Welcome back CH 8

Jiraiya was currently giggling as he peeped on the women's section of the hot springs in Otafuku Gai. The impromptu make-out session inside the bath brought a nosebleed out of the pervert as he hurriedly scribbled on his notepad for his newest Icha Icha Paradise book. This is big, very very big judging from the inspiration he is getting from the impromptu show on the other side of the fence.

He was brought out of his perverted giggling when a poof of smoke appeared beside him revealing a messenger monkey from the Hokage. Realizing that the Sandaime have NEVER used his summons for correspondence immediately alerted the pervert that this is serious.

"Jiraiya-sama. I have a message here for you from Sarutobi-sama. I already delivered the same message to Tsunade-sama before I came to you." said the monkey as he handed the scroll to the Toad Sannin and promptly returned to the summon realm when the white-haired man took it.

Recognizing the security seal on the scroll, he pricked his thumb with his teeth to break the skin and applied blood on the seal and channeled a little bit of his chakra to it. The seal disappeared in a poof of smoke allowing him to open the scroll. He read.

Jiraiya

I require your presence here in Konoha in the shortest possible time. You are to DROP your research ASAP and meet with Tsunade in Otafuku Gai in 2 days time. Changes are to be made in the Leaf and I require both of your presence in the soonest possible time.

I know that you are currently peeping so DROP it and head over to the rendezvous point to meet with Tsunade.

I don't care if the next issue of Icha Icha Paradise is delayed. Get your BUTT here PRONTO!

Your Hokage

Sarutobi Hiruzen

Sandaime Hokage

Jiraiya's eyebrows rose to his hairline as he read the missive. NEVER have his mentor told him to drop his 'research' considering that he is one of his BIGGEST fan. This is serious if his mentor DEMANDED him to stop everything in favor of coming to the Leaf instead of the next installment of his smut. He immediately burned the scroll and exited the hot springs.

Gathering chakra and a miniscule amount of Natural Energy for extra speed, he ran towards Otafuku Gai in a speed that would make Maito Gai look like a toddler.

He has a Slug Princess to meet and this has nothing to do with her jiggling 'assets'.

A loud boom and a small earthquake alerted the gatekeepers of Konoha into action. They were expecting an attack but what they saw almost made them piss their pants. Two of the Legendary Sannins are back riding on top of the famed Gamabunta, the Toad Boss. Both jumped off from the head of the summons before it poofed away back into the summon realm. They both impacted the ground in front of the startled guards and left a small crater under their feet. Shizune went unnoticed considering the important people she was with which suited her just fine.

"Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya-sama. Welcome back to Konoha." one of the Chunnin guards stammered his greeting.

"It's good to be back. Now if you'll excuse us, we are to see the Hokage immediately." Grunted Tsunade in annoyance.

And with that, both the Toad and Slug Sannin left an awed and stammering guard towards the Hokage Tower without a by your leave.

Jiraiya and Tsunade entered the Hokage's office and saw their teacher amidst a pile of paperwork with a frown on his face

Hiruzen saw both his students enter the room and decided to go immediately into business. "Close the door and place your strongest privacy seals Jiraiya." he demanded in a serious, business-like tone.

Startled by the seriousness of his mentor's command, he immediately pulled out his patented privacy seal from his pocket and slapped it on the walls then going through hand seals to activate it. When he released his chakra, the room immediately glowed a bright blue before dying down signifying that the privacy barrier is up and running.

"Good, now both of you sit down. There are a lot of things that needs to be done and we don't have enough time to do it." said Sarutobi while beckoning them to sit in front of him. He immediately took out four folders from his drawer and passed two of them towards his students, one each. "Read it. I'll give you the other set when you're done."

Jiraiya and Tsunade nodded and opened the folder. Both of them paled at what they were reading. Seeing his student's reaction, he immediately passed them the other set beckoning them to read it as well. This time, the reaction was of awe, disbelief, and most importantly, shock.

"So, tell me, were you able to understand the importance of what you are reading?" asked the Sandaime.

Both nodded but it was Jiraiya who voiced out his thoughts first. "How did this happen?" the Toad Sannin demanded.

"Which one? The beatings or the bloodline?" asked the Hokage with a grim look on his face.

"THE BEATINGS! What have you been doing sensei! We both promised Minato that we would look after the kid. He traded his life for the village and only for them to stab him in the back using his son as a punching bag and a torture doll!" shouted Jiraiya in a voice filled with rage.

CRACK!

Both Jiraiya and the Hokage looked at the third occupant of the room prompted by the sudden sound of wood cracking under pressure. They weren't disappointed. Tsunade was holding on one of the arms of her chair with enough force that it cracked the wood into pulp. Her face betrayed her rage, her eyes on fire and gritting her teeth in fury. Both male in the room saw this before and the result was not pretty.

Still gritting her teeth and holding on to the broken arms of her chair as if it was a lifeline to her sanity. "YOU better have an explanation for this sensei or else." The last came out as a growl. She couldn't believe the experience Kushina's son went through at the hand of the village; the village that her grandfather created; the village that Minato died to save. This was unforgivable.

Instead of answering, Sarutobi leveled both his students with a glare that instantly destroyed their rage easily. The one in front of them wasn't the mild-mannered shinobi of the leaf that taught them to become the best years ago.

No. This was the God of Shinobi that was said to be the most powerful shinobi in all the Elemental Countries.

"You DARE put all the blame on me?" raged Sarutobi. "Don't you DARE blame this on me. We are ALL to blame for this!" He rounded Jiraiya. "You are Minato's sensei. You were there when both he and Kushina were wed. You were there when they announced to us that they were expecting a child. Where WERE you to look after him? Peeping? Researching? Playing around?" He then glared at Tsunade who flinched at the accusation in his eyes. "And you? Don't blame me since you LEFT the village and VOWED never to return. You who is a medic-nin should know what is needed for a child of your friends. So answer me both of you! AM I THE ONLY ONE TO BLAME?" raged Sarutobi, flooding the room with his killing intent that almost smothered both of his students to a coma.

It took everyone quite a while to calm down. Both Jiraiya and Tsunade were filled with remorse over their actions. What their sensei said was true. They weren't around to look after the boy. They both left without even thinking what could possibly happen to the resident jinchuriki since they both knew how the other villages treated the vessels. No, they are to blame as well as their sensei.

Sarutobi tried his best to calm down and when he did, he took a deep breath before addressing both his students.

"Instead of pointing fingers on who to blame for the boy's maltreatment, what we should be doing right now is to think of a way to rectify the situation. I already drafted a plan for the changes we need to do in order to protect Naruto and the only way to do this is to change the Leaf from the ground up. So are you both with me?"

Seeing both of them nod, as well as seeing the Will of Fire burning in their eyes once again, Sarutobi allowed himself to release a satisfied smirk before continuing.

"Good. I have already made a plan on how to change the problems in the village but both of you have your own specific tasks to make sure that everything falls into place. Starting today, both of you are unofficially my advisors. I will be replacing both Koharu and Homura since both of them are part of the problem. I will be informing them of both your positions when I call the Council into a meeting." Seeing the mischievous smirks adorning his student's faces, he continued.

"Now Tsunade, I WANT you to take charge of the hospital. You will be rebuilding everything from the ground up. I already have your mission parameters for this so you will know what to do when you get there. I also give you full permission to enact your own plan for a medic-nin in each squad and give you liberty to choose your students among the aspiring Genins in the Academy."

Tsunade perked up at this declaration. Her dream of reducing casualties during missions by integrating a medic-nin in teams is finally going to come true. It will take years before results will be seen in the field but if she starts now then future missions would yield better results and casualties will drop. She rubbed her hand in anticipation. Oh she is going to love this mission. Her evil smirk didn't go unobserved by the two males in the room and both shivered at the implication of that smirk.

"Now Jiraiya. You already have your spy network outside the village and it is quite understandable that you have to leave to monitor them all. However, I have another plan that I WANT you to follow. You will set up your network to make sure that all information will be passed to your position here in the village without requiring you to leave. The reason? Simple, YOU will be creating a thorough spy network HERE in the Leaf and I want you to ferret out EVERY SINGLE SECRETS and ANOMALIES here in the village. I want them all here on my desk so we can start persecuting those that needs to be dealt with. Understood?"

Jiraiya understood the magnitude of the mission. Sure, he would need to cut down on his research time if he needs to set up a spy network here in the Leaf and the lack of research material that only exists outside the village is beyond his reach at the moment. However, he will sacrifice all this for the sake of Naruto. He has years of paying for the neglect he suffered in the hands of the villagers and he is so going to start paying for it now with this mission. It's better to be late than never.