Hello and welcome to the introduction to my story. The reason I've combined an author's note with what will be the prologue to the story is kinda weird but fairly simple: I just want to get all the information that I want to impart to you out of the way as quickly as I possibly can. In this note I'll be listing my aspirations and goals for the story as well as explanations for certain names and things I'll be using.

First of all, I was a Japanese student. As such, all jutsus, names, locations, etc. will be in Japanese. The bottom of each chapter will be a dictionary of sorts; there will be no spoilers for the next chapter nor any author notes at the bottom, so if you find that you don't understand the words I'm using, feel free to skim to the bottom of the page for a lexicon. I'll leave enough space so the ending of each chapter won't be spoiled accidentally. These "dictionaries" will only cover the more complicated words; words that are fairly common like Kuchiyose no jutsu, Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu, Tajuu Kage Bunshin no jutsu, etc. will not have definitions. They're used too often and most everybody knows what they mean by now anyway. There's no point in my opinion. However some of the lesser known jutsus will have definitions for your liking, or if I don't do it often enough simply ask and I'll start defining more often and more specifically.

That said, I will likely not use any actual Japanese words in place of real words. Examples for this would be words like "Hai" or "Arigatou". In the world of Naruto they speak Japanese, but I find inserting random Japanese words to be somewhat tacky, but I mean no disrespect to other authors who do use them in place of their English counterparts. Sometimes it works, but most of the time it feels out of place. So I will attempt to not do so for my story. If it does happen, it will be an indication that it's of extreme importance that the word is used. As for verbal tics (dattebayo, dattebane, etc.) they will be translated to the best of my ability as, technically, they have no direct translation in the first place. And trust me when I say that a huge amount of characters in Naruto have verbal tics, if you haven't already noticed. When it comes to Shikamaru's "mendokusei" it will be translated as "pain in the ass", not "troublesome". The reason for this is due to the actual translation of the word itself which implies a pain in the lower back. It was also the first translated version of the word when Naruto was originally fansubbed way back in the day before the kid friendly "official" version changed it to "troublesome". I don't like it, and I won't use it. These are shinobi, not little kids. Saying swear words are prevalent in a military environment is like saying the ocean is damp. I grew up in the military. It's pretty ridiculous. As for "dattebayo", it will be translated as "y'know?!" which is about as close as it can get to an English localization. I'm sure some people out there know people who say such things all the time even if they have no purpose or reason for being in the sentence. That's the kind of nonsensical word Naruto uses all the time, and it's currently being adapted and used as the manga translation of the tic. I will still be using honorifics, though.

Second, events in this story will vastly differ from canon, and you'll see why fairly quickly. Personally I find it incredibly boring reading the same bits of canon with only slight changes constantly. A good example would be the Chuunin Exam arc. I've read that arc so many times now it's become nauseating and I typically just want it to end as quickly as possible. In this story the Chuunin Exams will still occur, they have to for plot and character development, but they will be drastically different from what one would normally expect. At least that's the plan anyway. You'll see when the time comes, which won't be that far off.

Which brings me to my third issue. I greatly dislike early Naruto. A lot of people love the 12 year olds duking it out like kids, but I find it irritating when the major events of the story happen after the time-skip. And, for personal reasons, I simply enjoy writing characters closer to my own age. Writing 12 year olds like they're in their mid-teens is strange to me. It works in manga and anime to an extent, but in fanfiction it just feels weird. Especially with what I have planned for the relationships in the story.

And that's my fourth and final point. Relationships. This will be a Naruto/Hinata story first and foremost. I've read other pairings, but, quite honestly, reading Naruto with anyone other than Hinata makes me feel physically ill. I'm not joking. Naruto/Hinata is so ingrained in canon at this point that any other pairing simply does not feel natural. The same is true for Shikamaru and Temari. Any other pairings will be a whim and not a focus. Too many cooks spoil the broth so to speak. It can become way too chaotic and sappy when you've got to deal with five different pairings at once. That's not to say that any of the Naruto/Hinata moments I have in mind won't be sappy; there will be fluff.

Going back to the third point a bit, the time skip will be much longer than it was in canon for reasons that will become obvious. Because of this, relationships will hopefully have a more mature feel to them and I hope to write them as naturally as possible. I've been in my fair share of relationships so I at least have that to draw from. If they seem odd to you, it probably would explain a lot about my personal life as well, but I digress.

In the end, I've waited a very long time for my chance to write a Naruto fanfiction. I'm a perfectionist, so to speak, and by this time in the manga almost everything has been revealed and I will attempt to not retcon anything that I've written in order to match new canon as it comes out. Furthermore, my plan is to at least try to post a chapter a month, if not more. I'm currently unemployed so that leaves me with huge chunks of time to sit around and think and write. Know this: I hate unfinished stories more than anything. My promise to you is that I will not suddenly fall of the face of the planet and leave the story unfinished. It's like blue-balling a reader, and no one deserves that if they enjoy the story. Even if it's just one of you, I will write until a resolution is reached.

Thanks for taking the time to read all of that. It may not have been necessary, but I wanted to get it out of the way. Author's notes at the top of chapters tend to detract from the immersion of a story, and I don't want that in mine. I will personally respond to any questions or criticism you may have as long as you write to me, and that will be my version of author's notes to you.

Well, now that you know the method to my madness let's get started, yeah?

Disclaimer: I do not own anything concerning the Narutoverse.

Prologue

Father Time

Mankind has been known for many great and horrible things. Art, war, love, hate, memories etched in stone or onto paper, monolithic structures that seem to transcend the human mind with their enormity. All of which attempt to spit in the face of mankind's one, unforgiving and undefeated natural enemy: Time.

Time itself seems unsurmountable, and to some extent it is. No matter what medicine mankind creates to prolong life, no matter what certain sages attempt to create a facsimile of immortality, the only thing man and woman can attempt in order to combat time itself is inherited will. Inherited will. The destiny of the age and the dreams of the people. These are things that will not be stopped. So long as man continues to pursue the meaning of "freedom", these things will never cease to be.

Unfortunately, for one particular man, these were the last things on his mind as he stood, half-drunk, in his hotel room.

He had been incredibly lucky that night. His stories were usually so far fetched that most simply passed them off as the ramblings of a drunken has been who had either seen too much, drank too much, or suffered from some sort of post-traumatic stress disorder. All of which certainly could be true, but in the case of this one man everything he spoke was the truth and the conviction with which he spoke had enraptured a beautiful lady in her thirties. She was also slightly drunk, but the man did have a remarkable charisma about him, and his looks..well he certainly didn't look any older than forty, and his muscles and physique certainly proved that his virility was still going strong. So she had no problem taking up his invitation to join him in his rented room.

That's what she thought anyway.

It was at this moment, this moment of supreme bliss and happiness that the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myouboku, Jiraiya-sama came face to face with his mortal enemy.

A limp member.

His protestations fell on deaf ears as the stunning woman left in a huff of embarrassment and humiliation. Surely it'd be back to normal in no time! Right? He wasn't that drunk for crying out loud! This had never happened before! Just a second! A minute! Ten minutes!

As the excuses fell out of his mouth Jiraiya couldn't help but feel old. Well, technically he was old. But he was young at heart! Surely that counted for something, right? Why the hell did this have to happen?! Now?! Of all times now?! He became so angry he wound up punching a hole straight through his bed. This, of course, made him even angrier. How could he punch a hole in a bed but couldn't get it going on in the bed?!

Jiraiya sat down cross-legged in the middle of the floor, naked. Staring straight at the offending part of his body. He simply couldn't understand what had happened. He knew, of course, that drinking in excess causes these sorts of problems, but he had only had a couple rounds of sake. As his frowned deepened he desperately tried to ignore the one voice of reason that kept echoing through his head: He was getting old.

Age. He hadn't ever really thought about his age that much. Sure, he wasn't quite as strong as he was in his prime, but he had attributed that to his shift of focus to his "research" and authorship. Sometimes you just slack off in training when you find something else worthwhile to spend your time on. Of course he was also a spy, one of the best in fact, but he had more than enough strength to deal with being caught (which was a rare occurrence if an occurrence at all). He sighed. Maybe Sarutobi-sensei was right. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the third Hokage, was regaled as the Professor of Shinobi, the admitted strongest shinobi to ever grace the earth in his prime. Yet look at him now; he looked like a prune!

Jiraiya quickly shook his head rapidly to get that mental image out of his mind completely. He didn't need more disappointment at the moment. Sighing again, the great sage stood to pull some clothes on; he knew being naked on the floor was a pretty pitiful sight and didn't want anyone to catch someone as legendary as he in such a compromising situation.

"What the hell am I going to do now?" Jiraiya muttered to himself. "I can't stick around here, who knows if that woman's a gossip. I can't be walking down the streets being eye-balled like some limp doll."

Jiraiya gritted his teeth. The very thought caused his face to flush in embarrassment. He placed his face in his hands, not even thinking. Just sitting there for a time. How much time, he didn't know. Time was not something he wanted to think about at the moment, but his very life seemed to flash before his eyes without him even wanting it to.

He saw his old teammates, Tsunade-hime, Orochimaru (the bastard), Sarutobi-sensei and himself. He grinned at the memories he and his sensei experienced checking out the bathhouses with his own self-styled jutsu. He didn't even know where Nagato, Yahiko and Konan came from, but those years teaching those kids had been a blur to him; with their supposed death he felt as if he had failed on a spectacular level. He recalled his own squad when he was a jounin instructor. Minato was at the forefront, flanked by his teammates. He saw Kushina, belly already in the third trimester. Naruto..what a stupid name he had come up with. But they loved it; they wanted their child to be named after his only serious original character.

The wetness that Jiraiya felt in the palms of his hands surprised and shocked him. Was he really that sentimental? What had happened to him? This was not the Jiraiya he knew! But still..all those memories..He suddenly felt very cold. Alone. But what did that matter? He'd been alone for decades, only returning to Konoha when necessary. Like Tsunade, that place held too many bitter memories for him.

A bark of laughter. Jiraiya was laughing at his own foolishness. Going through all those deaths and memories he came to a sudden realization: he wasn't going to be around forever. His spy network was integral to Konoha's wellbeing and protection. Who knew how many more years he had left? Sure Sarutobi-sensei was decades older, but the old man was Hokage. The worst thing that man had to deal with on a daily basis was the amount of paperwork and those insufferable elders he called teammates; Koharu, Homura, and even that old hawk Danzo. Things couldn't keep going like this forever. If they did, terrible and tragic things would happen to his home and that was something he would not allow. Jiraiya had spent too long and had exerted too much effort into the protection of Konoha to see it crumble to internal politicking.

What did the old man always talk about? That's right.. The Will of Fire. Maybe it was time for the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myouboku to light his own fire. Jiriaya grinned. Yes. Yes that would work. He needed to think about the best way to go about it, but he had plenty of time to consider things on his way back. He wondered if he still had it in him; that Will of Fire. If he did those brats he was going to take with him were going into a world that'd probably scare them out of their wits.

Another bark of laughter, and with that the Toad Man vanished from his room, a few ryo spinning on the ground for his keep. The five coin landed face up.

The five ryo coin: For those unaware, the five yen coin is considered to be good luck in Japanese culture. It's believed to bring prosperity and good fortune to those that give them, and most people will put a five yen coin in their wallets or purses as the first bit of currency.