…Where Jiraiya Reflects on Minato's Legacy (Chapter 17 – 30)
Jiraiya was many things, both good and bad. Since time immemorial, people had criticized him for being immature and a clown; sometimes he was even labelled irresponsible, but, above all, a pervert.
"You're a damned pervert, Jiraiya!" Tsunade had once said to him when she was 14, then proceeded to punch him so hard he was knocked out cold.
It was the first time he had seen his teammate naked. Should he have looked away when he found her in front of him, changing, instead of staring at her breasts, memorising them? Yes, but he was a newly turned 14-year-old teenager and Tsunade naked had caught him off guard. That and her colossal breasts. After that he began to remember his puberty, despite the fact that they were on the brink of a ninja war, and he thought...
"Why not have some fun if I'm going to die in the war?" But he didn't die, and over the years, he became known as a pervert.
So, there was no turning back. Wherever Tsunade went, she made sure to inform other kunoichis that he was a pervert, so they would be careful not to be spied on, while Orochimaru did the same, spreading rumours simply because he found it amusing to see Jiraiya's face flush with embarrassment and humiliation. And he, when he realized there was nothing he could do about it, shrugged and accepted reality: he liked women, sex, and he didn't have to hide it.
It was obvious, then, that when he met his godchildren years later, it was while spying on one of the onsens in Konoha. He had to use all his composure to avoid shedding a tear upon seeing Naruto, who was 11 years old, after having said goodbye to the twins when they were just a few weeks old. He instantly realized that, despite having his father's blonde hair and blue eyes, Naruto was more like Kushina. He even had a verbal tic that would appear from time to time when he couldn't contain his excitement. He was loud, energetic, curious, stubborn, and unpredictable. Just like Kushina.
He didn't see Seina at that moment, but he did hear from a distance how Kakashi was threatening another jonin, moving closer to his hidden position near the onsen.
"I knew he was going to teach me that jutsu!"
"I got the impression that you wouldn't mind seeing it again," he heard Kakashi's voice.
Jiraiya was surprised to hear the coldness in his tone. It had been a long time since he heard Kakashi speak in such a way. In fact, he could count on one hand the times he had heard Minato's apprentice lose his usual composure and calmness. With his curiosity piqued, he put aside what he was doing to focus all his attention on them.
"I don't want you to get close to my kunoichi. I don't want you to look her in the face unless she talks to you first or it's an emergency. I don't want you to think about what you saw, nor should it cross your mind to mention that jutsu to Naruto because if you do, I will be forced to react violently. Is that clear?"
"Perfectly."
And although he didn't know exactly what it was about, he could deduce that it had to do with Seina. The other half of Minato's legacy. He didn't pay much attention to what he had heard because it was a matter of nudity, and Kakashi was right to threaten an adult man. Even he, the most perverted of the perverts, would never spy on an 11-year-old girl while she was naked. It was a matter of principle.
He almost forgot about her when he agreed to train Naruto, who was persistent like few others. Until Naruto handed him a small letter from Seina, which he took with curiosity and disbelief, especially when he read the three phrases written in a rather threatening tone.
"Old pervert,
My brother told me what happened the other day at the cliff. Are you crazy? You're lucky nothing happened to him, or you would already be dead. For your sake, I hope you don't do it again unless you want to really make me angry. I'll be watching.
Seina."
Despite the threat, he found himself smiling out of amusement and admiration. An 11-year-old girl threatening him. He didn't throw away the note. It wasn't that he was going to use it to report her; rather, he kept it as a keepsake because it was the first contact he had with Seina, even if it was written. He looked at Naruto, who was sitting on the grass in front of him, and saw that he seemed to be biting his lips while clenching his jaw. He even had a small tear about to overflow from the corner of his left eye.
"What's wrong with you?"
"N-nothing," he said, his voice catching.
Jiraiya was suspicious of his words, but when he discreetly looked at himself, he saw nothing unusual. He shrugged and continued with what they were doing. Hours later, they went to eat in the village, and that's when he began to suspect that something was not quite right. He observed how people stared at him and how some started laughing when he turned his back, thinking he couldn't hear them. One man even walked into a lamppost while staring at him in a daze! He looked at himself again in a shop window, but he saw nothing.
He knew he was going to regret it, but he went to see his teacher hours later. As soon as he saw him appear through the window, it took exactly one second for him to start laughing heartily and unabashedly in his direction. Yes, in his direction. He saw his secretary holding back a laugh, looking at the floor so he couldn't see her face, but her shaking shoulders betrayed her. Minutes later, Hiruzen-sensei regained a bit of composure and stopped laughing. By that time, he had already sat in the guest chair with an irritated and curious expression.
"Is someone going to tell me what's going on?"
"Can't you see it?" asked his lifelong teacher, with a grin from ear to ear.
"See what?"
"The hair and… the makeup," he said, stifling a laugh.
Jiraiya looked at his reflection in the window again, but he saw himself dressed as always. He didn't see anything his sensei was talking about. He tried to break free from a genjutsu, unsuccessfully, and wondered how it was possible that others were seeing something he wasn't, if it wasn't an illusion. The question was, who had the guts to do something like that to him? And why? As soon as he thought of it, he realized who it had been.
The letter seemed to burn him through his vest. He took it out with a mix of astonishment, surprise, and horror.
"What is that?" asked Hiruzen-sensei as soon as he saw it.
"It's a letter from Naruto's sister."
"From Seina?" His teacher seemed to understand something. What, he didn't know. He smiled. "Let me see it."
He handed over the letter, watching as Hiruzen read it quickly with an increasingly broad smile. He closed it a few minutes later after examining it from all angles. He knew there was nothing because he had examined the letter himself, as he did with all his correspondence. Just in case.
"What's this about the cliff?"
"I have no idea," he lied. "I took Naruto there to train."
"Mmhmm…" his sensei murmured with a smirk in his direction, clearly not believing him. "Here."
"And what? Do you think it's her doing?"
"Oh, yes. I think Seina doesn't think the same about whatever happened."
"But how did she do it!?"
"I have no idea," the Hokage smiled broadly, returning his words, "but I must say, your new… look is interesting."
He left there without any more answers. He spent the entire week being the laughingstock of Konoha. The worst part was that he couldn't see the effects of Seina's prank, so he didn't know when it would end. He had to train Naruto and live, so he couldn't hide in his hotel without knowing when he could go out. He decided to endure the laughter with an exasperated smile since that was exactly what Kushina would have done if she were alive to punish him for his recklessness. No. In fact, Kushina would have tried to impale him with one of her adamantine chains so he was grateful that Seina wasn't so violent right off the bat.
Fortunately, the prank only lasted for seven days. The following weeks passed with little anecdotal significance, although he continued training the scatter-brained Naruto. Until the idiot overstepped his limits, and Jiraiya had to take him to the hospital. The moment he fainted, he had that strange and apprehensive feeling that he was going to have another encounter with Seina, and not a good one.
The first time he saw Seina in person was in that small hospital room. He found her sitting in a chair next to her twin brother's bed. She was as blonde as Minato, but her eyes were Kushina's violet. And although he had thought she would be just like Naruto, a copy of her mother judging by the prank she pulled, the moment he saw her fiery, mature, piercing eyes, he knew he was completely wrong. It wasn't Kushina looking at him through her daughter's eyes. It was Minato.
At that very moment, he felt as though he were seeing a ghost from the past. He also knew he couldn't treat her like he did her brother because she didn't seem like a dimwit. Not wanting to delve into such deep thoughts so early, he did what he always did: divert attention.
"Ah, you must be the sister. Seina."
"And you must be the idiot who almost killed my brother twice," she said, her voice almost icy yet smooth, as if she were talking about the weather.
"Yes. I'm afraid the dunderhead is beyond help. He always pushes it to the limit."
"That's what teachers are for, to help their students not overdo it," Seina replied diplomatically, but with a clear reprimand in her voice. He, curiously, felt guilty at the scolding of an 11-year-old girl.
"Yes. The truth is, I haven't taught anyone in a long time. I should apologize to your brother."
"Just teach him properly and don't let it happen again," Seina said, much more conciliatory.
Jiraiya was surprised. He had genuinely meant the apology, but he thought Seina wouldn't let it slide so easily after what she knew about him. It was his curiosity that made him blunder again when he could have left it alone. Even before the words fully escaped his mouth, he almost regretted them:
"Would you break my legs if I don't?" he asked, feeling amused at the notion that a genin could do something to him.
"Hn. After this last stunt, breaking your legs would be the least of your problems."
Jiraiya left there with a churning stomach. That night, in his hotel, he pondered what had struck him about that last interaction. For starters, Seina's body language. She had turned her back to him, indicating that she didn't see him as a threat. Secondly, her words. She had asserted that she would do something much worse than physically assault him, and although Jiraiya wanted to think it was just arrogance, something told him Seina wasn't joking. After all, thirdly, hadn't she already pulled a prank on him for an entire week without him, a sanin and expert ninja, knowing how the hell she did it? Everything pointed to Seina being capable of hurting him, even though Jiraiya still had doubts about how. More precisely, he struggled to grasp that Minato's daughter could hurt someone whom her father had chosen as a godfather, which demonstrated the affection Minato had for him.
Time passed. Jiraiya did not interact with her again, although he followed her steps from a distance. He learned she had become a chunin, which was hardly surprising, and that she easily led her ninja teams while making her first forays as a leader. Then the Itachi incident happened in Konoha, and he seized the opportunity to get closer to Naruto, to keep training him and to see if he could pry anything out about his mysterious sister, but Naruto was smarter than he let on. He was even surprised at the long-winded excuses Naruto was giving to avoid answering his probing questions. Eventually, seeing that Naruto wouldn't tell him anything about his sister that wasn't about how good a cook she was or that she wanted to become an expert in ninjutsu, he gave up.
When he fell into Itachi's trap, endangering Naruto, he knew Seina would not be pleased at all. He forgot about her the moment he saw Orochimaru. Unfortunately, he remembered her threat again when he saw Naruto injured, lying on the grass, being treated by Tsunade.
"Your sister is going to kill me if you don't recover, you little idiot," he whispered to himself, holding his breath until Naruto woke up again. "How are you feeling, dunderhead?"
"Huh. Fine."
"We'll see about that," Tsunade said, clicking her tongue.
Jiraiya avoided sighing as he watched his godson come back to life under Tsunade's care. Once everything had passed, he congratulated Naruto for achieving the rasengan. And he gave him a flick on the head.
"This is for worrying me!" he scolded, seeing the indignant expression on his pupil's face.
"Hey! You only worry because you're scared of Seina!" Naruto shot back, hitting the nail on the head about 60% of the time.
"Don't be an idiot."
"Is Seina your sister?" Tsunade asked as they left the clearing where they had fought Orochimaru.
"She's my big sister for a few minutes!" Naruto grinned, forgetting about Jiraiya and walking ahead with his arms behind his head, as if he hadn't been flirting with death just minutes before.
Jiraiya envied Naruto's attitude, although he preferred not to be as brainless as him. A part of him felt sympathy for Kakashi for dealing with Naruto daily, and he meant it literally because, as far as he knew, Kakashi no longer lived in his old house. Ninjas were the nosiest of all, yet they didn't know where Kakashi lived now. He had to admit that piqued his curiosity. He snapped back to reality upon hearing Naruto tell Tsunade all about Seina.
"...-unin! The only one from our class alongside Shikamaru. I almost made it! Thanks to her, we managed to get through the Forest of Death in just a few hours. And she's studying medicine!"
"Really?"
"Really, dattebayo!"
And so, he spent hour after hour listening to Naruto talk about his sister, a guy named Sasuke, Kaka-sensei, his classmates, the guy with the eyebrows, Gaara the other jinchuriki… It was as if someone had wound him up, but he assumed Tsunade was glad to learn in advance about what was happening in the village she was going to lead.
Once Naruto went to sleep, and actually fell asleep, Tsunade turned to look at him.
"What do you think of what Naruto has said?"
"What?" he snorted a laugh. "It's not like he shut up in the five hours we've been walking."
"Don't be an idiot. I heard you at noon when you said his sister would kill you. And then Naruto said you were afraid of his sister, and you, curiously, didn't deny it." Tsunade's honey-coloured eyes penetrated his as if he were her prey, and he found himself strangely intimidated.
"Let's just say she's already played a prank on me, and I still don't know how she did it."
Tsunade's surprised, amused face reminded him of the old times they had spent as a team. The bittersweet feeling didn't dissipate as Tsunade interrogated him about his other goddaughter. They both knew how much he cared about those two brats, as well as Kakashi, so he knew she would ask.
"What do you think of her? Do they remind you of Minato and Kushina?" she asked, looking at Naruto, wrapped up in his futon, snoring. "He reminds me so much of Kushina. It's a shame she never got interested in medicine."
Jiraiya felt a chill at the thought of Kushina being Tsunade's apprentice. Fortunately, or unfortunately, it hadn't happened. Still, the image of Seina came to his mind, and he knew she would indeed be interested in studying medicine with Tsunade. That scared him more than thinking about Kushina with the brute strength of her friend.
"Seina… is a mix of both, but there have been moments… when I thought I was looking at Minato," he admitted, regaining his seriousness suddenly. Tsunade listened to him in silence, nodding. "Do you remember the few times Minato got angry, really angry, during the war? How he wiped out those enemy squads?"
"Yes."
"Minato was one of the calmest people I knew, but when he got angry, it was like ice. So cold it burns. And yet, ice is contained, though persistent. The few times I have interacted with his daughter have not been optimal," he confessed.
Tsunade blinked upon hearing him.
"What makes you think that?"
"What I've seen, and worst of all, a hunch."
"So… according to your instinct, we are facing a prodigy ninja with the most powerful bijuu inside her, capable of pulling the wool over a sanin's eyes without him knowing how, with a relaxed temperament unless you provoke her," she summarized, giving him a pointed look. "Did I understand you correctly?"
"Yes, more or less."
"Mm-hmm..."
The subject was settled after that. They had been talking about Naruto and Seina for days, so all that was left was for Tsunade to draw her own conclusions regarding the siblings and Sasuke. Jiraiya accompanied his friend back to Konoha, and days later, he returned to his usual life. He left Naruto and Seina in Konoha, and he barely thought about them knowing they were being protected by their teammate in the village. Until he received a secret letter from Tsunade and was forced to return.
"Did you know she has special powers?"
"Powers? Who?"
"Who else? Seina, of course."
"...What? What powers are you talking about?" he asked, almost fearfully. The last time something similar had happened... it was with Nagato, years ago.
"A new kekkei genkai. She's been hiding it all this time," Tsunade said, as if it hadn't shaken his mental frameworks. Then she continued as if nothing had happened. "She's determined to stop hiding, even if it means putting herself in danger."
Tsunade explained in detail what she knew about those powers but confessed that she was sure she didn't really know much about Seina's kekkei genkai. Shortly after, Shikaku arrived and surprisingly listened to their conversation in silence. Just when he was getting impatient, she arrived.
Jiraiya was taken aback when he saw her disappear under an unknown invisibility jutsu. He remained silent as he contemplated the scroll with Shikaku's medical history, which had appeared from literally nowhere, but couldn't help but ask Seina, a girl on the verge of adolescence, if she understood what her jutsu to hide structures meant for Konoha.
"Do you know what this could mean for Konoha?"
"I know perfectly well," she said, staring at him intently.
He heard Seina confessing how her house and Kakashi's were under her jutsu and knew she was telling the truth when she said she understood the importance of that jutsu. Above all, because she hadn't hesitated for a second to use it even while being in her own village. A village in which she should feel safe. A part of him felt guilty and sad because Seina thought she had to go to such extremes to ensure her brother's and her own survival. The other part was simply still stunned.
That night, he spoke with Tsunade alone.
"I would like to take her with me on a mission."
"What mission are you talking about?"
"I have leads on an Orochimaru base in the Land of Rice Fields. I want to take Seina with me to see how she handles herself with someone who knows her powers in a dangerous environment."
"Against Orochimaru? Are you crazy or drunk, Jiraiya?" the new Hokage asked with a sigh.
"Who knows? With her powers, she could be of great help to us. I think she's going to surprise us both. Not to mention that Seina has a clear interest in overthrowing Orochimaru and Danzo."
"For Sasuke."
"Exactly. Besides... I've been able to talk extensively with Naruto. It's about time I spoke with Seina, one-on-one, you know what I mean."
Tsunade's gaze rested on him. She knew she was considering him seriously behind her hands crossed under her chin. Finally, she nodded, though she knew she wasn't entirely satisfied. Strangely, or not, Tsunade held Seina in very high regard. So much so that she was equally overprotective of her as she had been with Dan, Nawaki, or Shizune.
"I'll prepare the mission for a few days from now," Tsunade concluded. With a wave of her hand, she dismissed him from her office. "I'll let you know."
A few days later, Tsunade kept her word. With a sense of satisfaction, he began preparing his rations and everything he would need for the mission when he noticed the familiar presence of Kakashi approaching his inn room late at night. He removed the traps from the window and saw his apprentice's apprentice appearing silently, dressed in casual clothes: sweatpants and a short-sleeved shirt along with his usual mask, and several kunai hidden. To say that Jiraiya was stunned by his clearly unofficial visit would be an understatement. Still, he didn't show his surprise.
"What brings you here?" he asked calmly as he closed the window behind the jonin.
"I heard you're leaving tomorrow with Seina to look for one of Orochimaru's bases..." he said, standing still like a statue beside the window frame. "As you can imagine, my team more than any other is in danger regarding Orochimaru. It surprises me to think that Tsunade-sama considered a duo with Seina when she could easily become a target of the traitor because of Sasuke. Which means..."
"...That it was my idea?" he asked, finishing the question while pouring himself some sake at the same time. He drank it while raising an eyebrow at Kakashi, who must have been irritated by his boldness. "You're right. It was my idea."
Kakashi's expression didn't change, but he could almost feel his anger in his contained chakra. He took a step toward him, and despite the fact that he towered over Kakashi, he knew he had to take him seriously.
"I can't do anything about it, so I'll just ask you to take care of Seina."
"Oh?"
"Otherwise, I might not be able to kill you without getting locked up, but I can stab you for putting my kunoichi in danger. Nothing will happen to me except a reprimand."
Kakashi vanished. He left Jiraiya standing there like an idiot, with the sake glass held up to his lips. He had said it completely seriously. So seriously that Obito's black eye had glowed with the sharingan for a moment, promising to hurt him despite knowing he would be punished for it. Something about that interaction, that threat, left him baffled. Why had he done it? Kakashi knew better than anyone about Seina's powers. He should know she could take care of herself, especially with him by her side. Or did he believe him so incompetent as to think he would let her get hurt when he could do something to prevent it? Maybe Kakashi was tired of Seina or Naruto suffering while being with him?
Unable to avoid it, he went to see Shikaku, but the cunning Nara didn't tell him anything he didn't already know. Distracted? Him? Not even Tsunade would believe that. Since he couldn't extract information from Kakashi, Shikaku, or Tsunade, he decided to go to the root of the matter.
"It's curious," he played dumb. "Maybe you're wondering what I'm talking about?"
"I'm not really interested," Seina said, expressing both verbally and physically her total and absolute boredom.
"What piques my curiosity is the visit I received last night from Kakashi."
"…"
"…Mmm... Doesn't it make you curious? To know why he visited me?"
"Probably to tell you to shove your hands up your ass, old pervert. It wouldn't be the first time. That is curious. Considering that, due to the crappy porn book Kakashi-sensei reads, it could also be said that he's a potential pervert."
Jiraiya stammered, torn between exasperation, irritation, and disbelief. He didn't overlook Seina's next direct threat since he now knew about her powers and also knew that she was willing to use them against him. He then realized that he needed to stop trying to poke fun at her. A part of him had enjoyed doing so, but today he saw that Seina was taking it seriously and that he was brushing against the limit of how many times he could tease her before she turned against him. He had seen it in her eyes. The same look that had left him frozen in place. Seina was almost begging him for an excuse to hurt him, and she wasn't joking.
That night they had dinner in silence. Jiraiya had spent the rest of the journey reflecting on his own behaviour. Why had he been irritating her when she hadn't given him any reason to do so? Why hadn't he taken her seriously from the beginning when he realized that Seina was different? Even when he understood that she was genuinely threatening him, he had continued to underestimate her arrogantly, even though he knew she could hurt him.
If he put himself in Seina's shoes, it wasn't surprising that she was so irritated and upset with him. To begin with, he had put Naruto in danger several times despite her calmly asking him to take care of him the first time they met in person. He had blatantly underestimated her even when Seina had shown she could pull a prank on him without him realizing how she had done it, nor how to get rid of it. Naruto had almost died because of his stupidity. Twice.
It was when he realized that he had taught a technique to Naruto from Minato without even doing the same with his sister that he understood the clear favouritism he was showing towards Naruto. It hadn't even crossed his mind, especially since Seina was much better than Naruto in terms of chakra control. At that precise moment, while he was sitting at the table in the inn before ordering food, he realized that he didn't know how to interact with Seina. She was so different, yet surprisingly similar to Naruto that their first interaction had left him bewildered.
She wasn't Kushina, nor Minato, nor Naruto. He didn't know what to do in front of his clearly resentful goddaughter. And he didn't blame her. He had been deflecting attention, as he always did, without even realizing what he was trying to hide from himself: the fact that he hadn't done even 50% of what he could have done to improve the quality of life for his godchildren. He had failed them both. Then he realized the crux of the matter: Naruto seemed to have forgiven him, while Seina had not. And he couldn't go back to the past to fix his colossal mistake.
"Just say what you want to say already," she hissed when she saw him hesitate for the tenth time.
"I would, but every time I open my mouth, it seems like I mess things up with you. Maybe it's better not to say anything."
"You mess things up because you don't take anything seriously! I told you to take care of my brother, and look what happened. You fell for a genjutsu because Itachi, I-TA-CHI, knew your vices and used them against you. Do you care about anything other than spying on women and writing those porn books? My brother is the last blood tie I have left. Do you understand why it's hard for me to leave him in your care? He acts like a fool half the time! He needs someone responsible with him! Besides, if you're our godfather… where the hell have you been all this time while they tried to kill us or when we had to live on our own at 5 years old because we were kicked out of the orphanage? Naruto might be dazzled by a couple of jutsus my father used, but not me. Family is always there, not just when it suits you. So, no. I don't find it curious that Kakashi-sensei visited you to remind you of what I just said. He's my teacher and cares about me, which seems to be something you have a hard time understanding, apparently. I wonder why?"
Jiraiya could eat no more than a couple of bites after hearing the raw and frank words of his goddaughter. She hadn't lied in a single word. It was all cruel and hard truth, and that hurt so much more than any sweet lie. Seina was telling him that he had failed in everything he was starting to understand he had failed at, and more. He felt so bad that his stomach turned, and a knot formed in his throat.
"Do you know why it's impossible for me to accept you just like that?" Seina said when she finished contemplating whatever it was she had been thinking about in silence. "Because while you were out there, surely spying and sleeping with women and writing cheap porn books, my brother and I were surviving alone in Konoha. Our parents chose you to take care of us in case they weren't around, and when you had to do it, you weren't up to the task. Why the hell did you accept to be our godfather then?"
Seina went to sleep, turning her back on him and gripping her wakizashi tightly, as if she were taking a breath in enemy territory instead of being protected by a sanin from Konoha, who was also her godfather.
And Jiraiya… Jiraiya didn't sleep at all that night. He wouldn't have been able to catch a wink even if he wanted to. Seina's words made him think of Minato and Kushina, smiling at each other after so many months apart. He remembered how Minato placed his hand on Kushina's swollen belly, eager to meet their twins, with eyes shining with love and excitement. He recalled Kushina's radiant smile, so happy that she seemed like a different person. He remembered how they had told him they wanted to name him the godfather of their children because he was one of the few people they trusted blindly.
In contrast, he… had failed them. If he could see Kushina and Minato alive one last time… he wouldn't know how he could look them in the eyes without kneeling and begging for forgiveness. But it was already too late to fix it, right? No matter what he did from now on. That wouldn't erase the fact that he had failed for 12 years.
Those who said he was immature, a clown, and irresponsible had not underestimated him. No. They had hit the nail on the head.