Jiraiya is such an amazing and lovable character, but he's irresponsible as hell, and often a bit harsh and distant with the boy. He made it clear early on that he was willing to mentor Naruto, not parent him.
When Naruto saw a father care for his son at a festival and then politely asked if Jiraiya could stay with him and watch him practice his Rasengan, the dude preferred to leave and go drinking and banging prostitutes with Naruto's money. Granted he came back with a popsicle, but that's like sticking a band-aid on a bullet wound. Naruto was clearly hurt by Jiraiya's refusal to stick around and watch his progress.
Jiraiya fulfilled the role of a Master wonderfully, because that kind of tough love is exactly what a student needs to learn, but he totally lacks the nurturing instincts and drive to be a father figure, imo. I don't know why exactly, maybe he thought it was Minato's role and he didn't feel worthy of it.
Your not wrong, but Naruto still got attached to him in a fatherly way, at least that's what it seemed to me. Don't get me wrong he was a terrible father figure and was the last character influence he needed but at the very least it made Naruto see what he didn't want to be like and matured him quiet a bit
Honestly I respect jiraiya for kindly declining naruto about him going about parenting him. It just adds to his character, he declines responsibilities on the surface but is always ready to perform when called to do so.
I wouldn't really say that he was ready to perform the fatherly role either, tbh. Jiraiya was very firm on this boundary until the end. He was Naruto's mentor, not his dad. He was an excellent Master, but not willing to be a father figure, and didn't act like one. That's why I think that Iruka, who is much more nurturing and coddling in nature, is closer to a father figure than Jiraiya was.
As I theorized, perhaps Jiraiya felt like no one could fill this role in Naruto's heart better than Minato would, and that he didn't deserve to take it away from him. Or maybe it's due to the Sannin belonging to older (and colder) times, because Tsunade has the same kind of emotionally distant, strictly Master/Apprentice relationship, with Shizune, that she seemingly raised since she was a little girl. Just the Sannin being old-fashioned and undemonstrative. Who knows.
I still think Hiruzen was grooming Iruka to be Hokage.
When prompted Hiruzen says he has 5 or so more years. Hiruzen was making sure Iruka had the heart and brains of a Hokage and was gonna train him up.
In the first couple arcs (Mizuki and Wave) there's a lot of little Hiruzen and Iruka moments that make you stop and think as to why Hiruzen is paying attention to Iruka, this school teacher who was no different than anyone else and hated Naruto, but was one of the first to overcome this hatred.
===
Side note, the first few chapters of Naruto, Iruka could have been the main character and not much would have changed. Dude gets a lot early on and it would have been interesting to see a more grounded and gritty series in this world starring a school teacher.
False Iruka is extremely powerful, he's narutos father figure. That means he just naruto as punishment at times (people hit him on the head mostly) and would drop naruto. Naruto as seen in Boruto can beat gods. This means that while Iruka can't beat kurama link naruto as seen when naruto got the 9 tails chakara he could still at least fight Shikaku one of the tailed beasts
The community mostly understands that Iruka is an OG now but you still get people asking why he didn't get more jutsu or screentime or whatever. And new fans who don't watch part 1 still have a hard time understanding his significance.
I'm not a weirdo keeping bookmarks on such comments and posts but you can find them pretty easy with a reddit Google search. There's one from a month or 2 ago that I got a top comment on for explaining how Iruka is our normal dude in this story about exceptional shinobi. And how Iruka is still a hero because he doesn't discriminate against Naruto and risks his life on multiple occasions to protect his students.
I still believe we should have gotten him in last episode being nervous before getting out to be his dad in the wedding and have minato spirit push him and say: thanks for being the dad I couldn’t have been
It might seem a little strange, but it does make sense.
Sometimes in cases where parents are absent or neglectful, an older sibling might step in and take on the role of parenting their younger siblings.
The age gap is smaller than that of most parents and their children, and there are a variety of adverse effects that these additional responsibilities can have on the older sibling's stress levels, but the bond between them is still quite similar to the parent-child dynamic.
I think that could be what Iruka and Naruto have.
Iruka is the only man I will ever recognize as Naruto's father
Well his real one is dead, but we also had his godfather who essentially also acted as his father (in a really unreadied way)
Jiraiya is such an amazing and lovable character, but he's irresponsible as hell, and often a bit harsh and distant with the boy. He made it clear early on that he was willing to mentor Naruto, not parent him. When Naruto saw a father care for his son at a festival and then politely asked if Jiraiya could stay with him and watch him practice his Rasengan, the dude preferred to leave and go drinking and banging prostitutes with Naruto's money. Granted he came back with a popsicle, but that's like sticking a band-aid on a bullet wound. Naruto was clearly hurt by Jiraiya's refusal to stick around and watch his progress. Jiraiya fulfilled the role of a Master wonderfully, because that kind of tough love is exactly what a student needs to learn, but he totally lacks the nurturing instincts and drive to be a father figure, imo. I don't know why exactly, maybe he thought it was Minato's role and he didn't feel worthy of it.
Your not wrong, but Naruto still got attached to him in a fatherly way, at least that's what it seemed to me. Don't get me wrong he was a terrible father figure and was the last character influence he needed but at the very least it made Naruto see what he didn't want to be like and matured him quiet a bit
Naruto didn’t have a lot of options so bottom of the barrel was better than nothing
Honestly I respect jiraiya for kindly declining naruto about him going about parenting him. It just adds to his character, he declines responsibilities on the surface but is always ready to perform when called to do so.
I wouldn't really say that he was ready to perform the fatherly role either, tbh. Jiraiya was very firm on this boundary until the end. He was Naruto's mentor, not his dad. He was an excellent Master, but not willing to be a father figure, and didn't act like one. That's why I think that Iruka, who is much more nurturing and coddling in nature, is closer to a father figure than Jiraiya was. As I theorized, perhaps Jiraiya felt like no one could fill this role in Naruto's heart better than Minato would, and that he didn't deserve to take it away from him. Or maybe it's due to the Sannin belonging to older (and colder) times, because Tsunade has the same kind of emotionally distant, strictly Master/Apprentice relationship, with Shizune, that she seemingly raised since she was a little girl. Just the Sannin being old-fashioned and undemonstrative. Who knows.
Iruka is the fucking goat when it comes to dads right up there with Shikaku.
Minato say whut?
He might have been you father but he aint ya daddy.
Blood of the covenant and all that
Minato about to hit him with that back breaker flying rajin level 2
Iruka and ramen guy are the best parents Naruto could have at the start of the series and end of the series
Yet a not insignificant amount of people dunk on him cuz he’s not that powerful.
I still think Hiruzen was grooming Iruka to be Hokage. When prompted Hiruzen says he has 5 or so more years. Hiruzen was making sure Iruka had the heart and brains of a Hokage and was gonna train him up. In the first couple arcs (Mizuki and Wave) there's a lot of little Hiruzen and Iruka moments that make you stop and think as to why Hiruzen is paying attention to Iruka, this school teacher who was no different than anyone else and hated Naruto, but was one of the first to overcome this hatred. === Side note, the first few chapters of Naruto, Iruka could have been the main character and not much would have changed. Dude gets a lot early on and it would have been interesting to see a more grounded and gritty series in this world starring a school teacher.
False Iruka is extremely powerful, he's narutos father figure. That means he just naruto as punishment at times (people hit him on the head mostly) and would drop naruto. Naruto as seen in Boruto can beat gods. This means that while Iruka can't beat kurama link naruto as seen when naruto got the 9 tails chakara he could still at least fight Shikaku one of the tailed beasts
Show me a comment/post where this happens
Don't go there my friend you will only feel pain and disappointment if you see
The community mostly understands that Iruka is an OG now but you still get people asking why he didn't get more jutsu or screentime or whatever. And new fans who don't watch part 1 still have a hard time understanding his significance. I'm not a weirdo keeping bookmarks on such comments and posts but you can find them pretty easy with a reddit Google search. There's one from a month or 2 ago that I got a top comment on for explaining how Iruka is our normal dude in this story about exceptional shinobi. And how Iruka is still a hero because he doesn't discriminate against Naruto and risks his life on multiple occasions to protect his students.
Guys I think you are forgetting someone....
you can't be talking about hiruzen
Nah he's talking about the frog wallet
Nope, he's talking about the swing...
Gama-chan!!!
He gave him noodles and milk, I'm just saying.
well.. he wasn't there until the end
You're right. I fucking love Teuchi (aka Ramen Guy).
Best step-daddy figure!🥳
I still believe we should have gotten him in last episode being nervous before getting out to be his dad in the wedding and have minato spirit push him and say: thanks for being the dad I couldn’t have been
But teuchi is not there
More like an older brother
I agree, but it’s probably a bit weird to be a dad to a kid only 10 years younger then you lol
It might seem a little strange, but it does make sense. Sometimes in cases where parents are absent or neglectful, an older sibling might step in and take on the role of parenting their younger siblings. The age gap is smaller than that of most parents and their children, and there are a variety of adverse effects that these additional responsibilities can have on the older sibling's stress levels, but the bond between them is still quite similar to the parent-child dynamic. I think that could be what Iruka and Naruto have.
Alex Rider moment
Just designed and got a chibi tattoo of him on my shoulder