiya, and started heading home.

Jiraiya quickly turned around and chased after him. "Wait, wait, I'm coming too! I was planning to visit your house anyway!"

"Pervy Sage."

"It's the Toad Sage! The Toad Sage!"

"Oh, Pervy Sage."

As the evening sun bathed the streets of Konoha in golden light, the shadows of the old and young stretched long behind them...

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