After that he just watched as the other people put there flowers down, until all the people had finished and left. The only person who had stayed with him after that was Tenten, yet even she left eventually. Naruto stayed there for what felt like hours, letting the rain hit his form. It was not until the rain had stopped and the sky began to clear that Naruto left.
Because with the rain gone, he could no longer pretend that he was shedding tears.
Flashback end...
It had been after this that Naruto had cut himself off from everyone much like he had done after Haku's death. Even Kyuubi could not reach him, though not for lack of trying. He knew it was not something he should do, and that he was going to get an earful from both Anko and Tenten later. But right now he did not want to deal with anybody; he knew what he would get when he met them. And he did not want their pity, or any form of platitude. It just wasn't him; he was not one for receiving pity from others. He had never had it when he was forced to grow up on the streets, and he would not have it now.
Jiraiya could not repress the sigh that escaped him as he looked out over the village from where he stood, leaning against the rail from on top of the Hokage Tower. The village had taken quite a lot of damage, but considering it had a Bijuu in the middle of it for a while, it was far less than most could have hoped for.
The gaki really did pretty good, Jiraiya mused to himself as he scratched his chin. Gamabunta tells me the kid;s one of the ballsiest people he's ever met, and with what he told me of the fight I'm more than inclined to believe him.
Naruto really had impressed him, not just in this battle, but ever since they had met. The reports he had received when he had been out of Konoha hoping to gain information on Orochimaru had told him that Naruto was nothing but an idiot, someone who had been the dead last of his class and barely managed to scrimp by. Hell, he had heard that the only reason the boy passed was because he had managed to learn the Kage Bunshin in one hour. A feat only made possible by the boy's ridiculously large reserves.
Yet when Jiraiya had found the kid at the hot springs, it was not the idiot he had expected. Sure he was loud, that he had at least expected, and the boy had a tendency to run off his mouth. However, he also spoke far more fluently than he would have expected, the boy had a sharp tongue that could shoot shit with the best of them. His investigation of the boy afterwards had shown him at least parts of the reason he was so much more intelligent than he had expected. That still didn't change how impressed he was with the kid.
"Ah Jiraiya-kun! There you are!"
Jiraiya turned around and suppressed a groan when he saw Homura and Koharu, two of the three elders on the Konoha Council. They were the teammates of Sarutobi, and had served Konoha for a long time, Jiraiya liked to think of them as Konoha's fossils. However, Jiraiya really did not like the two since, more often than not, they chose to side with Danzo, the last of the three elders, on the man's pro-war like policies.
"What can I do for you old toadies today?" asked Jiraiya in a tone that said 'I really don't care what you have to say'. And truthfully he really did not care about what they wanted. Part of the reason he was up here was because he had left the council chamber half an hour ago so he did not have to listen to the arguing they did.
Arguing about what to do with Naruto, Jiraiya thought to himself. The blonde's feats of strength had not gone unnoticed by the people of Konoha and he had been the talk of the town, almost as much as the Hokage's death. Some of it was good, some of it was bad. Naruto was starting to gain respect, at least from the shinobi population.
However none of that mattered to the council, or at least the civilian council. With the Hokage dead many of them were weary of the blond shinobi. While they would not do anything like banish him, especially now that they had irrefutable proof that Kumo had two Jinchuuriki with full control over their Bijuu, they wanted to place restrictions on him, or give him to Danzo.
Jiraiya had been able to put a stop to that by claiming the boy was his apprentice, but he knew without a Hokage they may very well get what they want. He just hoped they did not choose Danzo, or they would get what they want Hokage or not.
The two frowned for a moment before brightening up. Homura cleared his throat as he began to speak, "Since you do not feel like speaking right now, we will get straight to the point. As you are well aware, Konoha is without a Hokage. In order to make Konoha seem strong despite our current state, we need to have a strong leader who will-"
"Not interested," Jiraiya interrupted, already knowing where this was going to go.
"Now Jiraiya-kun, we need a strong leader and it was decided that only a Sannin could take up that position," Koharu said, hoping to let the man know just how important this was.
"Like I said, not interested," Jiraiya turned away from the pair and looked back out at the village. "I have absolutely no desire, nor the ability to be Hokage. Not to mention I have my spy network to keep up, and then there's my research. So as you can see I have no time to become some kind of paper pusher." Before the two could attempt to make a rebuttal, he held up a hand. "However, I do have someone in mind that would make a great Hokage."
"You can't mean 'her' can you Jiraiya!" Hamura asked in surprise, having realized who he was talking about, "She hasn't been in the village in years!"
"That is true," Jiraiya nodded his head. "However, unlike me, she has the heritage, and the ability to be a good, strong leader."
"That is true…" Koharu murmured, "But the question is, can you find her?"
Jiraiya grinned, "Don't worry about that, I may not know where she is, but my spy network can find her. I'll set out in a little while to begin my search."
Hamura nodded, "In that case, we will select a group of ANBU to escort you and-"
"That will not be necessary," Jiraiya said, the last thing he needed was a bunch of fogies following him around.
"But Jiraiya-kun! You can't go alone; at least let us send Kakashi-kun!"
Jiraiya shook his head, "All those people would only slow me down…" Then he blinked for a second before smiling, "Actually, there is someone I know that I would like to take with me. An interesting kid I met a while ago who really seems to grow on you."
Yugito frowned as she left the Ichiraku Ramen stand. It had been three days since she had last seen Naruto, and she was honestly starting to get worried. No one had seen the blond since news of Sarutobi's death had spread, barring the funeral procession itself, and she had not been there to see him. It was because of that, as well as the fact that she was leaving soon that she wanted to find him one last time, and see if she could help him in some way.
She was thankful that she remembered Naruto's love of the ramen shop, since she was not sure where to get any information on the blond other than there. Not that there wasn't enough information going around as it was. Rumor of Naruto defeating the Shukaku-possessed Gaara had somehow spread across the village. How, she was not sure, since the only people she knew were there besides herself and Naruto were currently locked away. Yet somehow that information had spread.
Then again not many people could have missed the giant toad in the center of one of Konoha's parks.
Not that it was all a bad thing. She had noticed a small but definitive improvement in the general populace's demeanor when speaking of Naruto. Oh she could see that a few of the people did not believe the stories and still hated his guts, but there were more than a few who had begun speaking of the blond in hushed whispers of awe. Of course she also noticed that it was mainly from the younger generation, those who were Naruto's age and below, who Naruto had told her were unaware of the Kyuubi anyways.
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