Naruto: Faint Smile.

Author Note: I'm sorry I was missing, work was a nightmare, they put me back on the office for almost the entire month, and I HATE working at the office, so after 20 days or so of.... talking.... with the manager, I convinced him to let me go back to fully remote.

Meaning I can write again. There's something about work at the work place that makes working worse, somehow.

And like always, remember if you want to read up to 40 chapters ahead go to https://www.patreón.com/cornbringer

I'm currently updating the novel 1 or 2 chapter a day in patreeeeon. On chapter 107 right now.

Discord invite: https://discord.gg/XHduApz

Enjoy you sexy bastards.

NOTE: Please go to my patreeon, and no this isn't me asking for money so control your tits. I have an ongoing project being posted for free there, meaning you don't have to pay to read it. The project itself in on a testing phase, so I need all the sexy eyes I can get.

——————————————

 [Shimura Danzo - POV.]

As I sat at my desk, going over the reports of my agents, my thoughts swirled around the events of the Chunin Exams. The results were… unexpected, but not unwelcome.

Team Yamato's actions had been reckless, bordering on childish. They had no sense of subtlety, no understanding of the delicate balance of power and political games between the villages. But, in the end, despite their rather brutish display, they had achieved something remarkable, something I wholeheartedly supported. Thanks to their actions, their display of power, Konoha had been placed firmly above the rest, its power and superiority displayed for all to see.

The message was clear: no one could match the strength of the Leaf.

A faint smile tugged at the corners of my mouth as I thought about the foreign shinobi who had entered the exams so full of confidence, only to be crushed by three children. It was almost poetic. Their defeat, while embarrassing for them, was a strategic victory for us. The other villages would think twice before challenging Konoha in any capacity, even if they were angry at the results or thought we had cheated.

Either way… they weren't sure, and due to that crippling uncertainty, and the words of their failed shinobi backing their worst thoughts, they couldn't act, at least not directly, because now, more than ever, they feared the power of the Leaf and its potential.

Fear was a powerful tool, one that could be cultivated and used to control even the most defiant enemies.

That being said, their actions were not without consequence. The foreign Jonin were outraged, humiliated by the ease with which their students had been defeated. They had complained, saying that if the skill of Team Yamato was to be believed, we had put them there just to humiliate them, not to test whether or not they were truly Chunin material. They protested and demanded answers. But in the end, they had no choice but to accept the results, as they were powerless to do anything else, as they should.

I particularly found their little complaints to be more than pathetic, a show of how weak their villages were. The exams were a test of strength and skill, and if their best were too weak to pass, that was their problem, not ours.

But beyond the political implications, which the fool of Hiruzen seemed to be worrying about, there was something else that intrigued me. Takeshi— the boy was more than I had originally expected, much more indeed. He had potential—no, he had power. A power that, if harnessed correctly, could be used to reshape the future of Konoha. His actions in the Forest of Death, while crude, had demonstrated a ruthlessness and efficiency that I admired.

He had the makings of a true shinobi, one who understood that victory was all that mattered.

I had grossly underestimated just how much talent he really had. But as it stood now, his latent ability was shaping up to be unparalleled. He hadn't even begun to tap into his kekkei genkai, and he was keeping up with the two Uchiha.

It was unfortunate that he was under the watchful eye of that fool Sarutobi. The old fool was too soft, too sentimental, too blind. He coddled the boy, letting him grow without proper guidance, without understanding the true nature of the world, under the control of the Uchiha. But in time, I would change that. In time, I would show Takeshi the path he needed to walk—the path of power.

Until then, all I could do was wait. And as I did so, I would enjoy watching as the other villages stewed in their humiliation.

————————————————————————————————————

[The Toad Sage - Jiraiya - POV.]

I sat in the small inn room I had just rented out in a small settlement bordering the Land of Rice, watching from my window as the sounds of the brothel outside barely penetrated the walls, reminding me of my task—choosing which lucky lady would have the privilege of spending the night with me.

"So many options…" I mused idly, a small perverted smirk readily forming at the corner of my mouth as I watched the ladies from my window. My mission tracking Orochimaru had led me here, where I had lost his track once more, so seeing I had to go back on my hunt tomorrow, I fully intended to enjoy this little detour.

After all, one wouldn't be much of a pervert if he didn't indulge in some of life's simpler pleasures every so often.

Still, as my hungry gaze detailed the menu down below, I felt my mind being clouded, not by usual thoughts, but with… the memories. It was funny really, in a sad way—no matter how much I tried not to think about it, to keep doing my duty, my job, the pain and the memories always came back. Memories of Minato… that bright, talented, stubborn kid who I had taken under my wing.

He hadn't been just a student to me; he had been much more than that, a son. And now he was gone. Gone before he even had the chance to fully live the life he deserved. And I hadn't been able to do a thing.

I reached for the bottle of sake on the small table beside me, pouring myself another drink. I stared at the liquid, watching the way it swirled in the cup, reflecting the dim light of the room. It was easier to focus on something simple, something meaningless, than to think about what I'd lost, because I knew that if I kept thinking about it, I would end up returning to the village to take their last gift to the world, Naruto.

A soft knock on the door broke through my reverie. I sighed, setting the cup down as I rose to my feet. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming."

Opening the door, I found a ninken, one of Kakashi's by the looks of it, standing there, holding a scroll with the seal of the Hokage on his back. "Lord Jiraiya, this just arrived for you from Lord Third."

"Thanks, and do tell that brooding brat of yours that the best therapy he can get is between the soft, jiggle-bouncing pillows of a woman, but if he can't find one, he can always go to a brothel, where the ladies are contractually obligated to love him," I took the scroll, grinning at the expression of shock the ninken had before closing the door.

As I returned to my seat, I broke the seal and unrolled the parchment. Sensei's familiar handwriting greeted me—formal, kind, and to the point, as always.

—Jiraiya,— it read, —I hope this message finds you well. I wanted to inform you that Arata Takeshi has recently been promoted to Chunin, which… almost made me quit my job due to the way he earned his promotion. Regardless of that, he, along with Uchiha Itachi and Shisui, passed the exams with remarkable success. Given your previous interest in the boy and our talks about him, I thought you should know. I remember you talking about the possibility of training him, so if you are still considering that, now might be the best time to do so. He could benefit greatly from your guidance. And as a Chunin, he can break from his team freely, should you so desire.—

I paused, reading the words again. Takeshi… the boy Minato had taken an interest in, the boy they had loved, the kind kid trying to ignore the world. I hadn't talked a lot with the kid, but what little interaction we had told me what I needed to know about him. I had seen what Minato had in him—that something… that had made him consider taking the boy on as a student once he graduated from the academy.

It wasn't just talent.

But the weight of his character. He was a good kid, stoic and all.

And now, sensei was suggesting that I take up Minato's goal to help the kid.

I let the scroll fall to the table, my hand reaching for the sake once more. As much as I had led others to believe, I wasn't doing that well with what had happened—I was still coming to terms with losing them, and while it was true that I wanted to feel something other than the emptiness that had settled in my chest since the Nine Tails attacked, I wasn't sure this was the best way to go about it. I knew it sounded stupid, but the idea of training someone else, of getting close to another student, felt… wrong. Like a betrayal. How could I even think about taking someone else under my wing when I had failed Minato so completely?

Minato had been the best of us. He had been the future, the hope of the village. And I had let him down. I hadn't been there when he needed me the most, hadn't been able to protect him from the fate that took him away. And the part that hurt the most was… that I knew that if I had been there, things would've been different.

And now, here was this kid, someone who had lost as much as me during that day, now standing at the edge of greatness, and sensei was asking me to guide him, entrusting me to mold yet another future.

But… that was the thing—what if I failed him too? What if I couldn't protect him, just like I couldn't protect Minato?

Chuckling, I downed the sake in one gulp, the burn doing little to ease the ache in my heart. I wasn't ready for this. Not yet. I would, eventually—I just needed more time before embarking on that journey once more. The wounds were still too fresh, the guilt too heavy.

Minato had believed in Takeshi. And if I couldn't take care of Naruto, maybe, just maybe, I owed it to Minato to see if Takeshi was truly worth that belief.

"Dammit, Minato," I muttered under my breath, a tired chuckle escaping my lips. "Why'd you have to go and leave me with all this? Don't you know your old sensei isn't good with these kinds of things?"