"Have you heard? Lord Jiraiya has a child!"
"Seriously? Where did the child come from?"
"No idea! Someone saw him carrying the baby home from Lord Hokage's place yesterday! A head full of white hair, just like Lord Jiraiya!"
"From Lord Hokage? Could it be... a war orphan? Did Lord Jiraiya adopt the baby?"
"Doesn't seem like it! Lord Jiraiya seemed awfully protective of that child! Besides, other than Lord Jiraiya, the Second, and Kakashi, have you ever seen anyone with white hair?"
"Kakashi's father."
"Would it kill you not to argue for once?"
"Don't tell me... the baby's really his? Lord Jiraiya traveled all over when he was young..."
"Shh! Keep your voice down. Still... white hair really is a rare color."
Rumors always spread astonishingly fast, especially when they involved someone both highly respected and endlessly talked about.
By the following morning, all of Konoha knew that "Jiraiya, one of the Sannin, suddenly had a child."
Naturally, the quickest to react-and the least able to contain their curiosity and concern-were the older generation who had watched Jiraiya grow up.
And so, early the next morning, just as dawn began to break.
Knock, knock, knock!
A series of knocks, not particularly hurried but firm, woke Jiraiya from his sleep.
With dark circles beneath both eyes and hair like a bird's nest, he groggily climbed out of bed and shuffled to the door in his slippers, scratching his unruly hair as he pulled it open.
The sight outside instantly banished most of Jiraiya's drowsiness, and what little remained vanished without a trace.
Three people stood at his door.
At their head was the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The old man wore a dark, casual kimono, his expression a mixture of curiosity, concern, and gratification.
Most striking of all, he actually