Chapter 13

A small awed crowd watched as that horrible demonic sand beast took swipe after swipe against massive…summons. A wolf larger than the Ninja Academy; a dragon longer than the eastern village wall; a rhinoceros with a horn jabbing in and out of the swirling sand of the raccoon-like abomination.

It was a terrifying sort of theatre, held in the forest outside the village walls.

No one in the crowd had seen anything like it. The guardian animals looked like summons, but they didn't act like them. Indeed, none of the higher level ninja knew who held contracts like these. They circled and enclosed and delayed the inevitable….

Except.

Except that every time the sand beast attacked one of the other animals, the wolf or the dragon or the rhino recovered from the wound and continued on their containment. They seemed to be waiting for something.

Thankfully, none of the otherwise useless onlookers one noticed three Grass genin weary with chakra exhaustion in the woods nearby. They were vulnerable right now and didn't want any attention focused their way. They wouldn't be able to defend themselves against even a determined civilian assassin.

It seemed like nothing would tip the balance. The three 'summons' versus that sand monster.

Then the scene changed.

A real summon entered the battle with a tall old man, his shaggy white hair aloft in the wind, on top of his head. The wolf, dragon, and rhino regarded the massive toad for a moment before returning to their confinement of the sand beast.

The small red headed child on top of the sand beast yelled at the white haired man. They feinted and parried their attacks. Then the red head smiled a cruel smile and fell asleep. The sand beast increased in strength. It was a demon almost fully in possession of its ancient powers.

Jiraiya the Toad Sage tried everything in his book of riddles. He used massive waves of oil-fueled fire. He tried sinking the sand beast in a massive chakra-driven swamp. Nothing worked. The sand whipped around faster and faster, stronger each passing second.

Jiraiya spoke in hushed tones to convince Gamabunta to leap directly at the sand beast, to destroy the jinchuuriki, to end the demon's physical manifestation.

It was a suicide move. Gamabunta would likely survive with only wounds. He could dissipate back to his own realm at will…even wounded he'd survive and get patched up. But Jiraiya would have to arrange a perfect strike at the sand kid or else he would die.

Gamabunta leapt into the air, but the target…something happened to the target.

The sleeping redhead went flying through the air and collided into a tree. His eyes popped open. Once he was awake, the demonic sand monster was disrupted.

Gamabunta fell through the air, passing through where the sand beast had been. He and his summoner landed in a thick, grating pile of sand.

The sand beast was no more. Someone or something had attacked the Suna kid.

But who? Why? And why didn't Jiraiya think of doing something like that. Damn, he was getting slow in the head. Gamabunta began yelling at Jiraiya for being a 'stupid pervert with brain rot from all your whoring around.'

Those huge 'summons' then vanished, too. Wolf, dragon, rhino: gone. Jiraiya hadn't had the time to even think about what they were…but, wow, damn. He need to question someone who'd seen the whole exchange.

Several Suna shinobi went to either help or kill off the red head, but Jiraiya saw another ninja intercept and restrain them. The tall, black haired man knelt down and spoke to the jinchuuriki.

The now fearful red head nodded a few times and began crying.

What in the hell could make a jinchuuriki cry, Jiraiya wondered. Less than a minute ago, he was trying to kill everything he set his eyes on. Who was this ninja who could say a few words and get that kind of reaction?

Jiraiya needed to talk to this ninja. He jumped off Gamabunta (who was still yelling at Jiraiya) and rolled onto the ground, one of his more elegant moves. He ran toward the red head and that other ninja. By the time he arrived, the red head had been packed off by Suna ninja.

The black haired ninja stepped in front of Jiraiya, a mildly menacing gesture. The Toad Sage stopped as this ninja was his target. (He could always catch up with the red head later. He'd almost certainly be heading to Hidden Sand. Jiraiya could slap on some new seals and keep that blasted tanuki under control.)

"You! Who are you?" Jiraiya bellowed. He was going for intimidation.

"I am the one who will repair that boy's poor seals," the ninja responded.

"I am a seal master, young ninja. I am the great Toad Sage…."

A roll of the eyes showed exactly what the Grass ninja thought of the Toad Sage. "Jiraiya, yes I know. I know much of your exploits, venerable ninja."

Jiraiya frowned. 'Venerable' was just a politer word for old. No old ninja could still bag a dozen different beauties a week…no venerable ninja would have the stamina.

"And your name?"

"I am called Taro of the River."

It didn't mean anything to the Toad Sage. He needed more information. "You fancy yourself some kind of seal master, then?"

Taro smiled. "I do fairly well. Now, please excuse me. I have students to look after."

Jiraiya help up his hand. "Those Grass ninja. You trained them?"

A look of pride erupted on Taro's face as he nodded.

"Those three are quite the powerhouse," Jiraiya said. "They'd be brutal on the battlefield."

"I will pass along the compliment, Toad Sage." Taro then disappeared.

"Wait…." Jiraiya still had questions. He had never heard of this Taro person before…and Jiraiya made it a point to know every seal master he came across.

After all, no ninja could cause havoc quite like a seal master. Sealing demons; releasing demons; engineering exploding tags large enough to demolish a fifteen foot wall. All the exploits of sealing masters.

"Damn. Now I need to find Sarutobi-sensei and tell him what I've seen."

The Toad Sage bounded away.

Taro looked at where Jiraiya had just stood. He waited for Jiraiya to leave before searching for his students.

Jiraiya.

The Toad Sage.

Naruto remembered the profile of the man locked among the Old Man's secret papers; he remembered the birth certificate for one Uzumaki Naruto listing Jiraiya the Toad Sannin as godfather. More anger bubbled inside Naruto. He began to regret helping to save this miserable place…save it for irresponsible assholes like this Jiraiya.

A plan formed in his mind.

Then Taro took off, tracking back to the micropuppets he had on his students. They weren't injured, but were too weak to fight or defend themselves. He needed to get them situated.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Jiraiya leapt all over the village, surveying the damage, helping where he could. His main priority right now was finding his sensei. He'd helped disarm a variety of explosives from the Hokage Tower, but…no Sarutobi. He'd helped to stabilize the damaged walls of the hospital, but…no Sarutobi.

He tended to the wounds; helped put out fires; transported some of the prisoners of the invasion…no Sarutobi.

The more he looked, the greater his fear. His sensei, the Hokage, was dead or captured.

What would Konoha do without its leader? Could it rebuild? Could it survive?

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Taro took his students to an out of the way training ground and threw up tents in the deep brush. He settled his students into bedrolls and made sure they drank water and took their ninja vitamin pills. They weren't dangerous like soldier pills, but they would help to repair the damage from mild-to-medium chakra exhaustion.

"I will be leaving some traps, but sleep with one eye open, as we like to say. I will return in a few hours to see how you are. If you're strong enough, we will return tonight or tomorrow…."

"Did the statues work?" Number Three asked.

Taro smiled. "You three saved Konoha…and they'll never know. As you remember, a jinchuuriki holds the power of a demon. But that boy had been driven insane by his. In his rage he released it fully…."

"How do you stop a bijuu?" Number One asked.

"I didn't need to," Taro said. "I only had to stop the technique the little boy was using. He'd gone to sleep and given the demon free reign. I used a simple technique called chakra strings to yank the boy off that sand creature and slam him into a tree. The crazed demon didn't even notice, he was too busy enjoying his freedom."

Number Two mumbled, half asleep. "I am glad. Did you collect the statues you loaned us?"

Taro shook his head. "No, they are designed to be used a single time. After the demon's fury broke, the three creatures released the chakra you gave them and dissolved into saw dust."

Number One had to chuckle. "You are paranoid about your techniques, aren't you, Number Four?"

"All good ninja should be. I would not have such things used against me."

With that he jumped from the tent and took off for the caverns beneath the Hokage Monument. He wanted a quiet place for a conversation.

When he released the seal storing the Hokage inside a chunk of broken masonry, the old man looked pale and determined.

"Where is Orochimaru?" the Hokage shouted. He was shaking and looking around in confusion.

"I save your life, and you wonder where your worthless student is. I drove him off…" Taro pulled a blade from the sheath on his back. "…after reclaiming this blade, the Grass Cutter, for my country."

The anger in the Hokage's eyes dimmed. "Thank you, then, for that service. How did my village fare?"

"In a few minutes you can see for yourself. But, I will say that I am displeased with what you did with the warning I gave you. Orochimaru entered the Forest of Death and wounded countless students, including the near fatal sealing of Uchiha Sasuke. I understand one of the Akimichi of the Hidden Leaf died. Then he pops up sitting next to you in the Arena at the finals. You are too old to remain Hokage."

"I should kill you for your insolence, young ninja. As you have just saved my life…I will tell you this is not your concern."

Taro nodded and made to leave the cavern. "One measure of success of a leader is always having a successor groomed and prepared to take over…without interruption. Had I not saved you, who would have picked up the pieces?"

An angry, sad Hokage blinked at the odd advice. "Again, this is not your concern. I cannot discuss village secrets with one such as you."

"You are correct, of course, Old Man. I made the Hidden Leaf 'not my concern' many years ago."

Taro vanished before the Hokage could ascertain what the Grass jounin meant. Then the answer came to him. "Naruto. He always called me Old Man. Perhaps he is becoming as strong as he claimed he would."

The Hokage could not lift himself from the floor for a few minutes as tears streamed down his face.

When the Hokage left the cavern to search for Naruto, the reality of the devastation in Hidden Leaf assaulted him.

The dead.

The wounded.

The families burned out of their homes.

Ninjas angry and ready for vengeance, needing a firm hand to restrain them now until a plan was ready.

Then, Jiraiya insisted the Hokage visit the hospital before doing anything else.

Being seventy with a severe case of chakra exhaustion was not a pleasant thing. As he was sent into an enforced sleep, the Hokage wondered if he should send an emissary to this Taro from Grass Country.

The ninja had saved the Hokage's life. Naruto might be angry, but he still cared for the village. A bittersweet realization.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

The Grass Team left in the predawn hours the next day. Numbers 1, 2, and 3 were feeling much better.

"I have not discussed it with the Grass Council obviously," Taro said, "but all three of you qualify as chuunin in my book."

"Thank you, Number Four," Number One said. The group then fell silent as they began their journey. By sundown they'd be in Grass Country. They were moving at a far slower pace than usual given the events of the previous day.

As with the last time he left Hidden Leaf, Taro left behind a few Shadow Clones. They had a task to perform.

A few hours later, when kunoichi and civilian women began attending the baths, the Shadow Clones discovered their target, Jiraiya, peeping. A few chakra strings interrupted the nerve signals from his brain. A quick storage scroll later…and Jiraiya was a captive.

Predictability in a ninja was a dangerous thing, as Jiraiya might someday finally learn.

All but one of the Shadow Clones dispelled. The remaining one henged into an injured man's face and clothing. It walked slowly, painfully, to the village gates. Mixed in among all the devastation, no one noticed how Jiraiya the Toad Sage left the Hidden Leaf Village.