"Sarutobi-sensei, you lied to me!"
"Oh?" The Hokage met his student's glare with a benevolent smile.
"You made me believe that the kid's almost as talented as Minato," Jiraiya accused.
To say that Namikaze Minato was the single most brilliant human being he had ever encountered would be a gross underestimation in the Toad Hermit's eyes. The spunky brat was his greatest joy and challenge, and remained by far his greatest legacy. All his theoretical dissertations, his summoning capabilities, his legendary ninja skills and status and even his beloved accomplishments in the field of literary erotica; none of those things compared to his landmark achievement in training and mentoring arguably the single greatest ninja Konohagakure had fielded since its founding.
Somehow, Haruto, at the tender age of twelve, made the famed Yondaime look slow in comparison.
"I assume he showed some talent in fuuinjutsu?" Sarutobi suspected as much considering how much time the youth spent in a particular section of his massive library.
"I'm not sure if 'some talent' is an accurate way to describe him. That's like saying the Kyuubi only has 'some talent' in causing mayhem."
Sarutobi cracked a wry grin at his student's apt analogy. Despite the generational divide, he truly believed the two would get along well together. The issue was convincing Jiraiya to stay in the village and take up the job.
"Haruto knows more about theoretical fuuinjutsu now than Minato did when he was in his twenties! Sensei, this is not a normal genius you have here."
Sarutobi nodded at Jiraiya's assessment. Although it really wasn't like he needed his student to tell him how special Haruto was. He sensed, however, a "but" coming up. As usual, his instinct was correct.
"But I looked at this defense plan he set up and I saw him misinform and misdirect his teammate using a clone. I can't help but think I'm twelve again and I'm looking at Orochimaru pull off one of his stunts."
"That's not true, Jiraiya," Sarutobi's response was immediate and sharp. It was a warning for the other man to be careful with his next words.
"Oh, come on. I know you care about the boy. But even you must see that he's good at manipulating people, even people close to him. How many times has he done this to his teammates and even to you? Tell me that doesn't remind you of Orochimaru?"
Sarutobi gave his student a hard look that told him to shut up, which he did. The Hokage managed to not give in to his baser instincts as he formulated a short and pointed rebuttal.
"Were you any different? Were Tsunade or Minato?" Ouch. That had to hurt.
"Yes, but at the age of twelve? Are you going to give him command of an ANBU unit on his thirteenth birthday just like you did with Uchiha Itachi?" It was obvious that Jiraiya was irritated and pissed at his teacher's unwillingness to listen to his reasons.
The air quickly thickened with the suppressive tension of conflicting ideas. For a moment, the legendary Toad Hermit wondered if his old teacher was going to throw him out in a fit of anger. The Hokage, however, maintained his composure.
"Jiraiya, I am only going to say this once. He is not Orochimaru, and he is not Itachi. He is Uzumaki Haruto and I have every confidence that he will surpass even the loftiest expectations I have set for him." Sarutobi, in turn, was not shy about expressing his enthusiasm for the young jounin. The unwavering support he displayed surprised even Jiraiya.
"How can you be sure of that? You've been wrong before."
"You're right. I have been wrong before, but I stayed behind to correct my mistakes. I looked after Haruto to the best of my abilities. I made sure he was trained by the best and able to look after himself. What about you and Tsunade, Jiraiya? What did you do?" Sarutobi fired back with just a touch of anger. The Sandaime Hokage had never completely forgiven his students for abandoning the village. They had their reasons to be sure, but who didn't?
Jiraiya bowed his head slightly and nodded. Sarutobi made a good point. Who was he to denigrate his student's legacy when he wasn't even around?
"You could be right, and I really do hope you are right. But I just don't know the kid well enough to have that much faith in him." Only after saying those words did Jiraiya notice the trap.
The Hokage immediately swooped in on the opening his student made. "Then get to know him better. You owe him and Minato that much."
Damn, Jiraiya thought as he bemoaned his stupidity for being caught in such an obvious trap. For his part, the elderly Sarutobi showed that he was as sharp and cunning as ever. The wide, shit-eating grin on the Hokage's face said the words loud and clear, "Gotcha!"
"I, but… fine!" The white-haired pervert drooped his shoulders, admitting defeat. Perhaps staying in Konoha might not be that bad. It had been a while since he used the fine ladies of his home village as inspiration for his books. "But I have one condition. You tell him the truth about the beast and his father. If he's as smart as you made him out to be, he most likely knows already."
Sarutobi closed his eyes as he nodded sadly. He had suspected as much. For both Haruto and his own sake, it was best that he came clean.
"Good, because we might not have any choice in this matter. As I've told you, nearly the entirety of the Land of Wind is a vacuum in my intelligence network. I suspect someone from Sunagakure is directing the counterintelligence efforts. But I finally received some useful information about Suna relating to this invasion." Jiraiya handed the Hokage a scroll.
Sarutobi quickly skimmed the report and frowned at the end. "Is this dependable information?"
"Not one hundred percent, but I have vetted the intelligence as being likely to be true. I think you might want to call up your child prodigy," Jiraiya suggested.