Jiraiya stood before Naruto's door, his raised hand feeling unusually heavy.
He took a deep breath, forcing what he considered a hearty and boisterous smile onto his face.
He raised his hand and knocked on the door that had separated them for twelve years.
A moment later, the door opened a crack.
A blond head poked out, eyeing him warily.
"Who are you, uncle?"
Seeing a face that bore resemblance to both Minato and Kushina, Jiraiya's heart felt as if it were being wrung by an invisible hand.
But he kept the carefree smile plastered on his face.
"Yo, you must be Uzumaki Naruto, right?" He said, deliberately making his voice sound full of energy, "I'm here to see you!"
Hearing this, Naruto opened the door a bit wider, revealing his whole body.
"Who are you?"
He looked the strangely dressed, flamboyantly white-haired man up and down, his eyes filled with curiosity.
For some reason, even though it was their first meeting, this white-haired man gave him an indescribable sense of familiarity.
Seeing the clarity in Naruto's eyes, the last bit of Jiraiya's nervousness evaporated.
It was as if he had heard some key phrase.
He let out a hearty laugh, formed hand signs, and slammed his palm onto the ground, activating a Summoning Technique.
Bang!
A cloud of white smoke erupted.
From within the smoke, a massive shadow slowly materialized.
A giant, crimson toad with black stripe-like markings appeared, a necklace with the character for 'Loyalty' hanging around its neck.
The white-haired man stood flamboyantly on the toad's back, spreading his palms.
The toad beneath him mimicked the gesture, its expression eerily similar.
"I am the Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku, the Hermit of the Toads, known as the Gallant Jiraiya!"
Naruto was startled by the sudden spectacle and instinctively took half a step back.
He narrowed his eyes, staring at him silently.
"A sage?" Naruto tilted his head, having never heard such a title before. His tone was purely puzzled, "What's that? Is it strong?"
Jiraiya's flamboyant pose froze mid-air.
"Cough, cough!"
Jiraiya coughed awkwardly, hopping down from the toad's head and dismissing the summoned beast.
He walked up to Naruto, trying to salvage some dignity, and began to boast with great fervor.
"Strong? More than just strong! I am one of the legendary Sannin!"
"Back during the Shinobi World War, my name alone struck fear into the hearts of our enemies! Even the Yondaime Hokage had to treat me with respect when he saw me..."
Naruto just listened quietly. Finally, when Jiraiya paused to catch his breath, he spoke up, asking the most crucial question.
"So... why are you looking for me?"
"Ah, well..." Jiraiya scratched his head, finally stating the true purpose of his visit, "Sandaime Hokage asked me to be your teacher, to guide your training."
"Grandpa Hokage?"
Hearing the familiar name, the last trace of distance finally faded from Naruto's eyes.
He stepped forward, looked up, and stared intently at Jiraiya.
"Then can you... make me stronger than Sasuke?!"
The question made Jiraiya's smile falter slightly.
'Uchiha Sasuke...'
'Stronger than him?'
Seeing the pure hope in Naruto's eyes, Jiraiya couldn't bring himself to shatter the illusion directly, but he didn't want to lie either.
He slowly shook his head.
The light in Uzumaki Naruto's eyes instantly dimmed.
"It's difficult."
Seeing his disappointment, Jiraiya quickly added, "But... it's not entirely impossible either."
His gaze slowly lowered, eventually settling on Naruto's abdomen.
There, a complex seal was silently at work.
"Naruto, what's going on?"
A worried voice came from behind, breaking the brief silence between Jiraiya and Naruto.
Jiraiya's gaze shifted past Naruto. When he saw the flame-like cascade of red hair, he froze.
A thunderclap seemed to explode in his mind, pulling him back to a warm afternoon.
In Minato's kitchen, a woman with the same red hair stood, hands on her hips, scolding him with her energetic voice for corrupting Minato again...
Time seemed to warp. A kunai, hurled across more than a decade, pierced straight through his heart.
"Kushina..." He murmured subconsciously, his voice almost inaudible.
"Who is this?" He managed to ask, his voice strained.
Naruto, unaware of Jiraiya's turbulent emotions, stepped forward and grinned brightly, "This is Uzumaki Karin! She's my family!"
'Family?'
Looking at the two children before him, one inheriting Minato's hair and eyes, the other possessing Kushina's signature red hair, Jiraiya felt as if an invisible hand were squeezing his heart, the pain making it hard to breathe.
He took a deep breath, forcibly pushing the emotion back down, and squeezed out a smile again, though it didn't reach his eyes.
He clapped Naruto heavily on the shoulder, trying to cover up his earlier lapse.
"Well then, since I'm going to be your teacher, I should first show you what I'm capable of!"
He stepped back a few paces, crossed his arms, and struck a pose like an examiner, "Come on, kid, show me your proudest technique!"
"My proudest technique?"
Naruto rubbed his chin, thinking seriously.
'Shadow Clone Technique?'
'No, no, Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei can both do it, and they're better at it than me. I definitely can't let him look down on me.
His eyes lit up as he thought of a technique that would absolutely shock everyone.
A sly smile spread across his face.
"Watch closely! Sexy Technique!"
A puff of pink smoke exploded, and the blond boy vanished on the spot.
In his place stood a voluptuous, completely nude, golden-haired twin-tailed beauty, her key areas artfully obscured by wisps of smoke.
"Yah~ Jiraiya-sama~"
'She' batted her eyelashes at Jiraiya, striking an extremely seductive pose.
The expression on Jiraiya's face went through the entire spectrum from 'confusion' to 'shock' and finally to 'ecstatic joy' in an instant.
Two streams of bright red liquid gushed from his nostrils like a burst dam!
"A m-m-masterpiece! A true masterpiece!" Jiraiya roared to the heavens, giving a thumbs-up to the figure, his eyes shining with the light of having found a kindred spirit.
"Such perfect creativity! Such bold conception! Naruto, you truly are a genius!"
Karin, standing to the side, was having a completely different experience.
Witnessing this shameful spectacle and seeing the white-haired man cheering loudly while bleeding from his nose, she was utterly petrified.
She subconsciously pushed her glasses up her nose. Her cheeks flushed crimson behind the lenses, and her voice trembled.
"You... you... you two...!"
She pointed a shaking finger at the two who seemed to be in perfect sync, too furious to form a complete sentence.
"See!" Naruto dispelled the technique, puffing out his chest proudly, completely ignoring Karin's outrage.
Jiraiya wiped the blood from his nose and walked over, thoroughly satisfied, a gratified smile on his face.
"Cough, this technique... certainly has its... unique merits." He cleared his throat, forcing his expression to become serious, "However, as your teacher, I really should teach you some proper skills."
He looked at Naruto and asked earnestly, "Tell me, kid, what kind of Ninjutsu do you want to learn?"
The smugness on Naruto's face vanished instantly. He remembered the black and white lightning of Sasuke's Chidori, the black flames that incinerated everything. A look of intense longing filled his eyes.
"I want to learn something powerful! A Ninjutsu with high lethality!" He clenched his fists tightly, his gaze resolute, "The kind that can send all the enemies flying with one move!"
"It has to be even cooler than Sasuke's Ninjutsu!"
"High lethality, huh..." Jiraiya seemed to think of something, his smile turning meaningful.
"Alright!" He nodded heavily, "In that case, I'll teach you a jutsu developed by the Yondaime Hokage himself. One that requires no hand seals."
With that, Jiraiya turned to leave.
He tossed a 'I'll come find you tomorrow' over his shoulder before his figure flickered and vanished down the street.
The room fell quiet once more.
Karin was still reeling from the earlier farce, unable to snap out of it for a long while.
She looked at Naruto and asked uncertainly, "That strange uncle... what's his connection to you?"
Naruto shook his head, walking to the window and looking in the direction Jiraiya had disappeared. A relaxed smile graced his features, his voice light.
"I don't know... but it feels like he's an elder I can trust."
He paused, his azure blue eyes reflecting the myriad lights of the village outside the window.
"Even if he only came back now."
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