Jiraiya's last student

don't own Naruto enough said

It was the day after the Kyuubi attack. All were in mourning over the loss of their greatest hero, Minato Namikaze, and all the others who died the night before. What few knew was that Minato had a son named Naruto, who was now, by a twist of fate, branded to be the carrier of the Kyuubi for the rest of his life.

We find Jiraiya sitting on a rooftop alone, drinking some sake. "Well, Minato, you saved the village, but wasn't there another way?" Jiraiya asked nobody in particular. Jiraiya was feeling responsible for Minato's death because he wasn't in the village during the night of the attack.

"Late again, always too late to save the ones I care for," Jiraiya said, berating himself for his failure as a friend and a mentor. Jiraiya sat there, drinking the remainder of his sake before he walked over to Minato's grave, placing a white flower on top of the monument. "Sorry," was the only thing Jiraiya could say.

Jiraiya was now alone. Tsunade had disappeared to who knows where, Minato and Kushina were gone as well, and his best friend that he wrote off years ago was still a complete traitor. 'Well I better go see the old man,' Jiraiya thought.

Jiraiya walked slowly through the streets of Konoha to Hiruzen Sarutobi's office. The third Hokage had to take up the mantel of Hokage once again because of Minato's death. Jiraiya arrived at the Hokage building, but he really wasn't ready to talk with anyone yet, especial his former sensei.

Jiraiya slowly walked through the Hokage building until he reached the door to the Hokage's office. Jiraiya didn't bother knocking; he just walked into Hiruzen's office. Jiraiya saw a cradle next to his desk, and he looked at the sleeping baby. "It looks like he's going to look just like his father," Jiraiya said sadly.

Hiruzen looked down. He was heartbroken by the expression on Jiraiya's face. "Yes, he will look a lot like him," Hiruzen replied. "How long will you be staying, Jiraiya?"

"Sorry. I can't stay long, and I don't think I should take the boy with me even if I am his godfather," Jiraiya replied, never looking away from the newborn child in the crib. "Where's Kakashi? He should be able to care for the boy while I'm away."

Hiruzen shook his head. "It wouldn't be good for him. Minato wasn't the only one close to him who died last night."

Jiraiya's eyes went wide. "You don't mean..."

"Yes. I'm sorry to say Rin also perished in the attack," Hiruzen said in a sad tone.

Jiraiya slumped into a chair. "I see."

With Kakashi

Kakashi never showed up at the funeral. It's not that he didn't want to; it's just that he couldn't. He wasn't afraid of the funeral. No, that wasn't the case at all. It's just that he lost everyone close to him last night, and he didn't know how to deal with it. He just walked aimlessly around town. All he had left was the eye that Obito left him and Rin implanted in him.

Kakashi had no idea that Minato's son was still alive. Kakashi found himself at the Memorial Stone in one of the training grounds that had Obito's name carved in, along with so many others. "I'm sorry, my friend. I couldn't keep my promise after all," he said to the stone, almost as if he was expecting it to talk back to him. Kakashi stood there, staring at the stone. All he had left was his shinobi career.

Kakashi stood at the stone for another three hours without even moving, even when people passed by to pay their respects. He never once looked away from the stone. Kakashi sighed; he needed a drink. Kakashi roamed the streets of Konoha until he found an almost empty bar near the edge of the village. He walked in to see Jiraiya had the same idea as he did.

Kakashi sat down next to the toad sannin. Jiraiya looked at him, unsure of what to say. The two of them sat there, drinking in silence.

Kakashi put down his drink. "How do you deal with it?" he asked.

Jiraiya stopped drinking. "When you find that out, please tell me," the toad sannin said in a broken tone. The two just sat there in complete silence again, until Jiraiya decided it was time for him to go.

Kakashi looked at Jiraiya, who was now leaving the bar. "So, when are you going to be back?" he asked the toad sannin.

Jiraiya stopped. "I don't know," was all the toad sannin said before he left the bar.

Ten years later

Ten years had passed since the day the Kyuubi attacked.

The day was like any other for one Naruto Uzumaki, well almost. It was his birthday, but he had no one to celebrate it with, as always. This day of the year, he hid, or at least tried to hide, from everyone. Naruto was in the clear from any beatings until the Kyuubi festival began. He didn't know why people tried to attack him on this day every year. He thought it might have something to do with his whisker-like birthmarks on his face. He didn't really know.

A young Hyuga girl followed him around town. She had met him in the ninja academy, and was infatuated with him. He was always so confident, and nothing ever seemed to get him down, and that's what drew her toward him. Sadly, she was almost the exact opposite of that. Hinata smiled as she followed him around another corner. She clutched onto the present she was going to leave him later that day on his doorstep. She did the same thing every year since she had met him. Naruto always seemed to love the presents she left him, but she could never bring herself to tell him that she was the one to give them to him. She was saddened when she found out Naruto had no friends or family.

At the front gates of the village

Jiraiya had finally returned to the village after ten years of being away. "Dammit! How could I forget today was the tenth of October! I should just come back tomorrow or something." Jiraiya was about to leave again, when he saw a duplicate of the fourth Hokage walking down the street.

The boy was trying to ask a pink-haired girl out on a date. Jiraiya jumped onto the rooftops to watch the scene unfold. After five minutes of watching Naruto, he noticed a young indigo-haired girl following him. 'A Hyuga?' he wondered, and then he saw the present in her hands. 'Well, it is the kid's birthday! I wonder how many friends he has?' Jiraiya wondered.

With Naruto

"Aww come on Sakura-chan! I'm paying!" Naruto said with a smile.

"Never!" the pink-haired banshee screamed, as she hit Naruto over the head with her fist. The people standings in the streets smiled. They loved when the boy got beat up.

Hinata frowned. She never understood why Sakura always hit him, or why the villagers seemed to hate him. Hinata sighed. Maybe she would at least talk to him this year or something. She hated how nervous she was around him.

Jiraiya frowned when he saw what the pink-haired girl did. The boy only asked her out, and she hit him. That wasn't what upset him the most, though. It was the smirks the villagers had after she hit Naruto. He saw the pink haired girl run off leaving Naruto as he got up off the ground. He looked over at the young Hyuga girl and saw the concerned look on her face.

'I wonder why she hasn't gone to him yet?' Jiraiya thought. He pondered for a minute before he realized that the girl must be very shy.

Naruto looked at the time. His eyes grew wide, and he ran off like something was wrong. Jiraiya decided to follow him. He found that Naruto had rushed to his home and locked his door and all the shutters and things in his old rundown apartment. Jiraiya was completely confused by the actions Naruto was showing. Jiraiya was angered when he finally took a good look at the apartment. It had graffiti of the words "Die demon" and various other phrases and some pictures.

He looked to see the young girl walk up the stairs and drop the present at the front door. She had knocked once, and then ran off. Jiraiya watched as Naruto quickly unlocked the door and picked up the present, and saw the look in Naruto's eyes. The boy was overjoyed.

Naruto quickly opened the present; his eyes lit up as he pulled out a frog wallet. He loved it. Last year, he got a sleeping cap, and before that, a small chest to hold personal items in. He was saddened when he found that the person who left the gift wasn't around once again. He was sad but also happy that he knew someone cared enough to remember his birthday, at least.

Naruto heard some people walking down the street. He quickly closed the door and jumped out a window he had rigged to lock behind him. Jiraiya was still perplexed as to what Naruto was doing. Jiraiya summoned a small toad. "You stay here and watch the apartment and tell me what happens here while I'm gone." The toad nodded, and Jiraiya began to follow Naruto once again.

Jiraiya somehow lost Naruto, 'How the heck did he get away from me'? he wondered as he stood in the shadows of one of the buildings. Jiraiya decided to wait for Naruto to surface again so he went off to a bar. Jiraiya sat in the bar drinking, he grew very angry at what he was hearing.

"Have they found the demon child yet?" one person asked. "No. It seems like it will be another uneventful year," another replied.

Jiraiya's glass shattered in his hand, if he didn't leave now someone was going to die. The bartender told him to pay for what he broke until Jiraiya glared at him. The man just shrunk down into the bar.

Jiraiya should go check in with the old man, but right now, he didn't even want to talk with him. He knew it. He should have just taken the boy with him the day he left the village. Jiraiya sighed. He heard cheers and laughing as the Kyuubi festival began. He saw Hiashi and the small child from earlier walk next to him, "So it seems Hiashi's daughter is the one who has a crush on Naruto," Jiraiya said to himself.

Jiraiya watched has Hiashi's daughter asked him something. He nodded, and she ran off in the direction of Naruto's apartment.

A few minutes later, the toad Jiraiya had left at Naruto's apartment jumped down in front of him. "Jiraiya, Naruto returned to his apartment." Jiraiya nodded and jumped to the rooftops.

He arrived at Naruto's home to see Naruto on the ground, being beaten, and the young Hyuga girl trying to help him, but she stood no chance against the two chuunin. Hinata was knocked away, but was caught by Jiraiya before she hit the ground. "Please stay here. I'll help the kid out," he said in a kind tone. She nodded in response.

Naruto was conscious, but barely. All he saw before he blacked out was Hinata standing in front of him, trying to defend him.

Jiraiya was beyond pissed; he wanted blood. He grabbed both chuunin by the back of their heads; one in each had and, began to smash their faces into the ground. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!" With each word he smashed their faces into the ground and pulled them back out. Of course, by the time that was over, they were both unconscious, their faces bloodied and bruised. Jiraiya didn't care. He looked at the festival and threw them as hard as he could at the festival stands.

The two went flying through the air. They knocked over four stands, two rides, and various other things. Jiraiya picked up the unconscious Naruto and walked over to Hinata, "Thank you for caring about him. Please don't tell anyone about that." Hinata nodded, then he Shunshin-ed away.

Just as Jiraiya left, four Anbu showed up. "What happened here?" one asked Hinata. She finally passed out from the events that had transpired. The Anbu with the dog mask picked up the young Hyuga heiress, and ordered the other three to take her home. Dog sighed, and went to report to the Hokage.

In the Hokage's office

Dog appeared in the Hokage's office. "Naruto's apartment has been vandalized again, and two chuunin have been killed," dog reported to the elder Hokage.

Hiruzen sighed. "I see."

"Tell me why I always have to look after the boy. I mean, there are better things I could be doing with my time," Dog spoke casually.

Hiruzen decided it was time he knew, he opened a drawer and showed Kakashi Naruto's birth certificate.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Dog asked while taking off his mask.

"Kakashi, you were a broken man after the Kyuubi attacked. Jiraiya and I both thought it was best for you not to know." the aged Hokage stood up and walked over toward one of the windows.

"I know I was in bad shape, but you still should have told me! I had the right to know!" he yelled.

"Maybe you're right, but I can't do anything to change what has already happened. Now that you know the truth, you still, for the time, being cannot interact with Naruto or talk to him about his heritage. Am I understood?"

Kakashi grumbled angrily. "Of course, Hokage-sama. Not a word." venom dripped from every word. Kakashi may have been angry with the old man but he would not disobey the order he was given.

At Jiraiya's place

Jiraiya sat next to a bed that he had laid Naruto down in, waiting for the boy to wake up. Naruto soon opened his eyes to see he was in a room on a bed. "Well, well, look who finally woke up," Jiraiya said in a happy tone.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked

"Me? I'm the toad sage, Jiraiya!" he said with a smile. "Let me ask you a question. Do you have any dreams?"

Naruto shot out of bed, "I want to become Hokage!" he shouted.

Jiraiya smiled. "Why do you want to become Hokage?" Jiraiya wanted to know if the boy was doing it for a good reason.

"I want to protect the village like the fourth Hokage!" the boy exclaimed with a huge grin on his face. Naruto's face darkened a little "Then everyone will look up to me instead of down on me."

Jiraiya seemed to smile and frown at the same time, "Very well, kid. How about I teach you how to become a shinobi?"

Naruto looked at him, "But I'm already going to the academy to become one."

Jiraiya smiled. "True, but I can teach you many things they never could! Plus, I trained the fourth Hokage, and you said you wanted to be Hokage, right?"

Naruto looked at him; his eyes were as wide as dinner plates. "Of course I do! But what about becoming a ninja of the village?"

Jiraiya wasn't sure why he wanted to be a ninja of the village that hated him, but if Minato's son wanted to be Hokage, he would help him. "I'll take care of that. I know the old man, but for the next two to three years or so, we will leave the village while I train you. I will even teach you some of the fourth's original techniques!"

Naruto thought about the offer. Even if the man was lying, his life wouldn't be any crappier then it was now. But if what this man said was true, he could be a strong ninja and achieve what he wanted to. He also remembered hearing something about a toad sage in class, although he wasn't really paying too much attention at the time.

"Alright, you have a deal. When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow, but you can't tell anyone we're leaving. For now, not even the Hokage will know you're gone, and when they do find out you're missing, well, they will most likely think you ran away," Jiraiya explained.

"So I can't tell anyone?" he saw Jiraiya shake his head. Naruto looked down as he thought about it. "So I can't even tell Iruka?" he asked.

"Sorry, kid. I want the Hokage to squirm for a bit, so you can't tell Iruka, because he will tell the Hokage. He's the only person you wanted to tell?"

"Yeah, other than the people at Ichiraku's, there really isn't anyone else." Naruto sat there with a sad look on his face.

Jiraiya frowned. "That's not true, kid! There's one very nice girl who will miss you!" Jiraiya exclaimed, as he thought back to Hinata, who had followed him around and even left him that present. Heck, she even tried to defend him from a pair of chuunin!

"You mean Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya scowled. "No, I don't mean her. What do you see in her anyhow? All I've seen her do to you was hit you; quite hard, I might add," Jiraiya said.

Naruto thought about it. He truly didn't know what he saw in her, now that he thought about it. All she did was yell at him and hit him a lot. She was popular sure, and kind of pretty. She also got lots of attention, so he guessed he was doing it to get noticed by everyone. Of course, she hated him so that wasn't going to happen. "Well, now that I think about it, I guess I was just doing it to get noticed because people liked her." He replied "But who are you talking about?" Naruto asked.

"I'm talking about the same girl that gave you that present." Naruto looked at his toad wallet. "She's in your ninja class, too," Jiraiya continued.

Naruto thought about it. The only girl who was never mean to him was Hinata. "Well, Hinata was never mean to me, but she never talks to me, either. I thought she hated me," Naruto said in a low voice.

"Kid, that's what we like to call extremely shy. Just talk to her tomorrow or something during class, and see what happens. I'm not saying you should go out with her right off the bat; just talk to her," Jiraiya explained.

Jiraiya smiled. "How about this? You can tell Hinata you will be leaving the village for two to three years, and see the reaction on her face. Maybe then you'll understand," Jiraiya stated as he stood up.

Naruto was a ten-year-old child. He really didn't understand what Jiraiya meant, but he would give it a try anyhow. "Wait what about Iruka or the old man?"

"The old man was supposed to be looking after you for me and he failed. So right now, I just want him to sweat for the few years you're gone. Also, sorry to say this Naruto, but Iruka would tell the old man in a heartbeat even if you asked him not to. Now get some sleep, Naruto. I need to go handle a few things before tomorrow," Jiraiya said, then shunshined away.

Naruto got back into the rather conformable bed, and fell asleep.

The next day at the academy

It was lunchtime at the academy, and Naruto had yet to talk with Hinata. Naruto finally decided to go over and talk to her. He closed his eyes, thinking about when he was attacked last night, and then his eyes shot open. "Wait a minute! Hinata was there trying to help me!" he said out loud, scaring some of the kids near him.

Naruto walked over to Hinata, who looked extremely nervous. "Umm... Hi, Hinata. Thanks for trying to help me out last night," Naruto said. He was nervous, but wasn't sure why.

Hinata blushed, Naruto was talking to her, and she was too nervous to say anything.

Naruto sat next to her. "I'm going to be leaving the village soon," Naruto whispered, and then saw the look on her face go from embarrassed to extremely worried. 'I guess she really does care,' he thought to himself. "It will only be for two to three years, so I'll be back to graduate from the academy. I'm going to go train with the toad sage, Jiraiya," he said with his trade mark grin.

Hinata had seen pictures of the man in a book once. "So, you're coming back then?" Hinata asked. She was really sad that Naruto was going to be gone for so long.

"Yep," he replied. "When I get back, would you like to grab a bite to eat some time?" Naruto asked.

Hinata looked at him, and smiled. "S-s-sure! I'd love to, Naruto-kun."

"But you can't tell anyone I'm leaving. Promise you won't tell anyone," Naruto pleaded. Hinata agreed to not tell, and the two went back to class.

The rest of the day went by quickly. Everyone was amazed that Naruto didn't talk to Sakura at all; he never even looked at her. Naruto arrived back at his apartment to find that all he had for personal items were gone, but he saw a note on his bed.

"Hey, Naruto. I've already gathered your things. Just meet me back at my place."

Naruto smiled, on his way home he looked up the man called Jiraiya and found he was telling the truth about himself. Naruto was excited he was going to be trained and even learn some of the fourth's jutsu! He made sure he wasn't being followed as he made his way to Jiraiya's place. He knocked on Jiraiya's door, and it opened. "Ah, good! You're here! We should just leave now, then," Jiraiya said with a smile.

"You were right about Hinata. She did seem to care," Naruto said, feeling stupid that he never noticed. Also, the fact that she had gotten him presents for years and he never got her anything didn't help.

Jiraiya laughed. "Don't feel bad, Naruto! I'm older! It's just easier for me to notice these kinds of things," Jiraiya said reassuringly. "Now stand here next to me." Jiraiya did a few hand seals, and they both disappeared from the room and the village entirely.

Off in Myobokuzan

Naruto and Jiraiya reappeared in Myobokuzan. Fukasaku, an elderly toad, greeted them. "Welcome, Jiraiya and his young guest, to Myobokuzan, home of the toad clan."

Naruto freaked out. "What? A talking toad!" he exclaimed.

Jiraiya laughed. He had forgotten to tell Naruto where they were going. "Yep, talking toads, but this place is where we will live and train for the next few years, Naruto," Jiraiya stated as Gamakichi hopped over.

"Hey, who's the new guy?" Gamakichi asked.

Fukasaku looked at the young toad. "This is Naruto Uzumaki. He is Jiraiya's new student. He will be staying here for the next two to three years, training, and may even be the successor to the toad contract," he explained to the young toad. Gamakichi smiled, satisfied with the answer, and hopped off to go play.

"Hey, Naruto, why don't you look around? Fukasaku and I need to talk about a few things," Jiraiya stated, Naruto smiled and ran off to go look around. "I'm going to be teaching him everything I can, Fukasaku."

"Yes, I understand that, Jiraiya, but why is he here? What happened?" Fukasaku asked. Jiraiya began to explain what had happened in the village and to Naruto. The elder toad was furious, to say the least. "You should have finished the job the fox started, Jiraiya," the old toad muttered angrily. Jiraiya nodded, agreeing with the old sage.

"Yeah, but the kid wants to be Hokage, and a ninja of the village still. I'm going to help him. Please don't tell him about Kyuubi or who his parents are. I don't think he's old enough to understand why Minato did it," Jiraiya finished. He wasn't happy about keeping something like from the boy, but he really didn't know how Naruto would react.

"Very well Jiraiya. Train him as much as you can, but nothing too dangerous," Fukasaku said just as they saw Naruto coming back from looking around. "So, did you have fun looking around?" the elder toad asked.

"Yeah! It's great around here! So when can we start training?" Naruto asked, wanting to start right now.

Jiraiya laughed. "Not today, Naruto. We'll start in the morning, I'll show you to your room, and then you can go play with Gamakichi for a while after. I'll start writing your training schedule down," Jiraiya said with a smile on his face.

End chapter

I hope you enjoyed reading please review anything will do I just like knowing people enjoy reading what I write. :) No flames plz.

I know a bunch of people don't like this beginning to a story, but do try to keep reading the story it does get a lot better.