The tall white haired man sat down hard on a bench, just outside the ruins of a small house. The house's brickwork crumbled every so often, a sign of how damaged this town had become. The man sighed, partly in tiredness, partly in exasperation.

He looked up, to see three young kids standing a short distance away, practising their handseals slowly. The two young boys had yet to make any significant progress in that area, but the blue-haired girl seemed to be more graceful and fluid in her seals. The man did catch several errors but on the whole, she had outstripped her companions.

'Hmm. She's more dexterous with her hands. Must be the origami she's always practising.'

He mused for a while on the three youths. He had never really intended to teach them, but something in their eyes had caught his attention that day three weeks ago. There was a fire there, an unwillingness to back down. He had played with them for a while, pretending not to be interested, but eventually, he had grinned and said they were now his students.

He glanced to his left, as he heard footsteps approaching at a high speed. He blinked in surprise, as about a dozen ANBU, in their signature grey armour and porcelain masks, landed, standing at attention. The white haired man stood up and walked to his charges, placing himself between them and the newcomers. Outwardly, he showed complete calm, not a sign of fear, but inward, he worried. He knew that, if he were alone, even this many ninja wouldn't pose a challenge to him, but, if they proved hostile, the fact that he would have to protect his wards would hamper his abilities. He wouldn't be able to go all out, for fear of collateral damage. Mentally, he cursed the fact that his two squad-mates had left only the previous day. With them by his side, he would have been one step short of invincible.

The lead ANBU, a man wearing an Eagle mask, stepped aside smartly, allowing a shorter man to walk ahead. At this, the white haired man relaxed. He turned his head to the teenagers, who had stopped their training and were looking at the ninja in front of them with fear.

"Don't worry, kids. They're friendly, from the Leaf village! In fact, come on up, I want to introduce you!" He grinned, as the kids looked from him to the ANBU and back. Eventually, they looked at each other and nodded, walking up to and beside their master.

The short man in command of the ANBU was wearing black cloth armour, with white shoulder-pads and a single gauntlet along his left arm. He wore a helmet with his forehead protector affixed on top, with two long straps.

The tall white man grinned at him.

"Hey, sensei! What are you doing out here?" The short man raised then lowered his arm, the ANBU jumping away to create a defensive perimeter.

"Jiraiya, good to see you. I read your report...are these the children of whom you speak?"

Jiraiya laughed again, putting his hands on the shoulders of the two boys. The one with red hair looked up at his master, worry in his eyes.

"Sensei, I'd like you to meet my students. The girl is Konan", she performed a perfect curtsy.

"The red head is named Nagato and this little guy is Yahiko. Kids, this old man here is Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, and also my former sensei"

At this, Sarutobi grumbled under his breath at being called old. He looked over the youths in turn, noting small details.

The girl had what looked to be a flower in her hair, but one made of paper. The red head looked familiar. He glanced at Jiraiya, who nodded to him. The orange haired kid was the only one of the three to frowning.

"Pleased to meet you. I hope Jiraiya hasn't been too hard in your training?" asked Sarutobi, as a way of breaking the ice.

"No sir" answered Konan. "He's a good teacher"

Jiraiya could feel the tension in the air. His students weren't yet comfortable with having strange ninja around them, so he waved them away and ordered them to continue practising their handseals. He sat back down on the bench, Sarutobi sitting next to him.

"So...what's the Hokage doing here? Shouldn't you be back in the village, keeping an eye on the war?"

At this, the older man sighed.

"I'm on an S-ranked mission to the front, one that requires my personal attention. Homura and Mitokado will do well enough running the village while I'm gone".

At this, Jiraiya closed his eyes and thought. An S-ranked mission, one that the Third Hokage felt he needed to do? He'd have to contact his spy network, as he hadn't heard anything about this recently.

"My agents haven't been reporting to me then. Its not too often that a Kage performs a mission, and I should have heard about this long before you arrived"

Sarutobi took out his pipe, lit it and put it to his lips. He blew a small stream of smoke from it.

"Its nothing secret. I'm taking command of the Daimyo's armies at the front. Now, I know you're thinking, but what about Tsunade, Orochimaru or Sakumo Hatake? They're all busy in other areas. No, I mean to take command and bring a swift end to this war"

Jiraiya nodded. He hadn't been around for the First Shinobi War, but already, this Second War had claimed thousands of lives.

"I also came here, Jiraiya, to check up on these students of yours. I was startled, to say the least, when I read your report. Wasn't it just a few months ago that you swore to me you would never take an apprentice? Yet here you are, with three no less".

Jiraiya rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"These kids are...special. I don't know if it was a sign from above, but they were the only survivors in the area from the last battle. Tsunade, Orochimaru and I went all out against that Rain ninja, Hanzo. There were a lot of innocent deaths..."

Sarutobi continued to suck on his pipe. He knew what Jiraiya was feeling. He had done much the same thing in the last war. To this day, it was one of the areas where he felt he had failed, to prevent needless death.

"That Hanzo guy was tough, to say the least. I figured he wouldn't have been a challenge for you, sensei, but us three had to be at our top form. But, in the end, we won and killed him. But only after more or less destroying this town. Afterwards, while we were resting, these three kids came up to our camp-fire. They were hungry. Tsunade immediately fed them, she just can't say no to kids".

"So you agreed to train them, just like that?" asked Sarutobi.

"Not at first. What changed my mind was Nagato. Yes, he is an Uzumaki, I recognized his hair".

Sarutobi nodded. "He could pass as a nephew of Mito Uzumaki. Has he said how he ended up in Rain Country, of all places?"

Jiraiya frowned. "No, he hasn't. He says he's lived here for as long as he can remember. I was planning on bringing the three of them to Uzushiogakure in a couple of weeks, once I'm certain that they can defend themselves".

Sarutobi stood up. He looked at the kids for a long moment, then turned back to Jiraiya.

"That is why I'm here Jiraiya. I wanted to confirm one thing. Your report said that Nagato had strange eyes".

"Yeah. A ripple-like pattern over the eyeballs, with a light purple iris and sclera. Tsunade had a look at him, said she'd never seen anything like it before".

Sarutobi sighed.

"I have, or rather, I've heard of it. Hashirama-sensei taught me the history of the ninja world. Tell me Jiraiya...have you heard of the Rinnegan?"

Jiraiya's eyes widened. "You can't be serious? The...Rinnegan? But, only person has had that in all of history!"

Sarutobi put his pipe away.

"Yes, the Sage of the Six Paths. Apart from myself, the only person to be called the God of Shinobi. Once I read your report, I had a discussion with Homura and Mitokado. We all agreed that you be brought back from the front. The Leaf village would benefit greatly from having the Rinnegan".

Jiraiya blinked in surprise. "Brought back from the front? Why? I'm not saying I'm against the kids being in Konoha, they'd be a lot safer there than here, but I can still do a lot more in this war".

"Jiraiya, the war is almost over. That mission I'm on is to take command of the Daimyo's armies and, with one last battle, end this conflict. I am proud of what you and your team-mates have accomplished, but your role in the war is finished. I want you to take these kids back to Konoha, and become their official Jonin-sensei".

Jiraiya thought to himself for a few minutes. Him? A sensei? He didn't believe himself capable of it...but he had been teaching the kids for a few weeks now. They had responded well to his instructions and had already surpassed those in the Leaf Ninja Academy, he reckoned.

"Are you sure, old man? Putting someone of my talents on the backburner for a while?"

Sarutobi nodded.

"It would do well for many reasons. First, its about time you had students. Those talents of yours deserve to be passed down to the next generation. Second, you needed a purpose. Apart from the war, all you've been doing is wandering around, not really doing anything of note, except for running the Leaf's spy network. Third, public relations. You've been a prominent figure in this war, and it will cement the Leaf's willingness to pursue peace if you were to take students. Finally...it would give you time to continue that book series of yours, Icha Icha. It's been too long since your last release".

Jiraiya chuckled. "I guess it has. I've been too busy for my research. Well, orders are orders. I'll do it. Good luck, sensei. Are you sure you don't want me with you? I can have the kids protected by the ANBU while I go with you".

Sarutobi shook his head. He clicked his fingers twice and his ANBU escort jumped in around him.

"No, Jiraiya. I'll be all-right. Just take the kids to Konoha" With this, he jumped away, his escort with him.

A few moments after this, the kids walked up to their master. Konan spoke up.

"Umm...sensei? Is everything all right? They're gone, right?"

Jiraiya smiled. He had to re-assure the kids.

"Don't worry, they're gone. My sensei...and those were ANBU, his bodyguards. They've left to end this war. The old man and I talked about you three. Tell me guys...how do you feel about moving?"

The kids looked at each other, surprised. Nagato answered for them.

"Away from our home? But, where would we go? This is all we've known?" He looked ready to cry, but he stopped in time at a harsh look from Yahiko.

"We'll be going back to my village, the Leaf village. There, you'll be safe and well taken care of. In fact...the Hokage could see that you guys are so awesome that he wants you to be Leaf ninja. Guess who'll be teaching you!" He laughed out loud as the three jumped on top of him and started hugging him.

'Ah screw it. I'll be a sensei from now on. Just the thought of their eager faces waiting to learn from me...plus, it helps that I've finally beaten Orochimaru. He hasn't taken on a student yet!